Podcasts about skywalkerfitness

For a good percentage of us work-a-day-grumblers, three little words habitually accompany our entrance to work, a meeting, a luncheon or even getting home from work: “Sorry, I’m late.” Does this sound like you? Hello cubicle cutoff, open space overdue, corner office out of luck, home den delayed and coffee shop sluggish. My name is Brock Armstrong and I am… not the Workplace Hero. We’re on that trajectory together, you and I. You can think of me as your very chatty co-pilot. Before we get started, if you enjoy this podcast and the tips and strategies it contains, I encourage you to visit SkywalkerFitness.ca. That is the wellness coaching business that I run. Whether you are wanting to slim down, run a 10k or a marathon, race in a triathlon, pack on some muscle, clean up your diet, or get ripped, I will create a plan for you. No cookie cutter programs allowed. Just 100% tailored programs that fit around your life’s commitments. And for being a Workplace Hero, I will give you a special deal on your first 3 months of coaching. Head over to SkywalkerFitness.ca and send me a note mentioning this podcast episode so I can start building you the perfect program to meet your wellness goals. Let me set the stage for you - It’s Monday morning. In a surprise turn of events, you wake up feeling great! You had a fun weekend of good sleep, good food, fresh air and exercise, and aside from the one drink-drink you had with dinner on Saturday night, you adhered to your long term plan extremely well. Sadly, something goes wonky with the kids, or you take a little too long chatting with that cute barista, or doing your morning journalling, or spacing out on your coffee cup, and you find yourself running late. “Not again!” you think to yourself. “I hate being late!” For a good percentage of us work-a-day-grumblers, three little words habitually accompany our entrance to work, a meeting, a luncheon or even getting home from work: “Sorry, I’m late.” Does this sound like you? A ton of studies have looked into why some of us are chronically late. The truth is that there are many reasons why people just can’t get somewhere on time. But there seems to be one common thread running through the behaviour of chronically late individuals that may be a universal reason for their perpetual tardiness—and it is a surprising one: People are late because they don’t want to be early. Most of us know people who are always on time because they hate being late. I fall smack dab into this category; in fact, I’m freakishly scared of being late. I often arrive places embarrassingly early, which sometimes prompts me to hide out somewhere around the corner, playing with my phone, just so people don’t notice just how early I actually got there. Because people like me hate to be tardy, we always appear to be on time (even if it is because we hid in a stairwell playing Kwazy Kupcakes on our phone for 20 minutes). But just as we hate to be late, another cohort hates to be early. And if you ask them, these anti-early birds say that they really want to be punctual—they just prefer to be right on time than to be early. Wanting to avoid being early, then, is a strong motivation for why many people who are chronically late and honestly it is hard to reconcile these two competing ideals. So why does this second group hate to be early? There are many reasons but here are a few that I found at PsychologyToday.com: 1. It’s inefficient. Being early requires having to sit around with nothing to do (or play with your phone). The waiting time is just short enough that you can’t get into any other project; as soon as you do, the time is up. 2. They hate the uneasiness of being early. They feel awkward and uncomfortable waiting. They might even feel as if others are watching and judging them, whether this is true or not. Arriving a few minutes early makes you feel proud and confident, but arriving too early can make you feel foolish. You fear others might think that you have no life aside from this event, and you don’t want people to think that your time isn’t valuable either. 3. There is an opportunity cost associated with getting somewhere early. Just as someone else’s time is valuable and you want to respect it by being punctual, so too is your time valuable and you'd rather use it productively than wait around inefficiently. This is a behaviour I saw time and time again with a CEO friend of mine. He was so obsessed with not wasting a moment of his time that he would see a 3-minute window as a chance to get another call done which inevitably took longer than 3 minutes and would start a cascade of lateness for the remainder of the day. 4. Sometimes you do not want to be early to be polite. You may not want to disturb someone by getting there too soon—say, a friend’s dinner party—so you would actually rather get there a little late. In an article at the Huffington Post called: This Is Why You're Late All The Time (And What To Do About It), Diana DeLonzor, author of Never Be Late Again says “Lateness is really a commonly misunderstood problem. Yes, it's a rude act, but I've interviewed hundreds of people and the vast majority of late people really dislike being late, they try to be on time, but this is something that has plagued them throughout their lives. Telling a chronic late person to be on time is like telling a dieter, 'Don't eat so much.'" And it's often a problem that begins early in life. For many people, it started in childhood, and they're late for not only things that have to do with other people, but things that will only hurt themselves. They'll show up to the gym, for instance, 10 minutes before it closes, or they'll even be late for important appointments like job interviews. Part of DeLonzor’s research included a test to measure the differences in how timely and late people perceive the passage of time. The test she devised is a simple one that you can try yourself. Choose three or four pages in a book, mark the time, and start reading. Stop reading when you think ninety seconds have elapsed, then check your watch to see how accurate you were. DeLonzor found that early birds, almost without fail, stopped reading before ninety ­seconds had passed, while the late-ers put their books down well ­after the ninety-second mark. The researchers at Cleveland State University also included a time perception test in their lateness study, this time using stop-watches. Interestingly, their results were similar to DeLonzor’s - the late people consistently underestimated the passage of time. There are many many more studies, papers, opinions and theories as to why people are chronically late but we don’t have time to get into all of them in this episode. But what we will do is look at 5 potentially helpful strategies that you can implement if you are one of those always in a hurry and yet always late individuals. And yes, if you are a late person, this is your homework. 1. Reevaluate how long your routines really take. Late people tend to remember the one time they got ready in 20 minutes (instead of 40) or the one time they got to work in seven (instead of 15) minutes. Try writing down your daily habits and then estimating how long you think it takes you to do each one -- then spend a week or so writing down how long each thing actually takes. It's time to relearn how to tell time. 2. Change your thoughts, not just your behaviour. Reframing the way you think about punctuality can be an effective cognitive trick. Instead of stressing about it, sit down with a pen and paper (when you're not in a rush) and jot down all the positives that come with being on time. That is from Teri Bourdeau, a clinical associate professor of behavioural sciences at Oklahoma State University. You might write, for example, that being timely will make you look more responsible, or that it will stir up less conflict with co-workers. Think about the things that are going to motivate you to be on time, and remember them the next time you're trying to cram in too much before a deadline. 