What are your thoughts on this concept of homeostasis?
This was a fantastic episode. I think that this principle really defines how amazing the human body is. Most folks underlie the fact that our bodies will fight tooth and nail to maintain homeostasis. Knowing this and with the knowledge ya’ll put forth in this episode, we can put it to use to build fitness and strength! Thanks as always for the insights and education that you all provide on this platform.
I think it’s the key to both health and performance and ultimately whether you finish in ultra distance events.
You keep pushing and amplitude and frequency of disturbance grows in homeostasis
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You can no longer keep warm and shiver in conditions where you were fine before
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Your digestion shuts down and / or you throw up.
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You stop sweating in hot conditions and can no longer keep cool
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Your muscles fatigue and can no longer produce the same force / power as before
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Your lips become chapped, dry and crack
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You can no longer raise your heart in response to the demands of the event
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Your neck muscles can no longer hold your head up and you develop Shermer’s neck
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Your Achilles becomes inflamed and you develop tendonitus.
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When you try to rest and recover and sleep you no longer can because you’ve pushed the disturbance too far.
The list goes on. What ultra endurance experience brings is the ability to be consciously aware of what is out of homeostasis early on, when both the amplitude and frequency of disturbance is low. Tackle the disturbance early and you can bring it under control, and prevent it escalating to an event ending situation. Let the disturbances grow in both amplitude and frequency and you may have left it too late to recover.
Listening to what your body is telling you, is essentially listening to the voices of homeostasis disturbance and knowing what it means and what you should do.
When you get used to ignoring those voices, in order to complete an event, it can put you seriously out of homeostasis, leading to any of the above, injury or illness.
Mario, very kind of you to say that! It’s a topic near and dear to my heart, so we put a lot of work into that one. I’ve been stressing that it wouldn’t turn out well. Thanks for helping me to sleep a little better!
Trevor