Category: Health & Well Being

Weight A Minute, Where’s My Cardio???

After several years of writing this blog, it should come as no surprise to anyone who reads it regularly that I’m a firm fitness advocate. I’m no Olympian or anything (Shut up! I heard that! You know who you are!) but I work hard to try and stay healthy, especially in light of having Type-1 Diabetes for over four decades. It started years ago with karate and slowly evolved into some cardio training and light weights. Like any fighting sport, karate requires that a practitioner have a reasonable amount of cardio in order to keep up with the rigours of martial arts. Some weightlifting is required in order to maintain one’s strength. So that begs the question: which is more important? Cardio or strength training?

The thing with any form of exercise is that one always believes that their way is the best way. People who focus on resistance training will always assume that resistance training is the best. People who focus on cardio will assume that whatever they do, running, cycling, swimming or whatnot, will swear that cardio is the only way. Realistically, karate is the only best way… (see what I mean?) But seriously, people will always assume that their direction is the only one but the reality is simpler than that. Proper and effective fitness will require both.

If all you do is weight lift, you may gain some static strength but it will have no practical application. Unless you’re trying to body build professionally, weightlifting is usually best done in moderate doses. The larger and more rounded your muscle groups become, the less flexibility and range of motion you’ll have. Picture those huge body builders who can’t remove that post-it note from between their shoulder blades. That’d be pretty easy shit for a person with normal muscle mass. That’s why in general and especially if you do karate, you should limit your strength training to developing actual strength and not necessarily increasing your overall size.

If all you do is cardio, you’ll have great stamina, great endurance and be able to hold out under your own body weight for extended periods of time. But you’ll need to run, if someone strong tries to get their hands on you. The caveat is that intensive cardio training will actually contribute to a bit of strength training. You can’t be a long-distance runner or a marathon swimmer without some strength thrown in there, right? But ultimately, you’ll still need some strength training included in your overall routine. Here’s where I get to brag a bit and mention that karate promotes and provides both of those things.

No matter what type of workouts you prefer, you should always work to include all types. You need some cardio. You need some strength training. And if you do martial arts, you need them both. Whether you integrate both aspects into one workout or do them separately… I like doing a routine where I’ll do my weight sets with a couple of minutes of high-intensity cardio in between. It keeps my heart rate up and makes the workout all the more challenging. If you’re doing cardio as a standalone workout, it’s important to remember that besides the normally-expected benefits of cardio, getting that heart rate up and increasing your blood flow will also help with muscle recovery from your strength training. Food for thought… ☯️

A Little Sweat Does You Good…

Last Tuesday, I enjoyed my usual routine. this routine entails working through my lunch then making my way down to my office tower’s gymnasium to make use of their cardio machines. Last year, I found a neoprene hoodie in the clearance section of a local sporting equipment retail shop. The tag boasted increasing the body’s core temperature to shed excess water weight and maintain muscle warmth. I purchased my size online and received it a short while later, performing multiple cardio workouts and loving the increased sweat and burn I got from wearing it.

The concept is pretty simple; the garment increases your core temp, causing excess sweating and shedding water weight as well as an increased level of toxin elimination. On this occasion, I ran the elliptical until I started feeling faint. The beauty of this garment is it kind of holds everything in place and prevents all 2,000 parts of my dad-bod from joggling around violently as I run. I only put in 4 kilometres but it was enough of a sweat to tire me out for the night. The increased blood flow brought on from doing cardio work also allows for quicker recovery when taking a break from resistance training.

This garment was a bit on the costly side, having been ordered online from a discontinued product line. But you can find them quite easily in most sporting goods stores, as well as from your local big box retail locations. They won’t all fit snuggly like mine does. In fact, some of them will almost seem like you’re wearing a couple of large garbage bags over your body. But the benefits can be plentiful, so long as you remember to replenish your body’s fluids as you lose them. ☯️

To Gym Or Not To Gym, That Is The Question…

Good health & fitness habits can and should be considered a life-long commitment. Although I’m certain some people do, one should never sit back and say, “I’m no longer exercising” and let their health and fitness go completely to the wayside. The effects of a sedentary lifestyle can be seen and felt over an extremely short period of time and for someone with Type-1 Diabetes especially, it can cause damage to the body that will not only make life difficult but could potentially be deadly, as well.