3. Get down with downtime. Eternally tardy people, particularly those like my CEO friend that I described earlier, often like to pack in as many activities as possible to maximize productivity, which can make any extra waiting time uncomfortable. One option for coping is to plan out an activity you can do when spare minutes creep up but avoid things like email or returning phone calls as those can easily expand beyond the time available and then you are right back where you started. Now my favourite option is to reframe downtime as something to enjoy between all the rushing -- luxury time instead of wasted time. A big part of the enjoyment of life is just sitting back and talking to the person next to you or looking at the sky or spacing out. Never underestimate the value of a good space-out. 4. Budget your time differently. Timely people will give themselves round numbers to get somewhere -- 30 minutes, for instance. The chronically late, on the other hand, often budget exact times, like 23 minutes, to get somewhere, a habit that DeLonzor calls "split second timing," which doesn't account for the inevitable delays that inevitably pop up. If you're magically arriving exactly “on time,” that means you engaged in split second timing and you probably should not consider yourself to be “on time” unless you're actually “a few minutes early.” 5. Reschedule your day. Habits tend to be reflexive patterns of behaviour and what we need to do is change that pattern. To do that, you can start writing appointments down 30 minutes before they actually happen, which will help you start planning before the last second (kind of like purposely setting a clock 10 minutes ahead to try to fool yourself into being early). Another way to reschedule your day is to reevaluate your to-do list -- chances are, you're simply not going to get everything done. For more info on To-Do lists, check out the podcast episode at workplacehero.me/todo. It’s a listener fave! If you're trying to motivate someone else to stop being chronically late, remember that while Benjamin Franklin espoused the virtues of being early to bed and early to rise, there have always been others who agree instead with Franklin D. Roosevelt, who said: “I think we consider too much the good luck of the early bird and not enough the bad luck of the early worm.” As an early person, I find that statement pithy and fun but it also kind of irks me. In 2013, HuffPost blogger Greg Savage asked the question, "How Did It Get to be OK for People to Be Late for Everything?" And if the 350,000 Facebook likes (and counting) on his post are any indication, he's not the only one wondering. This is what Savage wrote: It's simply that some people no longer even pretend that they think your time is as important as theirs. And technology makes it worse. It seems texting or emailing that you are late somehow means you are no longer late. Rubbish. You are rude. And inconsiderate. But while the behaviour of keeping someone waiting on you is, decidedly, rude, it doesn't necessarily mean your tardy friend is doing it on purpose, or that he or she is a rude, inconsiderate person -- in fact, as we have explored and learned here today, there are many psychological and perhaps even physiological components that can contribute to being perpetually late. Which leaves me at a very unsatisfying impasse. I want to shake my fists at late people and some how to punish them into changing their ways but I know that won’t work. But at the same time, I don’t want to just shrug it off and try to be ok with being the one who has to call hospital emergency rooms looking for missing friends. But at this point, my Workplace Heroes, I have no answer for you other than to say, thank goodness I have more than just Solitaire to fiddle with on my phone. And now, I guess I will just cue the sound effects and take us home. ** Workplace Hero is researched, written, narrated and recorded by me Brock Armstrong in rainy downtown Vancouver. Artwork by Ken Cunningham and music by my old band, The Irregular Heartbeats. You can find our one album on iTunes or CD Baby if you want to hear more.

Hello desk directors, cubicle chieftains, open space superintendents, corner office overseers, home den honchos and coffee shop comptrollers. My name is Brock Armstrong and I am… not the Workplace Hero. That’s actually you! You see, the goal of this podcast is to make you into a Workplace Hero. I am merely your virtual assistant on this journey. Think of me as your workplace Jeeves. To earn a bigger paycheck, you’ll need to do more than just a top-rate job. An effective strategy for obtaining a raise also requires documenting your accomplishments, understanding your boss’s expectations and researching your employer’s financial health. Over at Monster.com they list four of the most common reasons that people don’t get a raise. They are: You Don’t Know the Going Rate, You Don’t Know Your Value, You Can’t Justify Your Value, and You Never Ask. The last one is the reason that I have seen the most often. So may great employees, busting the butt, day in and day out for years on end silently wondering “when am I going to get a raise?” Or worse yet, thinking that they aren’t doing as good of a job as they are because if they were “surely I would have gotten a raise by now, right?” Before we go any further, I want to direct you to SkywalkerFitness.ca. That’s the coaching business that I run. Whether you want to run a 10k or a marathon, race in a triathlon, put on some muscle, clean up your diet, or get totally ripped, I will create a plan specifically for you. No cookie cutter one-size-fits-all programs, just 100% tailored programs that fit around your life’s commitments. And for being a Workplace Hero, I will give you a special deal on your first 3 months of coaching. Head over to SkywalkerFitness.ca and send me a note referencing this podcast so I can start building you the perfect program to meet your wellness goals. Now back to getting that raise you so greatly deserve. The thing is, if you don’t ask for a raise and instead you wait for your boss or the company to offer you a raise, without ever raising (no pun intended) the issue yourself, you may never get one. Face it, no one has time in their busy day to keep track of exactly how far above and beyond you are going. And If you don’t have a contract that addresses raises and you don’t ask for one when you feel you can justify it, it’s extremely unlikely that your employer will just make an offer. Of course, business being business, you’re not always going to get the raise you want. When that happens, politely and respectfully ask your boss if you can sit down together and determine what specifically you need to do in order to earn the raise in the future. Try to work out deliverables that are as specific as possible and try to pin down a time frame as well. Take notes, let your boss see that you’re taking notes, and if possible work up something in writing you can both agree to. Ask for her help in achieving those deliverables. Then report your progress regularly. Once you’ve met those specific goals, it will be very difficult for your boss not to grant your raise or at the very least fight for it. Next, identify ways your past work has added value to your employer’s bottom line. Continuing keeping track of this information going forward. More and more, raises are becoming tied directly to performance. Once you’ve established your accomplishments on paper – but before you talk to your boss – find out how your employer is performing. And