Adaptation

Why is High  Blood Pressure called the “Silent Killer?”

Because you never hear it coming….

It’s like the old chuck Norris joke…

“Chuck Norris’ tears can cure cancer.  Too bad he never cry’s.”

Or

“Chuck Norris once counted to infinity… twice.”

In all seriousness our bodies are built to adapt to all manner of stress.  We often think of stress as associated with psychological or emotional stress.  Managing difficult situations in our life or job can be incredibly stressful, but stress is often physical.

Working as a personal trainer, I’ve become an expert on prescribing movement stress.  Yes, Stress.  I say stress because the basic tenant of training is to introduce stimulus to a person’s body (i.e.: strength / endurance / flexibility training) with the idea that we are “injuring” them on a very small level.  I’ve often told people that the difference between soreness after a workout and an injury is the degree of tearing (of muscle fiber).  It is our goal to introduce the right kind of stimulus in order to avoid injury and to promote the right kind of soreness.  

So we rely very heavily on someone’s immune system to clean up the “stress” that we induce.  And the body is EXCELLENT at cleaning it up.  We adjust to the activity or “stress” that we induce and it no longer has the same effect on us.  Surely anyone who has exercised can attest to the difference between the first time you do something and the 10^th time.  Not only are you “skilled” at the exercise, but you no longer have the same ill effect of the work when you started (soreness / tiredness / etc.).

But this idea of stress goes toward other stress too.  Emotional, psychological, or physical stress can all slowly get adapted.  Case in point:  high blood pressure.  The pressure of the heart when it pumps blood in and out is a perfect indicator of fitness.  After all, the heart has learned to rest while still working so its health is pretty important.  Sometimes the indicators of poor heart health (in the name of high blood pressure) can be very small: slight discomfort, headache, or nausea.  This can go on for YEARS!  

My mother is a perfect example.  Because she developed diabetes after my youngest sister’s birth, my mother had a choice to make.   Should she take care of herself to control her diabetes or would she let diabetes control her life.  Sadly, although my mother had moments of inspiration (like most people) she wasn’t consistent enough in her habits to control her diabetes and she passed just shy of her 56^th birthday.  She adjusted her life to her discomfort not her discomfort to her life.  

We see this all the time at the physical therapy clinic I work part time.  People have an injury which starts out small, and slight.   Slowly over time, instead of acknowledging the problem and attempting to solve it (which could delay an activity or desired result) we continue to irritate the discomfort until….. WHAM.   We’re injured and no longer functional in our lives.

I’d like to urge everyone to take a PROACTIVE approach to their health.  Do you know your blood pressure?  If not, Find out.  Typically your local Wal-Mart or pharmacy have blood pressure cuffs available.  
 

Do you know your resting heart rate? 

(The resting heart rate can be calculated over 3 days.  As soon as you wake up before you move, feel for your pulse in your wrist.  Count the number of beats starting with 0, 1, 2...etc for 10 seconds and multiply by 6.  Do this for 3 days, add the numbers up and divide by 3.  That’s your “True” resting Heart Rate.)

Don’t let the silent killer take away years of your life.  Master the discomforts to your life, not your life to the discomfort.  

Mo-Tate.  Motivate your life to motion.