Pre-Work One-Hour Mental Training

Oct. 28, 2021

Immanuel Kant is known for his highly routinized life style. Daily writing and daily walking were two of his regular daily activities. He kept such regular hours that local people are said to have corrected their clocks by observing Immanuel's activities. What a man of habit!

Immanuel Kant (1724-1804)

Inspired by this great 18th century German thinker, I try to maintain some good habits myself. One of them is reading. Another is writing. Yet another is exercising. As result, I tend to write about what I read. Also, I tend to write about what I do to stay in shape. Today I am going to write about what I read. 

This morning I read two email magazines that I subscribe to. One is by Takashi Harada. The other is by Satoshi Aoko. I would like to report what they say and discuss what I think about each.

<Takashi Harada's Email Magazine: Ideal Work Environment>

What is an ideal work environment for you? Takashi discusses it this week. The concept itself covers a wide range of factors. But this week Takashi focuses on psychological factors. How do psychological environments affect your work, especially your productivity?  A large-scare survey was conducted by his company using questionnaires. It revealed that two key emotions vitally affect productivity. They are:

1) anxiety

2) feeling of importance

In other words, when there is little worry, people work better. Also, people feel important, they work better. Both seem so obvious. But in the past it seems common in Japan that someone in managerial position would try to control her or his workers with fear by hinting at demotion. Also, it was so common in TV dramas that someone in managerial position would criticize her or his workers in brutally harsh words which by modern standard could hardly be acceptable.

So, two key psychological factors: anxiety and feeling of importance. They affect productivity. If you want everyone to willingly work hard and be more productive, everyone should do their best to eliminate fear and make everyone feel important. How? That's what each one of us should think.

<Satoshi Aoki's Email Magazine: Never Forget Your Roots>

What are your roots? Satoshi asks you. He asks you this because he believes it's important if you want success with your career. His company is so focused on helping people make success. From what I understand by reading many of his books, two things are important if you want success in life. One, know what you want. Two, do what you must do to get that thing which you want. Very simple. 

Then, where does this "know your roots" thing fit? In my personal opinion, it has to do with energy. It has to do with ever-self-recharging motivational batteries that carry you through ups and downs toward your goal. You can also call it cause or purpose. Why am I doing what I'm doing now?

For example, I am an English teacher. I enjoy what I do. Well, most of the time. At times, a feeling of frustration engulfs me. On very rare occasions do I experience a feeling of meaninglessness, though it doesn't last long. A reason why such negative emotions creep into my mind is often physical fatigue resulting from overwork. But I always overcome such a negative state of mind-body, and recover resiliently and rise to important daily challenges again. What enables me to do that? Well, the answer is my roots. I know why I became a teacher, why I am still being a teacher, and why I will continue to be a teacher. This notion of "my roots" automatically recharges my mind-body's batteries and allows me to keep on going. 

So, what are your roots? I would like to write about mine someday. Today I have already used up the entire one-hour that I allocate myself for daily writing routine. So long for now, folks. Will write more soon.

Post-Work One-Hour Bike Ride for Rehabilitation

Oct. 27, 2021

21.8 K: 1:05:49 

It was such an awesome day today. It started with some in-bed lying leg workout that I had begun a few weeks before as a way to avoid further complication of my left knee issue. Former physical trainer for the New York Mets, Jeff Cavaliere says in one of his You Tube videos that a knee injury is primary caused by some abnormal tension onto the knee joint, and it often stems from a weakness in the hip joint. The leg workout mentioned above focuses just on that, the hip joint. What I do is that I bend one of my knees and spread it wide outward, and then bring it back inward as I eventually straighten the knee and squeeze the leg farther inward so that the inner thigh contracts. I do it 20 reps with both right and left legs. 

Two lessons that I taught in the evening were both great. I had an awesome time listening to my students. They seemed to have fun also. 

I got a video recorded for a coming corporate seminar. It is one of my top priorities for this week. So, its completion means a lot to me. 

Then finally, I wrapped up the day with an hour-long bike ride as I listened to my favorite audio, Brian Tracy's "Eat That Frog", which guides you out of an ineffective habit of procrastination and constant frustration of constantly feeling buried with work.  The gist of his lecture is this: get on with the most important and relevant task first till you complete it no matter how challenging it may be, instead of giving in to the temptation of finishing small and easy, but insignificant tasks at first.  

Midnight One-Hour Bike Ride for Rehabilitation

Oct. 21, 2021

21.8  K: 1:05:05

As the funky discomfort in my left knee subsides, I feel I'm getting stronger and stronger each day. Five nights ago I biked 18 K, four nights ago 11.8 K, yesterday, 17.6 K, and tonight I covered 21.8 K! 