I mean finically. Many organizations have published data that you can read to gauge their financial health. If your employer is in the red and mass layoffs abound, you should probably put off your request for more money until business begins to stabilize. But if you decide now is a safe time to pursue a raise, go ahead and make your case. Clearly most companies are not looking for opportunities to hand out money. During the boom era of the late ’90s when talent was scarce and retention was top of mind, nearly the opposite was true. While the corporate landscape is different now, you shouldn’t sit idly by and feel dissatisfied in silence. If you have the evidence that your salary is at sub-market levels, you should speak up. Your organization has invested time and money in you. Savvy bosses understand that unhappy and underpaid employees are under-performing employees, which helps no one. It’s also a drain on their time to have to re-hire and train a replacement that fits the corporate culture. So if you have a legitimate request, you do have a certain amount of leverage here. I think it’s always a good idea to ask for a raise, even when employers are not handing them out, but only when that discussion is tied to performance. Employees should keep careful records of how their actions helped the bottom line of their company, or helped other team members improve the bottom line of the company. The fact is that no one is going to hold your hand and remind you of the great things you did all year. So keep track and share them with your manager at the appropriate time. So on that note, here are even more helpful suggestions that I found over at Forbes.com 1. Know your value. Do the proper research to figure out what you’re worth, even if it means going on interviews or using resources like Getraised.com, Payscale.com, or Glassdoor.com. If you find out you’re underpaid, you can use that to negotiate an increase. Simply present what the field generally pays, and why you believe your performance is at the top of your field. 2. Know the number. Once you do the research, figure out what you think is a fair amount of money to ask for and have that number in your head when you ask for a raise. 3. Schedule a meeting. Find a time that works best for you and your boss and give your boss a head’s up that you want to chat about your career growth so that you both have ample time to prepare. No one wants to talk about this stuff on a whim. 4. Practice salary negotiations. This can be a difficult or awkward conversation so I recommend that you practice with a friend who can be a tough negotiator. Subconsciously when you have the real talk, your brain will fall back on the tactics you prepared. 5. Start on a positive note. Kicking off the conversation with something like, “I really enjoy working here and find my projects very challenging. In the last year, I’ve been feeling that the scope of my work has expanded quite a bit. I believe my roles and responsibilities, and my contributions have risen. I’d like to discuss with you the possibilities of reviewing my compensation.” Or, “I’d like to discuss my career and how I can do my best work.” 6. State your case, and then pause. Listen to what your manager has to say. Depending on the response, gauge how much detail you now need and how much back up support you require. You may be surprised with very little resistance but it’s still best to be prepared for a lot. 7. Be specific. Give your boss a range for the raise you want, and explain why. Be prepared to say, ‘After a lot of research, which I have here, and how I feel I have contributed to the company, I would ask for you to consider an increase of $5,000 to $7,000. It has been X amount of time since my salary was last reviewed. I greatly appreciate your consideration.’ 8. Bring your personal kudos file. Bring a list of your key achievements, and focus specifically on the areas of accomplishment that are important to your manager. Bring up your strengths and talents, your accomplishments, your desire to do even more, and your ideas and plans for the future in your role at the organization. If you put enough consideration into this, they can’t help but consider your request. 9. Don’t be aggressive. Be diplomatic, well-prepared and assertive, but not aggressive. Remember that it is the squeaky (not screechy) wheel that gets the grease. 10. For Goodness Sake - Don’t threaten your employer. Whatever you do, don’t threaten to leave if you don’t get the raise. You also shouldn’t threaten your boss with other job offers, interviews, recruiter conversations, etc. If you do this, you run the risk of your boss mistrusting you, or in the worst case, if you’re already on somewhat shaky ground, your boss saying something like ‘well, maybe you should consider those other options.’ 11. Ask for endorsements. One of the most powerful ways to demonstrate to your manager that you deserve a raise, or at least some form of recognition for your results, is to have other people endorse the work you have done and how it helped them. The more your manager hears about how your work has contributed to organization goals and results, the stronger you will be positioned to be seen as someone deserving of consideration. 12. Don’t share your sob story. Don’t bring up personal issues. Don’t tell your boss that you can’t afford your rent, or that you need a raise to cover other personal expenses. That just shows that you aren’t great at managing your money or planning ahead. Simply stick to your accomplishments and the value you add to the company and you’ll be more likely to succeed. 13. Be patient. Remember, your manager may need a few days to think it over and get back to you, so don’t be disheartened if you don’t get an instant “yes,” There’s also a strong possibility that your boss isn’t the one to make the decision. She might have to go to the higher-ups with your request and that can take some time depending on the amount or red tape your organization has purchased. Now, here is your homework. Even if you aren’t looking for a raise at the moment (and who here isn’t… I mean, come on?) start creating a list of your accomplishments as they happen or are completed. For me, I kept a Google spreadsheet of every video project I completed as I completed them so at the drop of a hat, I could send a link to my superiors to digitally brag about how prolific I was. And I gotta say - it worked. I got a significant raise after 8 months of being with the company. The key was being able to share it easily and quickly when the moment presented itself, so using some sort of online service is key. Google docs, Evernote, Office 365 whichever you prefer, fire it up and start by adding in your most recent accomplishments and go forward from there. Much like the “to done list” that we talked about at workplacehero.me/todo this can also be a good place for you to go when you are feeling down and need a boost. Double bonus! Getting a raise can be surprisingly simple and very often, employees who ask for a raise, get one. Yet many workers are loath to bring up the subject -- for fear of rejection, being perceived as pushy or going about it the wrong way. Keep in mind that you may need to ask for a raise more than once. Never take a ‘no’ as the end of the conversation. If you get a ‘no,’ ask what you can do to improve your performance and thus your odds of a future increase. Then ask to check in again in, say, six months and revisit the conversation. If of course you’ve actually improved on those things. Now, go make this week ‘raise worthy’. And remember - you deserve this. ** Workplace Hero is researched, written, narrated, and recorded by me Brock Armstrong in Vancouver Canada. Logo by Ken Cunningham. Music is courtesy my old band, The Irregular Heartbeats.

