Environment

I highly suggest making yourself a Forge

Posted by abraham.williams@gmail.com on in Deep Breathing, Environment, fitness, Health, high intensity, meditation, Philosopy, strength training, Stress, Success, Workouts

I have always wanted a garage. A place where I can do the things that I want to do. Build an electromyography thing with Arduino. Paint a painting. Work on my car. Dance alone. Do kickboxing.

I finally have a garage that is really mine (and my life partner’s too). And, I’ve been going into it every morning and working out in a high-intensity interval training way. I’ll do at least 30 minutes of Tabata with each 10 minute block being 20 seconds of work and 10 seconds of rest. My level of precision is +- 2 or 3 minutes between blocks and +- 10 seconds during the Tabata work. I’ll use dumb bells, punching bag, rings, medicine ball, bands, jump rope, whatever and with music that fires me up. I breathe through my nose as much as I can. I watch my heart rate. I work to get myself moving between 130 and 160. Above 160, I will back off a bit till I recover down to about 120.

But, the thing I have noticed is that breathing through the nose, and there are papers on this, produces more nitric oxide (one nitrogen atom and one oxygen atom) in the blood than breathing through the mouth does. This seems to create in me a dissociative effect. This effect appears to allow me to tap into some kind of awareness. It’s probably endorphins, too. Other people know more than I do here. This has completely changed my life.

[Side note for my EverStrongSF people, yes, I know this is different from what we do there. EverStrongSF is the minimum effective dose and it absolutely works over time with a consistent application of the stimulus. I’m actually working towards the most effective dose. I don’t want to do the minimum.]

After all this, I realize it’s not a garage I’ve always wanted. It’s a Forge. A Forge where I can build myself.

I write this because maybe other people want a Forge, too. It doesn’t have to be a garage. It can be where ever you want it. I think if you make yourself a Forge, you can build yourself up. I think that’s what I’m doing.

Why o why do we buy, use, and consume water in plastic bottles?

Posted by abraham.williams@gmail.com on in Environment, Health 4 Comments

I guess people haven’t heard the controversy around phthalates and their effects on health. The American Chemical Council says they’re safe. The EU has banned some of these chemicals. I’m not a chemist nor am I a biologist. Regardless of whether they are deemed safe or not, it has been shown that pthalates come out of plastic water bottles and stay in the human body. They are not natural and I don’t want chemicals accumulating in my body or in that of my offspring. Do you?

In addition to phthalates, there are other issues.

  1. Bottled water is all marketing. The “pristine” water they are selling has been put into plastic bottles. I’d say it’s not pristine anymore.
  2. It’s been transported from across the world at a great cost. It’s not supporting your local economy for sure.
  3. It takes oil to make plastic bottles…a lot.
  4. Do you know the difference between purfied water, distilled water and spring water? What about glacial water? Tap water? The bottled water business is glad you don’t.
  5. People in Sub-Saharan Africa don’t even have tap water and luxury bottled water sales are ever increasing. Does that seem right?

A recent New York Times article detailing the turning tide is here: bottled water consumption.