Data Performance Live
Data Performance Live
Join Shaun Rolls and Ben Clinch in the latest Tour De France special episode of the Data Performance Live Podcast in a fascinating and practical discussion, with special guest Chris Blomfield-Brown, on how body temperature data can be used to greatly boost your performance. Used by many of the greatest endurance athletes, including all the major teams at the Tour de France, Core Body Temperature is a powerful way of measuring and learning to optimise heat management in the body.
Listen / Watch here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1_wGpBzBpnlvDiv7IzBx7cIMxiBLuzVK4/view?usp=sharing
Enjoy the conversation and learn more here:
https://corebodytemp.com/pages/how-to-use-core-temperature-data-for-training-and-racing
How To Train with CORE:
- Simple Heat Training for Cyclists
Episode 2: Data Performance SLEEP
Episode 2 is up - Data Performance Sleep: How to use wearables to understand sleep an optimise your performance
Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/624A1JfKQjGZTsSt4OiVKf
Show notes:
How to improve your ‘Sleep score’: Oura sleep score
Click here to for more on Oura sleep score explained
Whoop sleep explained : https://www.whoop.com/experience/sleep/
Whoop: Tracking sleep - Whoop
Screen shots from Shaun’s Oura and Ben’s Whoop as referenced in the podcast - click here to access:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/123sk11PocUJDzLWEEuAGTc-F4Z76kjT0?usp=share_link
How wearables and sleep help to optimize your performance. Part 1 - Understanding your sleep data.
Listen on spotify here: Link
Episode 2 is up - Data Performance Sleep: How to use wearables to understand sleep an optimise your performance
Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/624A1JfKQjGZTsSt4OiVKf
Show notes:
How to improve your ‘Sleep score’: Oura sleep score
Click here to for more on Oura sleep score explained
Whoop sleep explained : https://www.whoop.com/experience/sleep/
Whoop: Tracking sleep - Whoop
Screen shots from Shaun’s Oura and Ben’s Whoop as referenced in the podcast - click here to access:
Whoop and Oura screenshots: Whoop / Oura screenshots
Data + Performance =When our 2 Passions Collide
New Data Performance Live Podcast is up Episode #1 with your hosts Shaun Rolls and Ben Clinch
Listen on Spotify: Listen here
Watch on Youtube: Watch here
Show notes:
Oura -Ouraring.com
Whoop band: https://www.whoop.com/
What is a knowledge graph :
https://www.stardog.com/knowledge-graph/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SHALKGHrqds
ARE YOU OK?
It all begins with an idea.
Issue #1: MANAGING STRESS- ANXIETY - YOUR HEALTH
November 10, 2020 BY SHAUN ROLLS
Topics: Stress, anxiety, panic attacks, holistic health, sustainable wellness, better life.
THE YEAR of the Covid beast has definitely piled a weight of monumental changes onto our shoulders with most people challenged by unrelenting and widespread stress . No doubt about that. Stress levels that have raged like burning fires have pushed most of us to limits rarely experienced before.
For some, stress has been like a flickering flame that we have managed to cope with and keep contained. While for others the flames have been raging out of control and leaving many trapped with no relief!
Thankfully there is HOPE! Things can and will gradually get better and it starts here with focusing firstly on YOU! This is where I am here to offer my help to YOU via my stress-free ‘A Better Life Project | YOU’ series.
A holistic based series where I share my personal story of my fighting the fierce flames of stress and reveal how I have overcome all this through building a foundation of resilience and sustainable performance that hopefully can provide some welcome benefits to you too.
I have named this series ‘A project’ , since holistic, healthy living is always ongoing and requires ongoing commitment to build sustainable habits to cope with the changes that are continually impacting us.