Hello, my law enforcement luminaries, military magnates, healthcare heavyweights, service station superstars, transportation troubadours, fire stations favourites, and call centre conquerors. My name is Brock Armstrong, and I am… not the Workplace Hero. Not yet, anyway. If I am doing my job correctly, you and I are both slowly but surely, episode by episode, becoming a Workplace Hero. You can think of me as your partner in this endeavour or maybe your information funnel, conduit… or crazy straw? According to NSF's 2005 Sleep in America poll, 14% of North Americans take part in what is called shift work. Shift work is an employment practice designed to make use of, or provide service across, all 24 hours of the clock each day of the week (often abbreviated as 24/7). The practice typically sees the day divided into set periods of time (shifts) during which different groups of workers perform their duties. Shift work often involves evening or night shifts, early morning shifts, and rotating shifts. Many industries rely heavily on shift work, among them is: Emergency responders & health care, Hospitality, Logistics, Manufacturing, Military, Public utilities & power, Telecommunications & media, Transportation, and Security, just to name a few. The term "rotational shiftwork" covers a wide variety of work schedules and implies that shifts rotate or change according to a set schedule. These shifts can be either continuous, running 24 hours per day, 7 days per week, or semi-continuous, running 2 or 3 shifts per day with or without weekends. As you probably already imagined, compared to their day shift counterparts, shift workers are more likely to suffer from insomnia as well as excessive daytime sleepiness (61% vs. 47% and 30% vs. 18% respectively). I actually coach a shift worker over at SkywalkerFitness.ca. She is a pretty darn competitive marathon runner who works a rotational shift and we really have had to fight an uphill battle in terms of energy levels and the ability to do the prescribed workouts. There is also the challenge of keeping her feeling good and overcoming some of the hormonal fluctuations that tend to occur during night shifts. Then there are some serious issues that creep up when you’ve thrown a curve ball at your circadian rhythm like you do on a night shift. And there have been several studies on this. Here are a few. They did a study in the Journal of Workplace Health and Safety on the police and found that police officers who are working at night or on an evening shift basically had lower serotonin levels than their non-evening working counterparts. And serotonin is one of our measurements of happiness and also our ability to do things like be motivated to exercise. It is also very helpful in helping reduce appetite cravings. In the International Journal of Cancer, it was reported that a woman’s risk of breast cancer increases by 30% from night shift work. And a big part of that is because of hormonal fluctuations in particular, estrogen dominance, with estrogen being a pro-growth hormone that can increase when your circadian rhythms are thrown off. There is another study in the Science of Translational Medicine which found that night shift style work can increase your likelihood of developing diabetes or becoming obese. This was a relatively small study with only 21 individuals but it found that circadian disruption can cause some serious issues with insulin sensitivity. So that again, throws a curve ball if you’re trying to lose weight or even maintain your body weight while you’re working night shifts. Another paper in the British Medical Journal found that working night shifts could cause you to be more likely to have a heart attack. Particularly ischemic strokes and coronary events were found to be higher in people who were working night shifts. A paper in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Health Sciences found that shift workers had decreased sensitivity to leptin when working at night. Leptin is the hormone that plays a pretty significant role in regulating your weight and appetite as well as your blood sugar and insulin levels. Working in shifts can nearly double your risk of suffering a workplace injury and that’s because of the drowsiness, the fatigue and the lack of focus that can occur when you are working with no exposure to natural light or in any situation where our brains have been ancestrally programmed that they should be asleep. So, am I basically saying that shift workers are screwed then? Well, I don’t wanna sound harsh but yes, to a certain extent, you have to accept the fact that if you are going to work night shifts, your hormones and metabolism are going to, as they say, take a hit. But, the fact that you have an important and noble job or that you’re making more money per hour may outweigh many of those drawbacks. There is a risk vs. reward benefit especially if that’s how you are paying the bills and putting food on your table. And speaking of bills and food, keep in mind the benefits of not having to grocery shop on an evening or weekend, commute during rush hour both ways, or fight the lineup at the movie theatre on a Saturday night. Having your life be upside down or backwards can have its advantages too! Now, let’s take a closer look at the issues and what you heroic shift working maniacs can do about them. Shift work sleep disorder (SWSD) is a circadian rhythm sleep disorder characterized by insomnia and excessive sleepiness affecting people whose work hours overlap with the typical sleep period. Over at sleepfoundation.org they say that while shift work does create potential productivity advantages, it also has many inherent risks. Some of the most serious and persistent problems shift workers face are frequent sleep disturbance and associated excessive sleepiness. Sleepiness and fatigue in the work place can lead to poor concentration, absenteeism, accidents, errors, injuries, and fatalities. The issue becomes more alarming when you consider that shift workers are often employed in the most dangerous of jobs, such as firefighting, emergency medical services, law enforcement and security. Managers and policy makers who are responsible for writing and enforcing rules regarding employee work hours must address the specific issues of a 24-hour work force in order to succeed and benefit from such a labor force. Although addressing these issues may require some investment up front for training and other measures, the bottom line is that improved sleep in workers may lead to improved productivity. In fact, to ignore the needs of the shift worker is reckless and irresponsible when you consider that billions of dollars in yearly costs, thousands of deaths, and some of the most notorious of modern catastrophes such as the failure of the Space Shuttle Columbia and the crash of the Exxon Valdez have been attributed to human fatigue. According to the International Classifications of Sleep Disorders, shift work sleep disorder is a circadian rhythm sleep disorder. Circadian rhythm refers to the ~24hr rhythmic output of the human biological clock. It is considered a disorder because of the frequency with which people suffer from sleep disturbance and excessive sleepiness in trying to adapt to a shift work schedule. The main complaint for people with shift work sleep disorder is excessive sleepiness. But other symptoms include: -Insomnia, -Disrupted sleep schedules, -Reduced performance, -Difficulties with personal relationships, -Irritability and depressed mood. Unfortunately, treatment for shift work sleep disorder is limited. Both behavioural and pharmacological remedies can help alleviate symptoms but some research indicates that the body may never fully adapt to shift work, especially for those who switch to a normal sleep schedule as part of their regular rotation. But there are ways of rocking it while doing shift work. Here are some tips for staying alert on the job: - Avoid long commutes and extended hours. - Take short nap breaks throughout the shift. - Work with others to help keep you alert. - Try to be active during breaks (e.g., take a walk, shoot hoops in the parking lot, or even exercise in the break room). - Drink a caffeinated beverage (coffee or tea) to help maintain alertness during the shift. - Don't leave the most tedious or boring tasks to the end of your shift when you are apt to feel the drowsiest. Night shift workers are most sleepy around 4-5 a.m. - Keep your workplace brightly lighted to promote alertness. Circadian rhythms are the body's internal clock that tells us when to be awake and when to sleep. These rhythms are controlled by a part of the brain that is influenced by light. Being exposed to bright light when you start your "day" can help train your body's internal clock to adjust. - And most importantly, exchange ideas with your colleagues on ways to cope with the problems of shift work. Set up a support group at work so that you can discuss these issues and learn from each other. And speaking of staying alert - on the day when your night shift cycle is complete, avoid planning anything important on that day (aside from perhaps a massage or some time with a good book). Acknowledge that you are out of whack (I believe that is the technical term) and that you will need this day to recover and reset. A big question that new or non-shift workers have is: how the heck can you sleep during the day? Well, here are some tips for getting good sleep during the day: - Try not to work a number of night shifts in a row. You may become increasingly more sleep-deprived over several nights on the job. You're more likely to recover if you can limit night shifts and schedule days off in between. - Avoid frequently rotating shifts. If you can't avoid them, it's easier to