That’s why it’s important, whether you have Diabetes or not, to maintain a reasonable level of fitness in one’s life. It can get difficult at times, with the stresses and rigours of life often getting in the way. The irony is working out will usually help to alleviate some of those concerns and stresses. But like the little engine that could, getting oneself started can often be the issue. However, once you get started and have a healthy combination of workout types, the rewards can be phenomenal. W

hen I say workout types, I mean that everyone should incorporate resistance training and cardio somewhere in their routine, despite what some diehard fitness folks may say. Weightlifters will obviously swear by resistance training, runners, swimmers and the like will swear by cardio and martial artists will swear by karate classes. And although that’s a normal instinct, everyone should have a bit of everything, despite what they “specialize” in. So, that raises an important question: What’s better? At home or at a gym?

Over the decades, I’ve had the opportunity to do both. I’ve had fitness equipment at home, I’ve done karate at home and I’ve paid tuitions and fees to do either of those at professional locations outside my home. I often go back and forth like a balanced scale rocking from one end to the other, and I’ve come to find advantages and disadvantages to either one. And now I’m going to share some of them…

1. Cost: Obviously, there’s a certain amount of inherent cost to joining a gym or karate class. And with the rising cost of everything these days, membership fees and tuition costs are going up as well. Without accounting for inflation, I spent thousands of dollars on karate tuition over the decades, and in recent years, I would have knocked out the same amount over a period of about five years instead of twenty. Training at home means you don’t have to pay for the locale and can work out at your leisure, on your own schedule and when you choose. But working out from home may lack a few things, bringing me to my next point…

2. Resources: There’s no arguing that your local gym will have equipment that the average person would likely never have in their home. I stand by the concept that one can get a solid sweat by doing a body-weight-only workout, but there are definite advantages and benefits from using specialized equipment that either helps with certain lifting techniques or promotes better growth. Of course, the caveat is that depending on how long you train for, you may be able to invest membership fees into purchasing your equipment, which you then own.

3. Environment: I’ll be honest; training in a dojo is far superior to training at home, alone. Besides the fact that there’s only so much you can do by yourself (kind of hard to fight with no opponent), there’s also the ambiance to consider. Training around other people can be more pleasant than training alone and certainly rewarding. Especially if there’s aspects of your fitness that you need help with. Google can’t always answer everything, right?

4. Autonomy and Cleanliness: One thing that can get annoying when training or working out at a commercial location is the possibility of others using the particular piece of equipment you need/want. This is especially annoying when they’re not really using the equipment but congregating next to it in order to chat. You wouldn’t think so but this same concept happens within a dojo, depending on the class. At home, you don’t have such disadvantages. And lastly, working out at home allows you to use your own shower without the fear of whoever else’s funk you may get on you, using public facilities.

So, there you have it. There’s some good and bad to either method of training. Working out from home or in a public facility has some good, some bad and some ugly. No matter which method you choose, it’ll likely cost you SOMETHING and will require a significant commitment on your part. ☯️

Commando: A Review (Heavy Spoilers)

It feels like I’m writing a fair bit of reviews on films and television series… And that’s because I am! No big secret, I’m a fan of a god flic, especially something that was aired in the good ol’ 1980’s. There’s just something about that decade that’s near and dear to my heart; likely the fact that my formative years took place during that decade. But there’s something about watching a solid action film that doesn’t stress out too much about the script or even the plot points and focuses on plenty of action and explosions. 1985’s Commando, starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, is no exception.

Commando tells the story of a retired Special Forces commander named John Matrix who lives a secluded, quiet life with his young daughter, who just happens to be played by Alyssa Milano. I was a HUGE “Who’s the Boss” fan, so Milano is just the icing on the cake. Their lives are disturbed when members of Matrix’s team are systemically killed and the military assumes Matrix is next, and warns him. Matrix’s daughter is kidnapped and Matrix is blackmailed into performing a heinous act to get her back. Of course, instead of complying, Matrix becomes a one-man army of vengeance as he works to getting his daughter back.