Also a ‘project’ since I am new to publishing digital content like this on the web (excuse my raw first attempt). But through this project I really want to use this opportunity to improve my ‘creative’ side and explore digital tools out there as the series of this project unfolds to reach more people via my mission. So any tips and advice in helping me develop better blog writing & cool digital tools like Canva etc please send the my way :-)
“ I crashed in a terrifying way “
These sustainable, stress - beating habits that I will focus on during this series cover the essential elements of a balanced life and are all connected to provide a healthy, sustainable lifestyle required to successfully combat stress.
Ranging from your inner Core, sleep & recovery, mental energy, physical fitness, nutrition, biomechanics and general health. Where by gaining an overview of each one by one, you will be well equipped towards A Better Life and building a new found resilience to handle whatever stressful situation the world will throw at you...and learn how to extinguish whatever stressful flames flicker your way!
So lets start with understanding stress before diving into the stress -busting fixes. Since it is important to first understand that the ‘symptoms‘ of stress do not simply just disappear by themselves ....as I once hoped...or so often wished!!
Sadly, nor do they get washed away with a quick fix of those calming wines/ beers that we gulp down for instant relief either. Again, so often I tried and wished this would work too! But no! This only acted as a band-aid covering up the true causes of stress left unresolved.
Rather, tackling stress all starts with building a foundation of connected, sustainable , healthy habits that together will deliver a much happier, relaxed and importantly, balanced YOU!
A holistic, balanced foundation of which I have successfully begun to build in my own life through my recent Hintsa "Better Life" performance program that I have been working with over this year with my performance coach Dan Sims of Hintsa Performance.
Where , just as Dan and Hintsa have helped me now on my sustainable path towards a better life and better performance as we reflected upon during my recent Performance Pitstop Podcast interview during a wellness hike up in the Swiss Alps (watch here on YouTubeor Listen on Spotify) its now time for me to give something back to those suffering with stress and share my new passion to inspire and help others to reach similar heights of holistic wellbeing and a better life.
As it is this daily commitment to improve ourselves one small step every day where the happy, healthy benefits begin to transpire. Just as the founder of Hinsta, Dr Aki Hintsa so simply described:
“No one is perfect, but every one of us can be a little better, one day at a time”
— Dr Aki Hintsa
Learning to cope with and manage stress rather than trying to fight stress is vitally important as we experience multiple changes throughout our life, year after year that will spark off a cocktail of stressful emotions in our body.
Just as this year has spectacularly done thanks to the Covid 19 changes - lockdowns - restrictions etc has thrown at us this. And this will not be the last stressful event we will be faced with. The road is often bumpy and unexpected ahead.
Hence learning how to manage stress is particularly important as we approach the end of one the most stressful years most of us have had to endure. And its not over yet!
Both vital to maintaining a sustainable healthy lifestyle. But more importantly, it is vital to managing a healthy mindset that is needed for YOU to be a great and supportive dad, mum, husband, wife, brother, sister, friend, employee and leader…....
In using an analogy, stress can be viewed as tyres on a car. When you drive your car too hard or too fast, for too long, you gradually begin to wear out the rubber on the car’s tyres. Reducing your car’s grip on the road. Which will soon lead to you either driving out of control or worse still, CRASH! Especially when road conditions ahead turn bad.
Much like your body. If you push your body too hard or too fast for too long, you too can lose control through your body suffering anxiety, panic attacks and stress burnouts. Especially when you are trying to drive ahead and push through difficult times or big changes in your life. Just as many are right now!
l did this, I drove my body like a fast Ferrari and even when I had no rubber left on my tyres, I stubbornly continued to try to push on and push on....driving more determined, more frustrated that things were not working, so I pushed even harder until …...I crashed….. in a BIG way!!
Yep, just like wearing out all of the rubber of the Ferrari car tyres, I managed to wear out my whole body to breaking point. Pushing too hard for too long in trying to think I was stronger than the stress hitting me without giving my body what it needs - rest, recover and switching off to recharge.