adjust to a schedule that rotates from day shift to evening to night rather than the reverse order. - Try to avoid long commutes that take time away from sleeping. - Limit caffeine. Drinking a cup of coffee at the beginning of your shift will help promote alertness. But don't consume caffeine later in the shift or you may have trouble falling asleep when you get home. - Avoid bright light on the way home from work, which will make it easier for you to fall asleep once you hit the pillow. Wear dark or yellow tinted, wraparound sunglasses and a hat to shield yourself from sunlight. And don't stop to run errands, as tempting as that may be. - Stick to a regular sleep-wake schedule as much as you can. Find the times that work best for you for each rotation of your shift work and use them every time that rotation comes up. - Ask your family or roommates to limit phone calls and visitors during your sleep hours. - Use blackout blinds or heavy curtains to block sunlight when you sleep during the day. Sunlight is a potent stimulator of the circadian rhythm, and even if your eyes are closed, the sunlight coming into the room tells your brain that it's daytime. Yet your body is exhausted and you're trying to sleep. That discrepancy is not a healthy thing for the body to be exposed to. - Eliminate noise and light from your sleep environment (use eye masks and ear plugs). - Avoid alcohol; although it may seem to improve sleep initially, alcohol is known to inhibit the most restful part of the sleep cycle so you will wake up not feeling as rested as you would want to be. For some shift workers, napping is essential. It can be extremely effective at eliminating fatigue-related accidents and injuries and reducing workers compensation costs. Although most employers do not allow napping in the workplace, a ban on napping may soon prove to be a legal liability. Thus, efforts to make workplace policies nap-friendly may soon gain popularity as the issue increases in global significance. Light therapy can be very helpful as well. Studies show that timed exposure to bright light can be used to adjust your body's sleep cycle. Artificial bright light can affect the body clock in the same way that sunlight does. Light therapy is used to expose your eyes to intense but safe amounts of light. This is done for a specific and regular length of time. In general, using light treatment in the evening should help someone who regularly works nights. In this case, you would also want to avoid daylight when you come off work and are ready to go to bed. Light boxes sessions may take as little as 15 to 30 minutes. More than one session may be needed each day. It depends upon your body, your need, and the strength of light being used. The key is to use the light at the right time of day and for the right amount of time. A sleep specialist can help you develop a light therapy plan that will be both helpful and safe. There are a few supplements and medications that can help with the issues associated with shift work. Melatonin may increase sleep length during both daytime and nighttime sleep in people who work night shifts. A medication called Zopiclone has also been investigated as a potential treatment, but it is unclear if it is actually effective in increasing daytime sleep time in shift workers. There are however no reports of side effects unlike using something like NyQuil or Benadryl to knock yourself out. Modafinil and R-modafinil are useful to improve alertness and reduce sleepiness in shift workers. Modafinil has a low risk of abuse compared to other similar agents. However, 10% more people reported side effects, nausea and headache, while taking Modafinil. The European Medicines Agency withdrew the license for Modafinil for shift workers for the European market because it judged that the benefits did not outweigh the side effects. So, use this one with caution. As I said earlier, using caffeine has also been shown to reduce errors made by shift workers. Over at HealthFitnessRevolution.com they have this list of the healthiest way to get caffeine. Green Tea: Most varieties have a lower caffeine content at about 25mg per 8oz cup but that’s enough to clear out the cobwebs but not enough to have you wired all night. The benefits of green tea are the flavonoids boost immunity, it has been shown to aid in weight loss, and antioxidants even have anti-aging effects to keep free radicals at bay. Espresso: A smooth, robust, and aromatic shot of espresso is a great way to get caffeine if you need it, like, now. It is also super low calorie and full of anti-oxidants. Unsweetened Iced Tea: A glass of unsweetened iced tea has about 47mg of caffeine. Instead of adding sugar (which will increase the likelihood of a crash) spruce it up with some lemon or a natural sweetener like Stevia. Matcha: A type of stone-ground Japanese green tea, Matcha is different than its other green teas. It doesn’t need to be steeped because it is ground into a fine super green powder. It has an umami taste and sometimes a sweetness, due to the high amino acid count. The high L-theanine content in Matcha gives a calming effect and the 25 mg of caffeine per scoop energize you. The result is a clear-headed serenity that allows you to focus on your work without jitters. Oh, The Vitamin C, antioxidants, magnesium and Zinc are good for you as well. Guarana Berries: These little guys are found in the Amazon and pack quite a punch. Each one contains about twice the amount of caffeine found in coffee beans. They are available in extracted form or herbal teas. Yerba Mate: Another herb found in the Amazon and popular throughout South America, yerba mate is an energizing and social drink. Plain Black Coffee: The classic for a reason. Coffee has a high caffeine content and is low in calories, so long as fatty creamers and sugary syrups are avoided. Earl Grey Tea: This classic cuppa gives you about half of the caffeine of a cup of coffee but is filled with antioxidants. The aromatic bergamot used to make the tea also has calming properties that relieve stress and anxiety. Or good old Dark Chocolate: Not just a delicious dessert, dark chocolate also contains a smidgen of caffeine. It is also known to reduce cholesterol, promote weight loss, and can help brain function. Eating well is both an issue and a solution to some shift work challenges. Stomach problems are common in shift workers and many shift workers eat poorly and at odd times. Try to eat three regular meals spaced evenly over the course of your day (what ever your day may be). Regular meal times are important for your body because they serve as time cues for your body’s clock and these cues help your body know when to make you sleepy. Avoid eating a lot of snacks and fast foods. Eat a balanced diet with plenty of vegetables, protein and un-processed foods. You may feel tempted to grab an energy bar, sugary snack or simple carbs to get that quick boost of energy but remember that every high has an equal (or greater) crash associated with it that can leave you in worse shape than you were before. Think of yourself as a strong, slow burning fire (sorry first responders). You want to use the big logs and keep them going through the night to avoid burning up more kindling once you have’ve got it burning. In this analogy, healthy protein, fat and complex carbs are the big logs and sugary fruit, processed carbs and junk food are the kindling. Workplace conditions are very important as well. While this is not possible in every situation, your employer should strive to create a work environment that will promote safety. This is even more important for those working the night shift. The workplace should be bright and cool. This will help workers to be more alert on the job. Don’t be afraid to discuss with your employer any changes that need to be made in your workspace - especially during the night. Safety can be increased without losing any productivity. Ok. Now your homework. The next time you work a night shift and are headed home to bed, I want you to incorporate at least two things for this list: 1. Use curtains with block-out backing or blinds or cover the windows with black plastic garbage bags to reduce the light level in your bedroom during the day, 2. Make sure the temperature in the bedroom isn’t too warm because cool conditions help you get to sleep and stay asleep, 3. Try to make your bedroom as soundproof as possible. Use a white noise generator (there are a bunch of smart phone apps for that) or air conditioner or fan can help mask external noise. Earplugs help too. 4. Put your phone on Airplane Mode and put a notice on your bedroom door to let people know you’re sleeping and that they should keep it down, and ask other household members to use headphones for the TV and stereo while you’re asleep. 5. Plan what we call in our shift-working household your “dinner/breakfast” before you go to bed so you are not worried or hurried when you wake up. Better yet, offload that chore to a spouse, child or helpful roommate. With some planning, some purchasing, some research and maybe some help from your doctor, you should be able to make this upside down lifestyle work for you. And if it simply isn’t working for you, there is no shame in admitting it. Many of us aren’t brave enough to even give it a try in the first place. It isn’t just the blood and guts that kept me from becoming an EMT and working in digital media instead. ** Workplace Hero is researched, written, narrated and recorded by me Brock Armstrong in rainy downtown Vancouver. Podcast logo by Ken Cunningham and music by my old band, The Irregular Heartbeats. Today’s heroic topic is courtesy my own personal ER Nurse and research partner, Eleanor Cohen. Who, when she wakes up, will go and make this week count!