I've been successfully increasing my cycling distance over this course of time. Meanwhile, there is little discomfort in my recovering left knee. I feel increasingly confident about continuing along this line, making it a habit to do an-hour bike ride for daily long, slow, cardio. It's a tentative alternative to an-hour jog that I used to do before injury.  

While cycling, I listened to Brian Tracy's audio to refresh my memory of effective self-management. A series of 7 seminars over a period of 4 months is just going to begin soon. I want to refresh my knowledge by putting some new information into my brains. An-hour bike ride gives me a great opportunity to do just that.   

Midnight Bike Ride

Oct. 20, 2021

17:62 K: 57:01

I went out for a bike ride after work tonight. It was for a little less than an hour. I rode the one in the pic. It's one of the two road racers I have. The one I rode on my previous ride is aluminum. This one is chromium molybdenum steel. It's heavier than aluminum, but more flexible. It's superior to aluminum in its ability to absorb shock. I prefer this bike to the other bike, though I tend to ride the other one more often because this bike requires me to put on cycling shoes with cleats. It's too much hassle for a casual ride. But tonight I put on proper cycling shoes and hit the road on the chrome bike just because I wanted to get the feel for it after a long time. 

It took a while to get used to setting the cleat on the holder. I also almost forgot to release the cleat when making a stop, and almost fell on the side. 

Traffic was minimum since it's midnight, but it was scary at times because some car drivers passed me without keeping a safe distance off me. I learned to stop to let cars go and to start kicking the pedals again after they were gone. You don't want an accident, especially on a no-manned road past midnight.

I extended the riding distance from 11.8 K to a little more than 17 K. Total riding time almost reached an hour. Still far from my standard in terms of the expected training duration for long slow cardio exercise. But it's a good and steady improvement from the previous ride. 

I hope to ride for an hour next time.  

Midnight Half-Hour Bike Ride for Rehabilitation

Oct. 17, 2021

11.8 K: 33:28.27

The rain is gone. The moon is out. The rainy clouds carried with them the residual humidity of the autumnal rainy season. What is left behind is chilly and crisp air of mid fall. It was in this crisp cold air that I rode my bike into tonight.  

After doing interval training on bike yesterday I gained confidence in my ability to do more cardio workout that involves dynamic leg movements of greater intensity and resistance. 

As my doc friend suggested cycling as an athletic activity more friendly to my injured left knee, there is little discomfort with kicking the pedal with my left foot, not just on flat roads, but also when climbing hills. 

Today I only covered 11.8 K in 33 minutes. But soon I would like to make an hour of long slow cardio my daily routine just as I used to before injury. 

Midnight Bike Intervals

 Oct. 16, 2021

It's been almost 3 months since I developed medial meniscus injury. I observed my doctor friend's advice and avoided running over this course of time. Though my doc friend said it's a typical sign of aging and that I should not expect a dramatic recovery, I feel recovered enough to do some high intensity cardio workout, not of running of course, but by cycling, because it is one sport that the doc friend recommends instead of running (though I haven't entirely given up my hope of someday returning to running.

Tonight I did what I would sometimes do when I had a calf injury in the past--bike intervals. There is a 2 K straight road with moderate undulation about 3 K from home. I set my two interval times, one at 4 minutes and the other at 2 minutes. This allows me to kick the pedals for 4 minutes non-stop, and take a 2-minute break before the next intensive 4-minute ride. When I was preparing for a running race, I would at least do 8 sets, but tonight I settled for just 4 sets just to stay safe. I don't want to irrecoverably damage my left knee. 

After doing 4 reps, I rode the latter half of my favorite 10 K running training course, reflecting on the days I fiercely pushed myself beyond limits night after night...

I enjoyed the speed of road racer. But at the same time I miss those slow but metronomic steps of running, especially that heavy impact of striking the road, which in a way was a major cause of my knee injury.

Morning Walk & Morning Cooking

Oct. 14, 2021

I woke up to see a blue sky. After doing some leg exercises on futon, I threw myself into athletic wear and hit a nearby park. I walked slowly on a loop inside the park while listening to English. Several small groups of local elderlies were playing filed golf. Occasionally I passed or was passed by elderlies who distanced themselves from those engaged in the group activities. They are loners. Like me. 

After walking for 20 minutes, I crossed the street to another smaller park between apartment complexes. There are swings. I used them to do swing push-ups. The swings, of course, hang from a horizontal bar that is about 2 meters above the ground. Therefore it can be used to do chin-ups, although the bar is quite thick in diameter, and it makes it hard for me to hold on to it, but I take it as an added bonus. It builds your grip strength. 

A few rounds of push-ups and chin-ups got me reasonably out of breath. I returned to the larger park and made yet another lap around the loop to warm down while listening to English. 