I’d like to say the movie still totally holds up to modern times. The truth is that I likely only think so because I was a child of the 80’s. Most people nowadays likely wouldn’t get the references and comedy behind all the violence. Basically, Matrix makes his way back and enlists the help of an unwitting flight attendant who not only helps him gear up and get equipped to rescue his daughter but ends up being a key point to the story. It should be noted that the girl’s mother is never mentioned or referenced during the movie.

The movie reaches its climax when Matrix flies to a remote, private island where he absolutely decimates an army of opposing soldiers who are guarding the antagonist holding Matrix’s daughter hostage. Although I’m sure there are plenty of forums and discussion threads that would identify the impossibilities or inconsistencies of what takes place in this movie, sometimes it’s important to just sit back and enjoy the ride. This movies does just that, providing a gratuitous amount of action scenes while managing not to take itself too seriously.

As one would expect from a classic 80’s action movie, matrix rescues his daughter, annihilates everyone in sight and manages to kill the bad and save the day. The movie ends on a pretty cheesy note, with matrix marching down to the beachfront where U.S. Army forces storm the beach and somehow immediately recognize Matrix as a friendly, despite the fact that majority of them likely never served with him. He’s permitted to simply walk away and fly off with his daughter and newfound “associate,” without any debrief or information on what went down during his time on the island.

Honestly, it’s a pretty fun thrill ride, if you can get past the dated format of the movie and its plot points. It’s a guilty pleasure of mine, worthy of being included among classics like Conan the Barbarian, Predator and Red Sonja (yeah, I said it! Fight me!) I know not many people were pleased with Brigitte Nielsen’s portrayal of the famous, red-haired comic book heroine, but I think it totally stands up. If you’re looking for something action-packed, fun and easy to watch on a Saturday night, Commando is currently streaming on Disney+ and I highly recommend it. ☯️

There’s No Gym Like Home…

Over the past few years, I’ve had the pleasure of enjoying a certain level of fitness within my own home. Over time, I accumulated enough equipment that I could get a decent sweat going in my home. Due to different circumstances at different times, my workout areas have been taken apart and dismantled. A few years ago when my basement shifted and I had to have it demolished and braced, i moved my workout area to the garage. That was okay for a while, but colder weather made it problematic. Plus, everything that was in the basement had to be stored somewhere.

When the basement was completely braced and secure, I bought a bunch of floor matting and created a makeshift dojo in my basement. Once again, when the time came to renovate and rebuild the basement (it was down to bare concrete) I had to pack up the floor mats and I lost my workout area once again. Given that I was stuck at home and contemplating a job back in New Brunswick, I sold off most of my equipment in anticipation of moving away. When that didn’t happen, I found myself in a position where I didn’t have many options at home. Body weight workouts will only get you so far.

Last year, I learned that one of the benefits of my job is a flex benefit that can be used on anything fitness or health related. Although I used that flex benefit on my karate tuition last year, I didn’t need it for that this time around. Instead, I chose to use it to purchase a bunch of fitness equipment for my newly-renovated basement. As you can from the photo above, we have new flooring, newly-drywalled walls and a drop ceiling with recessed lighting. A full bathroom with a standup shower is included. Listen to me, I sound like I’m advertising my basement for rent.

I started with a simple curling bar and some weight plates. From there, I got the bench, straight bar and more plates. The half bosu is useful for lunges, squats and developing balance. 10-pound ankle weights, a weighted vest and a set of kettlebells completed the set-up. I also grabbed some heavier dumbbells as the ones I had were starting to lack a certain, shall we say, challenge. Combining all of this has given me the opportunity for a number of different workouts while keeping everything fresh and new. The small table in the corner holds my phone cradle that allows me to play music while I exercise.