Hello my cubicle comatose, open space snoozers, corner office coziers, home den dozers and coffee shop shut eyes. My name is Brock Armstrong and I am here to turn you into a Workplace Hero. And don’t worry, to be this type of hero, spandex is optional. Before we slip into something more comfortable, I want to direct you to SkywalkerFitness.ca. That’s the coaching business that I run. Whether you want to run a 10k or a marathon, race in a triathlon, put on some muscle, clean up your diet, or get totally ripped, I will create a plan specifically for you. No cookie cutter one-size-fits-all programs, just 100% tailored programs that fit around your life’s commitments. And for being a Workplace Hero, I will give you a special deal on your first 3 months of coaching. Head over to SkywalkerFitness.ca and send me a note referencing this podcast so I can start building you the perfect program to meet your wellness goals. Ok, back to the topic at hand…       Let me set the stage for you - It’s Monday morning. Once again, in a wondrous turn of events, you wake up feeling great! You had an amazing weekend of deep sleep, good food, enjoyable exercise, and aside from the beer you had with dinner on Saturday night you stuck to your diet exceptionally well. You are feeling so good that you pull out that fitted shirt that looks so good on you but you often feel too selfconscious to wear. And - yes! It looks goooood. Your morning is going great until around 9:30 or 10:00 am when you start feeling yourself losing energy and focus. Your eyes start feeling heavy and the words start to swimming on the page. So, you go grab yourself a second (or is it a third) cup of coffee and hunker down - but you think to yourself: How can I be so tired? I slept so well and had such a restful weekend. What the hell? Back in the real world, I just Googled the phrase “low energy at work” and in 0.90 seconds it returned 75,600,000 results. Whoa! So it is safe to say that this is a bit of a common problem. The search results come from big hitters like Redbull, FastCompany, Webmd and Forbes and the list goes on and on featuring titles like: 8 Unobvious Ways To Have Way More Energy At Work, Top 10 Ways to Boost Your Energy, 10 Ways to Skyrocket your Energy Levels, The Fatigue Solution: How To Increase Your Energy In Eight Easy Steps. And so on… So why is this such an issue? Why are we seemingly such a chronically low energy bunch of loafers? The DailyMail says that it might be because you are a perfectionist. Apparently being a perfectionist can sap someone's energy, as perfectionists spend longer than their less conscientious counterparts worrying and ruminating over their decisions. Another reason I saw on a few websites is that you might be eating too many carbs. Filling up on pasta, bread and rice – as well as cookies, chocolate and chips - causes spikes and dips in blood sugar that leave a person dozing off when the sugar is low. WebMD says that you might have a magnesium deficiency. They say that this mineral is needed for more than 300 biochemical reactions in the body, including breaking down glucose into energy, so when levels are even a little low, energy can drop. They suggest two delicious solutions - adding a handful of almonds, hazelnuts or cashews to your daily diet, or eating more fish, especially halibut. Yum.  A Fast Company article suggests that you need to get more movement in your day. They say that we need not yield to the Sedentary Death that awaits our constantly sat seats; we can show some derrière-relieving daring-do by having walking meetings. Ah… what? Men’s Fitness suggests that we nix the nightcap. Alcohol prevents your body from entering REM sleep (the most restful sleep phase). So, even if you're getting plenty of sleep each night, you may not feel fully rested if you are finishing the evening off with a drinky drink. They also suggested eating more fish and nuts so there may be something to this delicious solution.  Prevention.com says that your body needs vitamin B12 to make red blood cells and keep neurons functioning properly. A B12 deficiency decreases the amount of oxygen your blood can carry through your body, leaving you with that sleeping-with-your-eyes-open feeling. Womentowomen.com says that the problem could be inactivity. The body needs both rest and movement. When it comes to fatigue — and you may find this counterintuitive but long periods of inactivity can actually make you more tired. Think of it as a kind of atrophy: use it or lose it. The Queen of daytime TV herself, Oprah, says that it might be your thyroid gland. Located at the base of your neck—and barely larger than the knot in a tie—the thyroid controls your body's metabolic speed by producing the hormones. If it churns out too little all the processes in your body slow down. The result: decreased endurance and a sluggish mind.  A website run by a fellow with an undeniably awesome name, Dr. Axe, suggested that we might just be dehydrated. He says that one of the first signs of dehydration is feeling tired or exhausted. That’s right – not drinking enough water could be the reason your energy levels are lacking and you feel exhausted. Because our bodies are made up of mostly water, even small dips in H2O levels are apparently enough to affect your metabolism. One last article actually suggested that you might have undiagnosed type 2 diabetes! Tiredness, usually accompanied by sight problems, a constant thirst and passing urine frequently, as well as suffering frequent infections, could be a sign of undiagnosed type 2 diabetes. Yikes!  After spending a few hours pouring through articles, studies and opinions, I decided to enlist the help of my LA based Wellness Specialist friend, Hailey Rowe, to find out what she is encountering out there in the California trenches. Hi, my name is Hailey Rowe. I am the founder of www.theprimetimehealth.com. I’ve been in the fitness and nutrition industry for about 7 years now as a Certified Personal Trainer, Fitness Instructor, and Fitness Nutrition Specialist. I’m also a Certified Bulletproof Coach helping people to develop lifelong healthy habits. Working with people the ages of 18 to 70, I believe it’s never to too late or too early to start changing your ways. As you probably guessed, I share many of Hailey’s views… if not her sunny disposition. As a High Performance Coach, I work with a lot of clients who are drained from overworking & feel like their life is out of whack. I’ve noticed 3 major factors that lead to energy depletion in the workplace:    •Lack of breaks •Multi-tasking •Energy-zapping co-workers (AKA toxic people) I don’t know about you guys but I am generally guilty of all three of those issues. I am a terrible multi-tasker, I have issues dealing with negativity (even via email) and I often get in the groove and don’t want to take a break. Heck right now, as I type this, my stomach is growling and it is closing in on 2:00 pm - I clearly need to take a break and eat some lunch! Ok. While I make myself a salad, I’ll let Hailey continue: The brain was not meant to focus for 8 hours at a time. Taking breaks is not a sign of weakness. It’s actually a good use of your time. In fact, a study in the journal Cognition shows that even brief breaks from a task can dramatically improve work endurance, focus, and productivity. It is recommended to work in bursts of 60-90 minutes, followed by a 10-15 minute break.  