RECOVER: 10/9/15 Dose & Response

More on Load: Dose, Response

Spoiler summary - "enough" to prevent one thing and "not too much" to prevent another

Greetings!

There's just so much going on in the world it can be hard to keep track of it all....and, with all the "negative" that seems to make headlines, sometimes you may wonder if it's healthy to even try.  Yet, amongst the tragedies and the presidential politics, two really important scientific studies (and 1 cool video) were making news and they both related to the concept of "balanced load".  

Now, for purposes of recall, I'm not referring to balancing a load that you're carrying to avoid straining something -- which makes a ton of sense in its own right -- rather, I'm referring to the idea that for the body to thrive, it needs to be under enough load; that even though too much load can lead to strain, a body that is completely unloaded gets weak and health suffers.  I used astronauts as an example and talked about how much can go wrong when the body doesn't experience load - check out this video to see how NASA is wrestling with the problem on the trip to Mars. 

So if you were searching what you would've found was this:

1. Not enough load (in this case exercise load, about 4x what's previously been recommended) is linked to a greater risk of heart failure and

2. Too much load ( in this case inflammatory load from tobacco products) is linked to sharp rise in risk for diabetes.....and although this risk can be reversed by quitting, it takes a while.

What does this tell us?  The human "machine" is not weak....but it does require care, in the right amount.  We can't beat it up and expect it will bounce back forever....and at the same time, there appears to be some truth to the old saying "if you rest.....you rust".