I don’t think I need to stress the importance of exercise and proper fitness to someone who lives with Type-1 Diabetes. Proper diet and blood sugar control aren’t enough. You gotta keep that engine revving. It’s like the simple formula of life that I discovered, decades ago. Life brings movement. Movement brings energy. Energy brings life. Eliminate any of those three and it’s a recipe to end one’s life. Good movement is integral to good health. And working out at home is awesome! There’s no better gym than the one you create for yourself. Food for thought… ☯️

“Wine-ing” About Carbs…

Having Diabetes makes almost everything food and fitness-related more difficult. That’s why when I find something that boasts being “sugar-free,” I jump on that shit like, well… me! I’ve been fooled on a number of different occasions, where things like sugar-free candy still have carbohydrates that affect overall blood sugar levels. This is part of the struggle that most people don’t understand. That’s why, when I found a bottle of wine boasting “0g sugar,” I couldn’t help but grab a bottle. Although several different blends were available, I opted for the Pinot Noir, since it was on special and a couple of dollars cheaper. What can I say? I’m cheap…

Bask is a Canadian-made wine that appears to be recently featured at my local liquor store. Sitting at 12.5% alcohol ( as though you couldn’t tell from the photo), this pinot noir has a pleasant taste and a light finish that goes quite well after stuffing my face with buffalo chicken dip and nachos. But I digress… Unlike most other wines, there’s a full nutrition label on the back of the bottle, which boasts 7 grams of carbs per 188mL, which means approximately 21 grams of carbohydrates for the entire bottle. If accurate, that’s almost more than double the carbs in the bottle of shiraz I usually purchase.

So, the irony here, and what’s difficult for most Type-1 Diabetics, is that many are often fooled by a claim that something is “0g of sugar” or sugar-free. Although sugar in and of itself may be low or excluded, the total carbs will still affect one’s overall blood sugars. It will be interesting to see how this bottle affects me. I’m not bolusing for the drinks I’m having but rather, I’ll correct for any rises in blood glucose that I note in the next hour or two. What’s funny is that the nutritional label even talks about the sugar content that MAY be contained within…

By that count, there could potentially be 2 grams of sugar within one full bottle. This would be included in the total 21 grams of carbs, based on the nutrition label’s count. It’s a decent wine, the flavour isn’t my favourite but it’s good enough for the experiment at hand. Plus, it gave me a reason to sip wine. Not this morning, mind you. But let this serve as a PSA for all my fellow Diabetics out there. “Sugar-free,” “No Sugar Added” and “All Natural” may mean nothing, in terms of total carbohydrates and how it may affect one’s blood sugar. Food for thought… (pun fully intended) ☯️

If You Can’t Block The Noise, Cancel It…

I’ve often written about how hard it can be to find moments of silence within one’s day to meditate or even just to let one’s head cool after a long day’s work. This is especially true if one has a family with small children who want your attention once you finally walk through the door. That’s where noise-cancelling headphones come in. Just to be clear, I don’t mean earbuds. Earbuds have got to be the stupidest damn thing I’ve ever used. At least headphones from the 80’s and 90’s would muffle some noise but earbuds don’t do much (at least for me) other than get jammed inio one’s ears and push earwax further. But I digress…

On my last birthday (which was September 11th, thanks for remembering), I decided to do the responsible thing and look for something that could count towards a birthday gift from my family that I could use for work, at home and for fitness. I landed on wireless headphones made by JBL, their Live model 660NC. I didn’t land on these easily. In fact, I looked up a number of different headphones from a number of different locations in order to land on a set that I felt would provide me with what I needed. After travelling the city and searching online, I landed on JBL, which ironically, is the same brand of Bluetooth speaker I’ve been dragging around with me for years.

I finally landed on purchasing from a local retail outlet and found the set I wanted. I was lucky enough to find them on special. According to BestBuy’s website, “Featuring adaptive noise cancelling technology, they avoid the interference of unwanted ambient noise to deliver loud and clear audio. Easily customize the settings and features of the headphones in the My JBL Headphones app.” Although a bit pricey (I paid a couple of hundred for mine), they would prove to be a life saver in terms of daily life and bring some much-needed peace in a chaotic and noisy world.

When purchasing this product, you get a USB-C charging cable for easy recharging, an audio cable for those devices you can’t connect through Bluetooth, and a nifty carrying case. The cushioned ear pads fit comfortably over the ears and block out all ambient noise, with multiple settings available through the JBL app, which I also downloaded and seems to work great. I use the headphones at work when trying to concentrate, I use them for workouts (some routines require some alcohol-based cleaning afterwards) and I even use them when doing dishes or chores around the house to block out noise and allow my head to cool.