You might be wondering, like I am, why 90 minutes is the magic number?  That number comes from researcher Nathan Kleitman who discovered something called the “basic rest-activity cycle.” When we are sleeping, we progress through the 5 stages of sleep every 90 minutes. Our bodies operate by the same 90-minute rhythm during the day, going from high alertness to low alertness. Test it out. Try working for 90 minutes straight (intensely!), and then take a break. If you’re skeptical or you doubt your ability to focus for that long, try starting with 25 minutes followed by a 5 minute break. This is called the Pomodoro Method. I’ll put a link to the Pomodoro Method in the show notes at workplacehero.me/energy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pomodoro_Technique During your focus periods, keep distractions to a minimum by putting on headphones so co-workers know you’re busy, or politely ask if you can catch up with them when you’re done. Use your breaks to go outside, move around, or just step away from the computer for a few minutes. Bonus points if you do 4 minutes of exercise for every hour of work, just like Katy Bowman suggested on the WorkPlace Hero Podcast. You can find that one over at workplacehero.me/stand The second issue Hailey listed is something near and dear to my heart. I have a rule that I believe I stole from an episode of the 80s TV show, MASH. As Charles Emerson Winchester the Third once said “I do one thing at a time, I do it very well, and then I move on.” The odd time I deviate from that rather audacious game plan, I pay the price. Neuroscientists have found that multitasking literally drains your brain’s energy. Switching between different unfinished tasks confuses the brain and makes you feel tired very quickly.  Devora Zack, author of Singletasking: Get More Done- One Thing at a Time, reported that multitasking can decrease your productivity by up to 40%. Research also shows that you make twice as many errors when multitasking. Lastly, it can shrink the gray matter in your brain, which is much needed for self-control and decision-making. But what if I am in the middle of doing something like say, writing a podcast and I suddenly remember that I forgot to invoice a client? If the urge to start another task comes up while you’re working on something else, write it down and come back to it later. Turn off all potential distractions (phone, email, etc.) when working on something important. There are even apps for your computer and phone like FocusMe that allow you to block websites you use to procrastinate. Great advice. Turning off all notifications on your phone, tablet and computer is something I advise everyone to do - right now… well, ok when you finish listening to the podcast. There is not a single app that should be allowed to disturb you. You can check your email, Facebook, messages, and everything else on your own time. Not theirs. That small change can really make a huge difference. Now on to Hailey’s third and likely most touchy point - Toxic co-workers… The ability to remain calm and manage your emotions around stressful people is so important if you want to feel good at work. According to a study by leadership development consultancy, Fierce Inc., 4 out of 5 employees work or have worked with a co-worker who could be considered toxic to the office environment. Surprisingly, only 40% of bosses say they would eliminate a toxic team member, versus 88% of employees who would. To stay mindful and prevent yourself from getting sucked into the drama, practice the ABC method. This stands for Acknowledge, Breathe and Choose. Acknowledge when you’re allowing someone else to suck you dry or undermine your work. Notice your negative feelings and where you feel them in your body. Noticing your thoughts keeps you in control. The second step is to breathe. Take a deep breath, meditate, clear your head, or give it some time. Then, choose how you’re going to respond… Are you going to be solutions-oriented? Are you going to establish some kind of boundary? Or are you going to play the victim?  This simple acronym can come in handy if you find yourself slipping into a negative state around toxic co-workers. ABC - Acknowledge, Breathe and Choose. I like it! And if you need a reminder on one of my favourite breathing techniques, check out workplacehero.me/commute for instructions on how to do a Box Breath by Yoga15.com maven, Abi Carver. And now, it wouldn’t be an episode of Workplace Hero if you didn’t get some homework, now would it? And this week, I defer to Hailey. We’ve covered a lot of juicy material in this podcast, but you’ll only benefit if you take action. Your homework assignment this week is to build at least one 60-90 minute period of uninterrupted focus followed by a short renewal break. Bonus points if you can sneak in 2-3 short breaks throughout the day. If you’re worried about your co-workers judging you for going outside or taking a small break, just think about how happy your team will be when you are producing greater results using this trick.  Awesome advice. I wholeheartedly agree. Thanks Hailey! This is obviously a topic that we could spend many episodes on but hopefully this is a good start for you. Whether you try eating more fish, drinking more water, nixing the nightcap, getting yourself checked for diabetes, taking breaks, breaking the mute-tasking habit or practicing your ABCs, I would love to hear what works for you. Leave me a note on Facebook, Twitter, the blog post for this episode at workplacehero.me/energy or you can even send me an email at podcast@worplacehero.me. You never know, you may spark an entire new episode with your feedback! ** Workplace Hero is researched, written, narrated and recorded by me Brock Armstrong in rainy downtown Vancouver. Support and additional editing from Eleanor Cohen. Artwork by Ken Cunningham. Today’s Guest Hero is of course, Hailey Rowe. Check out her website at www.theprimetimehealth.com and sign up for her newsletter to receive a High Intensity Interval Training Guide for free.  Now, you know what to do - go make this week count!