It took about 45 minutes to do all this. By the time I got home I felt hungry like a wolf that hadn't eaten anything for weeks. I made the dish below to fill my empty stomach. 

 

Annual Check-Up Results and New Lifestyle

Oct. 8, 2021

My typical breakfast

The result of my annual medical check-up came back a couple of weeks ago. It was straight As. I feel relieved. Before the check-ups, a couple things had been on my mind. One, my sleep had been shorter and more frequently disrupted than in the previous year. Two, my left knee injury had kept me from running for quite a while. So how would that affect the check-up results…? The result shows that I have little to worry about. That is good news. I hope to stay healthy so that I can continue to enjoy what I do for a living.

 

Until my next annual, though, I feel I need to make a few minor adjustments in my life. This need comes from a few major changes that happened in my life over the last couple of weeks.

 

One is relocation of my office. My company moved into a smaller office at the beginning of October. It’s in a quiet neighborhood where you can see a forbidding-looking fence of the American Embassy across a small street. It’s a 10-minute walk from Metro Tameikesanno Station, halfway through an underpass and the rest of the way outside.

 

This has created a fairly different situation from what the previous office offered to me which was 30 seconds from the nearest station exit! An extra 10 minutes of walk gives me an extra 1.5 K walk as well as 20 minutes of oral & aural training in English daily sole during my commuting time. Though the extra distance forces me to leave home a little earlier than usual, I take the longer commute as an opportunity for self-discipline and personal development.

 

The second major change in my life that accompanies the relocation of office is working from home. I now work from home far more often than before. This has a striking impact on my overall lifestyle. For example, it gives me 3 to 4 more hours at home. If you are a fulltime housekeeper, you know what extra 3 to 4 hours enable you to do. I have a number of activities that I want to schedule in this newly created time slot. I would like to write about it some other time, because I must get off the train in a few minutes' time. Till then.

 

 

 

One Thing I Learned about How Our Knee Works: Synovial Fluid/Joint Fluid

 Oct. 7, 2021

When is my last post? I don't remember. A cursory look shows it's Sept. 13. I went out for a 6 K walk in bare feet in the still of the night. It'd been a month and a half since I felt an unusual pain in my left knee. It'd had also been a week since I had it MRI-ed at an orthopedic clinic run by a childhood friend of mine. He said it's a damage in my left medial meniscus. The doc friend says it's a sign of aging. A dramatic improvement cannot be expected. It's advisable that I go easy and do my best to preserve the slowing deteriorating aging knee element of mine. That advice I accepted humbly. 

While my issue was diagnosed at the visit, prescription was suspended. The doc friend mentioned the most typical prescriptions such as a hyaluronic acid injection, but he said, "Knowing you, you probably do your own research, and figure out what's best for you." He is right. I consider an injection of lubricant as a symptomatic treatment and you can only expect a temporary relief without, of course, suggesting that a temporary relief is bad. But I am looking for something sustainable without the injection of an external substance. 

I studied the mechanisms of how parts of a knee work together to enable smooth movements. Here is one of a number of things that I learned. Or at least I think I have learned:

<Synovial Fluid/Joint Fluid （滑液[かつえき]）>

It was a ground-breaking realization that your knee joint is filled with liquid. Not just an ordinary kind of liquid, but a special kind of liquid that lubricates many components that comprise your knee so that they smoothly coordinate with one another. 

While one of its jobs is lubrication, this fluid has another important job, which is healing in nature. When a part that makes up your knee is damaged, it is soon detected by a sensor. Detection of a sign of damage, in turn, leads to an increase in the amount of synovial fluid. I understand this is what happened when my medial meniscus was damaged. My knee sort of swell with joint liquid. 

Though I am yet to discover a good medical explanation of this phenomenon, from the perspective of someone who actually experienced a knee injury, there seems to be a practical benefit to this swell. 

One, your knee mobility is significantly limited. For example, right after the injury it suddenly became so hard for me to bend the injured knee. It became impossible for me to sit straight. I have no problem with my right knee. But since I could not do the same on the left side, I had to throw the left leg straight forward to sit on the floor while having my right knee fully bent with the heel touching the right hip with any problem. 

Immobility of the damaged knee works favorably for recovery, I presume. While no further damage is inflicted, my body's construction workers can concentrate on their repair work, procuring concrete blocks of calcium to the construction site and building them one next to and on top of another with cement. 

Compare the above situation with the same construction workers having to work in a tropical storm or scorching summer heat. Do you think they can work efficiently? Probably not. Therefore, an increase in synovial fluid achieve the dual purpose of creating inconvenient immobility for the patient and a convenient work environment for the physiological agents that are responsible for healing the damage!