Where, over time new problems like anxiety, sleeping problems and frequent mood swings began to hit me like driving over speed bumps. First I felt embarrassed to talk to anybody of what I was feeling and going through. Since I didn’t know anybody who had gone through anything similar at this time or who would understand my stressful challenges.
Then silly thoughts would pop into my head. “Maybe people will think I am weird in how I am behaving due to my anxiety and panic attacks”! Don’t worry, I will just get over this I thought in my head. Then I often would try to ‘escape’ my problems by retreating to the pub to chill out with some beers to block the unwanted stressful feelings and hang out with my mates ...the Aussie way. “No worries mate, all will be all right soon” I would think to myself.
Big mistake! Back came the horrible stressful feelings, over and over again once the temporary relief of the beer subsided. Worse still, alcohol actually made my anxiety worse the day after. More on this during the nutrition section of the upcoming series.
Now reflecting back on it, I waited far too long to talk to someone about the suffering I was going through and seek help. For which I recommend everybody to address earlier so you too can receive the relief you deserve. Nobody should battle stress or anxiety alone!
There are so many kind, supportive people, experts and resources out there to help around this world of stress! As by seeking help earlier this would have saved me a lot of anxiety pain and knock on health effects that followed later by leaving my stress and anxiety untreated. As I foolishly drove on and thought I could get through this alone since I kept telling myself I am strong and determined...fight onShaun! But no, as my body wore down it all became too much….. I crashed in a terrifying way.
Almost daily, waves of panic attacks would race over my body leaving me with no control of my anxiety…..shallow chest breathing, intense racing heart beats that made me worry I was having heart problems and I could pass out and die!
Sweaty palms, dizziness, headaches , stomach pains and trembling hands and legs as the “fight- or- flight” response was activated in my body like I was under attack by a lion.
I then developed irrational phobias like avoiding taking the underground train / metro, avoiding to drive in long tunnels, being in large crowds, large supermarkets, heights etc...all for fear that these would trigger further panic attacks that I had come to dread! Stress soon began to limit my life around me.
I was so scared each time an anxiety or panic attack would raise its big, ugly head. Where each anxiety/panic attack is like trying to control your car as you drive over slippery ice roads...I felt completely out of control until the attacks finally subsided.
These are all signals from your body trying to tell you " I CAN"T COPE!!". Stress overload. Like your worn out tyres on a car...I can't drive!
These dangerous stress overload levels are what many people have hit or are hitting during this stressful year, and more dear to my heart, many of my family /friends/ work colleagues have struggled in their own battle with disturbing stress-anxiety challenges. So here I am, after giving up my fast Ferrari , I am back driving safely in a calm, reliable Volvo. Then again, I am living in Sweden after all🙂 .
Through hitting the RESET button on my bad stressful habits and importantly learning about holistic health habits with Hintsa, my body is recovered and recharged . Actually my fitness and wellness is better than it ever has been! And wow it feels just bloody GREAT!!! My life feels more balanced and importantly, I am in control again! But I am not the only one who is happy. Most importantly, my family are happy to have a calm, healthy, happy Shaun back in their lives!
“Actually, it feels sooooo much BETTER!! At last I am moving towards A Better Life and importantly sustainable performance! At home, on my bike and at work. “
Hence, after going through such a scary crash I want to prevent many others avoiding the similar roads I had to drive down. So this is why I want to share my ‘ A Better Life Project | YOU’ series. A series of where I will share how to drive a more sustainable, balanced and better way. So, to continue with the car tyre analogy, helping as many of you out there to be better drivers in looking after your tyres. And importantly, building up resilience to cope with being in control during those difficult stressful times when the road ahead becomes bumpy or scary.
While on the bright side, helping you be able to jump into driving that fast Ferrari when needed. By learning from my mistakes and acquiring new skills to have the knowledge and awareness of when its time to change tyres through a recovery " pitstop " before your tyres are worn and damaged. Remember, drive slowly and take it easy! Don’t leave it until its too late! Prevention is better than cure as they say!
