How to Win the Tug of War
If you consider that caffeine facilitates the release of adrenaline, now you know why your hand keeps reaching for that cup of joe. You are trying to reclaim the energy that your body wants to keep for itself. This is where the tug of war begins.
Can you really come out on top of this war?
It turns out that the only way to win is to stop fighting. Once you realize that your body wants the same thing as you, you'll immediately find a solution that will keep both parties satisfied.
Your brain evolved to be able to perform advanced functions associated with movement; the rest is just a side effect. There seems to be no special pathway designed for simultaneous prolonged sitting and cognitive work. Your body, however, is awesome, always trying to adapt to your needs.
There is evidence linking a sedentary lifestyle to higher resting heart rate and blood pressure. If you are an otherwise healthy person, this may indicate that your body is trying to keep your internal conveyor belt going. It constricts the blood vessels – making them narrow – and adds a few extra heart pumps every minute. This way, it can keep the continuous flow of blood efficient to maintain the activities in which you are involved. You remember when we talked about what would happen if a factory conveyor belt stopped? When that occurs, your organs (factory workers) start working harder and adapting to the new ways of doing things. That comes with a price, however, in the form of higher heart rate and blood pressure, which can be detrimental in the long term.
People who are involved in regular cardio exercising train their hearts to pump a greater volume of blood per single stroke. That’s why their resting heart rates don’t get significantly higher when they lead otherwise sedentary lifestyles. Their hearts can pump enough blood volume without increasing the BPM (beats per minute), but that doesn’t mean their sedentary lives don’t take a toll on them. The hearts still work hard; it’s just that the cardiovascular system of a chronic jogger is more adept at handling this challenge.
Before you take off for a midday jog, however, let me finish my thought.
There are other processes that happen as you sit and we will talk about them shortly. My point here is to show that your body, even when put in a challenging situation, will try to work for you and with you. Being willing to meet it halfway is the most efficient resolution for most of your problems.
- In the case of the sedentary hibernation, all you have to do is to show your brain that you have enough energy.
- Keep your "conveyor belt" moving by taking breaks and doing short exercises. It’s like becoming your own adrenaline but in a safe way. I’ve already mentioned this method, giving it the name “fragmented exercising.” During short bouts of physical activity, you will infuse your blood with oxygen as you inhale more deeply than physically possible while sitting.
- By engaging your legs, you will flush out the pooling blood and send it upstream, back to your heart for re-oxygenation. It will get enriched with nutrients and then redistributed around, carrying supplies to all the workers that make your body operate smoothly. Not only will your brain gets everything it needs to stay productive, every cell in your body will also be revitalized and re-energized.