Sometimes I listen to green or pink noise to allow my head to cool. Sometimes I listen to music or even binge-watch my favourite shows on my favourite streaming service. The benefit of having wireless headphones is I can wander and get things done without worrying that the cord will pull my phone or device off whatever surface it’s laying on. It’s definitely a good alternative for those who live in an environment where blocking out the noise is necessary or needed. Although the JBL LIVE660NC works well for me, the important thing is to find a set that fit well over YOUR ears and provide the benefits and features that you want. ☯️

Movember Update

Alright folks, here we are! The middle of November. On October 30th, I posted that once again this year, my team and I would be raising money for Movember, which is a registered charity aimed at men’s health, prostate and testicular cancer as well as suicide prevention. I know some folks find it odd that I would be lobbying for such a charity, especially since I have Type-1 Diabetes AND November is generally considered Diabetes Awareness Month. But the truth is, I raise awareness for Diabetes all year round with my writing and through discussed education with others. No, the month of November is when I can take four weeks ot attack something else that’s near and dear to me.

Decades ago, my grandfather was diagnosed with prostate cancer. It was long enough ago that I didn’t fully understand the situation. Hell, I had no clue what a prostate was, let alone the fact that I had one. When Movember came out, I decided right away to start participating. The best thing is that I was always part of a team that gathered together to raise funds as a group, which always made things easier. For the pst two years, I’ve gone it alone along with a few people at my work. Although we tend to donate ourselves in order to participate in moustache growth, we depend on outside donations in order to reach our very modest goals.

All we’re trying to raise is $500 and let’s be honest; you guys don’t come on my blog to be solicited for donations. But you should also recognize that I’m not typically one to solicit as a general rule. But this is a great cause and despite the fact that we’re only halfway through the month, we’re also only at about halfway of our total goal of $500. I know times are tough and everyone has their hand out, these days. But honestly, any little bit will help. Hell, if you can only donate $5 or even $1, it all goes towards the ultimate goal. This is where I ask for some help…

Please visit the Movember website. Once there, you’ll find a button at the top right corner that says “Donate.” Click on it and select “Find a Person or Team” and type in my name (Shawn Cook). There, you can donate anonymously or put your name and information in, should you need a tax receipt. It couldn’t be simpler. Prostate cancer is reasonably avoidable, provided men get themselves examined and checked on a regular basis and take the steps for self-care. I know this post will go to my Facebook as well and given the number of friends and followers I have, my hope and expectation is that at least some of you will step up to the plate. Help me help others… ☯️

Little Moments Of Silence

One of the most difficult aspects of adult life is finding moments of silence. Between work, kids and the rigours of daily life, finding a quiet moment to let your head cool can be a difficult aspect, at best. When I was a teenager, I didn’t appreciate those mornings when I could roll out of bed, have some breakfast and things within my home were nice and quiet. I used to think about how boring it was and how I would have loved to have something more to do on those mornings. besides work. Once I got a job, I started to miss those dull, quiet mornings. That feeling never goes away.

As the decades have melted away, I’ve learned to meditate and find the value in silence. But that silence has become fleeting. on mornings that i work, I don’t have the time to enjoy the silence within the house. I prep meals, shower, shave and get dressed before rushing out of the house. The irony is I often have moments of silence in my office; at least a couple of hours’ worth in the morning, depending on meetings. But silence doesn’t hold quite the same quality as it does when you’re at work.

On the weekends, I tend to sleep in (if one can truly call 9 am sleeping in) and usually all I want to make my weekends complete is to sip back that first load of caffeine, watch a few episodes of a preferred show and let my body relax after a week of work. However, since my children don’t usually get to see me in the mornings throughout the week, they have different plans on the weekends. The fact that I usually camp out in the basement with Nathan means nothing. once the morning comes around, both kids think it’s their complete and uncontested duty to pile on top of me and make as much noise as humanly possible. Brutal.