So until next week, stay calm, healthy and happy. And please share this with someone you know who is experiencing a tough time with stress who many benefit from some of these insights.
Finally, please also check out my collection of nourishing ‘stress busting’ resources in the links below that have helped me along the way and come from recommendations I received over time from past stress-beating warriors. Save them in your emergency tool box to call upon when those flames of stress begin to emerge and flicker towards you. It's comforting to know you are prepared and ready!
Coming up on next week: Building a foundation of resilience and sustainable performance to help you cope with and manage stress - the healthy way.
For your welcome feedback and requests for topics that you would like me to cover in upcoming Better Life issues, you can happily reach me at smrolls@gmail.com or DM on linkedIn / facebook. Don’t forget all you creatives out there...any digital tools, techniques and tips to help in this new project please also send them my way...I am newbie to all this.
Welcome to my Better Life| You community in supporting each other, in sharing our stress beating & healthy habits and ensuring no one suffers alone with stress!! Just as one of my favourite running shoes proudly encourages each other “ Just Do It” !
#BetterLife #BetterPerformance #Hintsa #HintsaPerformance #HolisticHealth #Wellness #StressManagement #HappyYou #BetterLifeCommunity
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SELECTED LINKS FROM THIS ISSUE
* Hintsa
* Dan Sims, Performance & Better Life Coach
Recommended Anxiety & Stress Relief :
“ Self Help For Your Nerves” - Dr Claire Weeks,
, The Anxiety and Phobia Workbook by Edmund J. Bourne - Edmund J. Bourne
At last A Life - Paul David
Stress Relief & Coaching Podcasts:
* The Performance Pitstop Podcast :Click here to watch on YouTube or Listen on Spotify
* Leading From Home podcast: A short weekly bite size podcast to provide coaching support to help people cope with remote working/ working from home. With head coach & remote working guru, Phil Stockbridge. Together with myself & Nordic bank leader, Madeleine Sundman: watch on YouTube here: Leading From Home Vlog
Stress relief Apps:
Headspace (www.headspace.com)
Calm:www.calm.com
Blog Post Title Two
It all begins with an idea.
It all begins with an idea. Maybe you want to launch a business. Maybe you want to turn a hobby into something more. Or maybe you have a creative project to share with the world. Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.
Don’t worry about sounding professional. Sound like you. There are over 1.5 billion websites out there, but your story is what’s going to separate this one from the rest. If you read the words back and don’t hear your own voice in your head, that’s a good sign you still have more work to do.
Be clear, be confident and don’t overthink it. The beauty of your story is that it’s going to continue to evolve and your site can evolve with it. Your goal should be to make it feel right for right now. Later will take care of itself. It always does.
Blog Post Title Three
It all begins with an idea.
It all begins with an idea. Maybe you want to launch a business. Maybe you want to turn a hobby into something more. Or maybe you have a creative project to share with the world. Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.
Don’t worry about sounding professional. Sound like you. There are over 1.5 billion websites out there, but your story is what’s going to separate this one from the rest. If you read the words back and don’t hear your own voice in your head, that’s a good sign you still have more work to do.
Be clear, be confident and don’t overthink it. The beauty of your story is that it’s going to continue to evolve and your site can evolve with it. Your goal should be to make it feel right for right now. Later will take care of itself. It always does.
Blog Post Title Four
It all begins with an idea.
It all begins with an idea. Maybe you want to launch a business. Maybe you want to turn a hobby into something more. Or maybe you have a creative project to share with the world. Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.
Don’t worry about sounding professional. Sound like you. There are over 1.5 billion websites out there, but your story is what’s going to separate this one from the rest. If you read the words back and don’t hear your own voice in your head, that’s a good sign you still have more work to do.
Be clear, be confident and don’t overthink it. The beauty of your story is that it’s going to continue to evolve and your site can evolve with it. Your goal should be to make it feel right for right now. Later will take care of itself. It always does.