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I Almost Face Planted
On Thursday of this week I set out for a jog after my last PE class. I only had about 25 minutes for exercise due to a work call so I decided to run for as long as possible until my phone rang. Roughly 15 minutes into the jog, I complete the first loop and set off for another. I am taking in the sights and sounds and then all of a sudden my body jolts forward as gravity attempts to send me straight to the ground. My left foot caught a bump in the sidewalk and if it wasn't for my right foot swinging forward to catch me I would've have face planted. This story reminded me of something I heard years ago in regards to agility training. As we age, our ability to react slows down. Our mind and body just don't seem to move with the same amount of speed and efficiency that it had in previous years or decades. This is one of the reasons why the incidence of falls increase. What was once a stumble in our 20's, 30's and 40's becomes a fall in our 60's, 70's or 80's. Father time is cruel but we should not capitulate. Health Tip of the Week I have been trying to organize a training plan that fits my own schedule and realized this format may be good for all. Below I quickly detail what I will call the 4321 Program.
What I've Been Up To... I am only a few weeks in of launching my new podcast (Chris & Friends) and I am beyond excited about it. The premise of the show is this: Over the years I have met some pretty amazing people, some of which I have lost touch with. So, under the guise of work, we reconnect, talk about life, health, parenting, and anything else that may come up over the course of 60-75 minutes. This week I released two episodes and looking back, I learned a ton from these two people I am fortunate enough to call friends!
What I've Been Reading... Gods & Generals: A Novel of the Civil War by Jeff Shaara Gods and Generals is a novel which serves as a prequel to Michael Shaara's 1974 Pulitzer Prize–winning work about the Battle of Gettysburg, The Killer Angels. As you can see, these author's share the same last name. They are a father and son duo who embarked on telling the story, behind the story of the Civil War. Father Michael set the stage with his classic book and upon his death, son Jeff set out to write the prequel and sequel to his father's work. It is a unique legacy project that I admire and enjoy. Quote of the Week “Being a role model is the most powerful form of educating...too often fathers neglect it because they get so caught up in making a living they forget to make a life.” -- John Wooden I hope you all have an awesome week!Chris Fluck
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After a day of working as a PE teacher, I stood outside the school with a cold cup of coffee in my hand waiting for our daughter so we can head home. During this time other parents started to arrive and I began talking to a friend. He took a look at my cup and told me that he recently had to cut coffee out of his daily routine. I asked him why and he shared his fondness for latte’s, that he probably drank too many of them, and that this amount of caffeine could be creating some health concerns. I told him I could relate and then we went on our way.
The next time I saw him, he asked me what the latest topic of discussion was in health class and I shared that we discussed anxiety. He jokingly said maybe I should attend next time. He laughed, I laughed, and then we dove into the topic a bit. Some of the symptoms that he has been feeling, I too have been experiencing them. It was funny as we got to a point where I finished a sentence for him and he said something like see, you know what I am talking about and I said, yes, unfortunately I do! Things like an occasional bout with dizziness, heart palpitations while laying down, the sensation of an increased heart rate, and so on. For me, the first time I experienced this was around the one year anniversary of my brother's death. For him, it was losing someone close to him and also having another member of his family being ill. We were/are on a similar path and are both working on improving it. Now, considering our plight, our doctors gave us the same response. After initial tests, the heart was working fine but it was most likely anxiety and the elevated blood pressure that was at the root of our problem. Adding caffeine on top of these symptoms seems to further exacerbate the issue. So what is the solution to this mess I have found myself in? To start, I was advised to focus on relaxation techniques, to slow down, to try to calm the mind and body and to breathe. It just so happens that these are the same principles I attempted to bestow on a group of teens! So much for practicing what you preach, right? Sometimes I am good about following the doctor's advice and other times I am not. When the moments of anxiety or stress get elevated, I try to refocus on what is important and put the following ideas into practice:
I hope you all have a wonderful week! Chris What I've Been Thinking About...
I watched the latest Chris Rock comedy special and he shared a story about his mother who was raised in South Carolina. During her childhood race relations were tense. As a young girl, she needed dental work done for a tooth extraction and there were only two people in town who can do it: the dentist and the veterinarian. Considering she was a human and not an animal, they went to the dentist but were refused service because of her skin color. On they went to the veterinarian for the procedure. Fast forward a generation and that girl who was once refused treatment now has a family of her own. One of her kids goes on to become a huge star selling out arenas, starring in movies, hosting big award shows, and so much more. Move forward another generation and that little girl from South Carolina now has a granddaughter who is excelling in school and studying Culinary Arts in Paris, France. These opportunities couldn't have even been dreamt up when she was a child. In one lifetime, that women went from being refused service because of her skin color to traveling the country watching her child be treated like comedy royalty and traveling the world visiting her granddaughter. How is that for progress? Now, this doesn't mean the fight for social change should come to an end. As MLK Jr. said, “Human progress is neither automatic nor inevitable". Just because the ball has been moving in the right direction doesn't necessarily mean it will continue to do so. It is on us to continue to make things better, not only for our generation but for those that follow! Health Tip of the Week I was having a conversation with a chiropractor friend this week and he shared some good insight regarding physical pain. Often times, when we feel discomfort in our body, we assume that this symptom is caused by something that we did physically. For example, my back hurts because I slept wrong, tweaked something, or fill in the blank for whatever it is that best fits your life. But what if the root cause of this issue is something more? There are times when we feel physical pain due to the emotional burden we are holding on to. Mental stress can cause physical pain or discomfort. How often have we had tight upper back muscles during stressful life events? We can stretch, massage, and foam roll the site all we want but if we do not delve into the underlying cause (the mental stress), that feeling of discomfort will not go away. That tension, discomfort, or pain in your body is just a messenger and it is telling you that something about your life needs to change. For more discussion on the topic, check out my latest podcast episode w/ Darin Mazepa , owner of Vitality Natural Healthcare Center. What I've Been Writing... On every tombstone, there is the day of birth and the day that you pass on. In between those dates is a dash. At first look, one might think that the dash is insignificant but upon further examination, I came to realize that it represents our time here on earth. The dash is how we spend our days, the relationships we build, the connections we make, and the mark that we leave on the world. So how do we make our dash mean something? Mahatma Ghandi once said that "If you want to change the world, start with yourself". To see where this story goes and to gain access to 7 tips to make our years count, click here! What I've Been Watching... American Nightmare on Netflix Here is how Netflix summarizes this crazy story from 2015: After a harrowing home invasion and kidnapping in 2015, a couple is accused of staging the ordeal when the woman reappears in this true-crime docuseries. This story is sad and it is very strange. For much of the three episodes, Marisa and I sat in bewilderment as we tried to put the pieces together and figure out who is telling the truth and who is lying. There is a wild story, bad policing, good policing, a criminal who shows Jekyll & Hyde qualities, a victim whose voice is often ignored, and much more. It was wild! Quote of the Week “It does not matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop.” — Confucius I hope you all have an awesome week! Chris |
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