We always make a point of taking the boys to something that allows them to burn some energy and interact with other kids. This weekend, we brought them to Klimerz, and indoor play structure. It always amazes me how after two straight hours of playing, they still objected to leaving and had energy left to burn. Ah, to be young again. I seem to be rambling but the point is that no matter how busy your life gets, never forget to find a few moments of silence to let your head cool. Everyone needs it. Not everyone works to get it. ☯️

I’m Talkin’ About Pressure…

In my most recent visit to the endocrinologist, it was revealed that my blood pressure was quite high. This came as a quite a surprise, since although it tends to be a tad higher than normal, it’s never really been quite as high as it was during this appointment. Although some have suggested that I may be suffering from “white coat syndrome,” where a patient’s stress levels and anxiety are directly affected by the presence of a doctor, I don’t believe this is accurate since I not only enjoy being told how good I am at controlling Diabetes but my visits to the endocrinologist have always been very pleasant and stress-free. So I’m not particularly prescribed to that suggestion.

To put things into context, a normal blood pressure reading for the average person is about 127/80 mmMg, depending on what source you cite or what medical professional you’re talking to. Certainly, the 120’s over the high 70’s to low 80’s seems o be the standard everywhere and has remained as such pretty much since the 1970’s. So let’s get into some of the basics; what the hell is blood pressure? Well, simply put, blood pressure is considered the pressure of the blood circulating in one’s arteries against the surface of one’s blood vessels. Medical professionals will generally use one’s blood pressure readings in combination with a number of other health measurements to assess overall health and diagnose certain conditions.

So what do the numbers mean? Well, according to an article posted by the Mayo Clinic, the top number is referred to systolic pressure, which measures the force one’s heart exerts every time it beats. The bottom number is diastolic pressure, which measures the pressure one’s blood exerts on the walls of the blood vessels between beats. Knowing these definitions and recognizing the normal range as somewhere in the 120/80 range, my blood pressure that day was 164/86, putting me in what the same article classifies as Stage 2 Hypertension. A part of the issue that was identified was my apparent lack of a second preventative pill in the afternoon. The jury is still out if this is genuinely my mistake or my pharmacy’s, but it has since been corrected.

What I find entertaining is that since then, I’ve been taking measures pains to ensure I measure my blood pressure at home and at whatever pharmacy I casually happen to be walking by. For the most part, my readings have been normal. The joke is that I haven’t yet filled the prescription that was missing but my blood pressure is suspiciously back to normal? Maybe I DO have white-coat syndrome… My suggestion that perhaps their measurement device’s batteries were low was summarily ignored. But numbers from everywhere else don’t lie; my blood pressure is hovering in the normal range.

So why is all of this so important? Well, because on top of a pancreas that threw in the towel against its own body’s immune system decades ago, I have a plethora of secondary health issues to deal with that are directly affected by Diabetes. Good heart health is one of them. And high blood pressure can contribute to strokes, heart attacks, heart failure and can even play a role in kidney failure. Recognize some of those issues? You should… They all relate to someone with Type-1 Diabetes, which is why it’s so important to maintain a good control of one’s blood pressures. My body is fucked up enough, I don’t need to help the outlying issues along.

You would think that by virtue of what I’ve written above that low blood pressure would be okay but it really isn’t much better. Someone with increased and steady low blood pressure will usually suffer from dizzy spells, headaches, fainting and blurred vision, to name a few. I wasn’t able to find any sources that name what the long term effects of low blood pressure may be, but it isn’t a good thing. That being said, there are some folks who live normally with lower blood pressure and it’s generally the “normal” for them. As with all things health-related, every person is different, so you should visit your doctor if you think it’s an outlying concern.

All in all, it’s been one more thing for me to dutifully test and monitor frequently because, you know, I don’t have enough on my fucking plate! Thanks, Diabetes. But seriously, as stubborn as I can be and as much as I don’t like change, it takes a mere minute to test and document my blood pressure and ensure that I’m still hovering in the normal range. Keeping an eye on it can mean the difference between better health and better longevity or further health problems down the road. So, if you’re an adult and you happen to notice that blood pressure cuff in the grocery store or pharmacy, take a second, sit down and jam your arm in there. One minute now can save bigger problems later. Food for thought… ☯️