Guest Hero: Katy Bowman - Part biomechanist, part science communicator, and full-time mover at nutritiousmovement.com Hello cubicle crouchers, open space sitters, corner office pacers, home den dancers and coffee shop squatters. My name is Brock Armstrong and I am… You’re expecting me to say “I am the Workplace Hero” but I am not. The goal of this podcast is to make you into a Workplace Hero. I am simply here to give you something to listen to on the subway. Before we really dive in, here’s a teaser - some stats for you to be horrified at: Only 18% of adults get the total amount of physical activity recommended for good health. And 40% get no physical activity at all! We average North Americans work more than 47 hours a week and we are sitting down for most of that time. In fact we’re sitting down more than ever before in history: 9.3 hours per day! That's more time than we spend sleeping which is 7.7 hours per night. Before I overwhelm you with even more stats and percentages, I want to encourage you to visit SkywalkerFitness.ca. That is the coaching business that I run. Whether you are wanting to run a 10k or a marathon, race in a triathlon, pack on some muscle, clean up your diet, or get totally ripped, I will create a plan for you. And there are no cookie cutter programs allowed. Just 100% tailored programs that fit around your life’s commitments. And for being a Workplace Hero, I will give you a special deal on your first 3 months of coaching. Head over to SkywalkerFitness.ca and send me a note referencing this podcast so I can start building you the perfect program to meet your wellness goals. And now back to some the horrifying stats… Did you know that sitting for 6 hours (or more) per day makes you up to 40% more likely to die within 15 years than someone who sits less for than 3 hours per day? And here's the kicker – this is true even if you get regular exercise. Humans evolved to participate in an assortment of daily movement and physical challenges. Unfortunately, the vast majority of humans aren't honouring our genes. And being a fitness enthusiast, or even a serious competitive athlete, doesn’t give you a free pass here. Between 1980 and the year 2000, exercise rates in the UK stayed the same but sitting increased by 8% and obesity doubled. Bluntly put - sitting on our butts is killing us and making us fat! Wait that was a strange order to say that in… let me try that again: sitting on our butts is making us fat and killing us! Obese people on average sit for 2 and a half more hours per day than thin people. And, incidentally, 1 in 3 of us is currently obese. Our desk jobs, commuting, watching TV, and playing video games all conspire to make us sedentary and this comfortable lifestyle takes its toll. Even those of us who exercise regularly still spend much of the workday planted in a chair in front of the computer. The solution: Reduce our sedentary behaviors to a total of just 3 hours per day and we have the potential to increase our average life expectancy by 2 years. Awesome! Right? Let’s look at what happens in our bodies when we sit? • Electrical activity in our leg muscles shuts off, • Calorie burning drops to only 1 calorie per minute, • Enzymes that help break down fat drop by 90%, • After 2 hours of sitting our HDL (good cholesterol) drops by 20%, • After 4 hours, our insulin effectiveness drops 24% and thus risk of diabetes rises, • After work, each extra hour of "couch time" raises all of these risks factors by another 11%. I have a confession to make. I am one of those people who has a standing workstation. I originally bought it because I read that standing at my desk, I can burn up to 50 extra calories per hour. That is approximately 400 extra calories per workday! I rocked that standing desk in a room full of sitters and I was pretty darn proud of myself… until I met Biomechanist, Katy Bowman. If you hang out on internet health sites, chances are you’ve read a headline that screams something like "sitting is the new smoking." That’s Katy. These headlines imply that sitting, like smoking, is statistically associated with numerous health issues including death from cardiovascular disease and cancer. And that it will take some time before we all wise up and quit. I’ll let her explain her job. As a biomechanist and kinesiologist, I help people understand that the shape of their body on the gross level (i.e. their posture) affects the shape of the cells themselves. In other words the way you have been sitting has changed the tiny parts that make up your structure; like the shape and density of your bones, the length of your muscles and tendons and the resting tension in your connective tissues. The adaptations to sitting on this deeper cellular level means that reaping the benefits of not sitting so much requires more than just swapping one static position for another. It requires an entire overhaul of the way you think about and move your body. Standing Workers (even the stationary ones like I was when I worked behind a cash register at a liquor store) burn about 1,500 calories while at work; a person behind a desk might burn 900. This goes a long way in explaining why people gain 16 pounds within 8 months of starting a sedentary office job. But even those with active jobs are generally engaged in repetitive tasks that only mobilize a fraction of their joints and muscles. Furthermore, the grind of physical labor can lead to assorted overuse injuries and health problems. But ok… what it really comes down to is that you don't absolutely have to stand all day long but you should absolutely interrupt your sitting and move around as often as you can. Back to Katy… As a longtime proponent of the "stop sitting so much" campaign, I am thrilled that sitting is finally getting attention in the media. Research into diseases associated with sitting like cancer, aren't new. The first article I ever read in 1997 on sitting and risks of cancer was published in 1993, which means scientists, at least somewhere, have known about this relationship for at least 20 years. In light of sitting resurgence, sitting less campaigns, healthy minded individuals (like me) have been super motivated to get out of there chairs and on to Physio balls, standing workstations (like me), and tread desks. The options to sit less are endless so the notion that standing in one place is a solution to sitting so much reminds me of that joke about all accidents happening within 15 miles from your home. “I read that all accidents happen within 15 miles of one's house so I moved” or “I read that sitting kills so now I'm afraid to stop standing.” Which is pretty much what I did when I was working for an email marketing firm in 2011. And… many of my coworkers followed my lead. As I explained more deeply and my book “Move Your DNA - Restore Your Health Through Natural Movement" the sitting itself really isn't the problem. It is the repetitive use of a single position that makes us literally become ill in a litany of ways. For example, muscles will adapt to repetitive positioning by changing their cellular make up, which in turn leads to less joint range of motion. This muscle and joint stiffness can lead to a stiffening of the arterial walls within these muscles. Is this bumming you out? Just hang on… The positive news is that because we've all been sitting "static" the same way for decades, changing our static positioning, i.e. standing more, can improve our health as can moving intermittently throughout the day. Ah ha! Moving intermittently throughout the day! Now this is actionable. When I was working for a big financial firm in downtown Toronto, I would often set an alarm on my iPhone to go off every hour, on the hour, and do pushups, or calf raises, or squats, or jumping jacks, or burpees. Getting up and raising your heart rate for 4 minutes, once an hour, gets you the 30 minutes per day that your doctor has been nagging you about. Plus it makes you more productive, clears your head, gets you refocused and energized. Yes, getting up from your desk is good for your brain as well as body. When you are not at work, look for opportunities to move around as well. Never sit on a bus. Always take the stairs. If you are on an escalator, pretend it’s stairs. Ignore what your mom told you and bounce a leg or fidget whenever you can. This extra movement is called “Non Exercise Activity Thermogenesis” or “NEAT” and it all adds up! Here’s a good one - I never sit through a commercial break. They’re a built in timer that should cue you to get up and do something. I keep a set up dumbbells by the TV to swing around or I just wander into the other room. Just remember to come back before Rick tells Carl to stay in the house again. But anyway, lets get back to the comparison of sitting and smoking… Sitting and smoking are different. Sitting itself isn't the creator of ill effects the way a cigarette is. Sitting, the position, is perfectly harmless when consumed appropriately. It's not like putting your butt into a chair makes you ill. As they say, it's the dose that makes the poison. But isn’t “sitting still” what got us in trouble in the first place? Language can also get us into trouble when seeking solutions because we keep equating sitting with not moving. But in many cases the physical effects of sitting are just as much created by repetitive geometry (always sit in the same way) as they are by the metabolic changes that come with being sedentary. So in the same way that standing can improve your health, so can sitting differently which is great news for the millions of people who aren’t fit enough to stand for a considerable amount of time yet. Yes, even you who wants to change your risk profile for disease but feels trapped by your current physical limitations can change how you sit and improve your health on a cellular level. So this week your homework is clear. No, I don’t want you to take up smoking! Come on, man! No. Every day this week, set an alarm on your phone, computer, tablet or whatever to go off every hour. When it goes off. stand up and do some sort of movement that you don’t usually do. Like I said before: pushups, calf raises, squats, jumping jacks, burpees, dips on your chair, even some moves you learned in your yoga class would do. Just do something for 4 minutes and enjoy the feeling of rejuvenation, focus, clarity and a smidgen of superiority… ‘cause, well, you earned it. Extra points if you do it in the middle of a meeting. I’m serious. Every revolution needs a leader. ** Workplace Hero is researched, written, narrated and recorded by me Brock Armstrong with additional editing and social media from Eleanor Cohen. Artwork by Ken Cunningham and music by my old band, The Irregular Heartbeats. Today’s Hero is Biomechanist and DNA mover, Katy Bowman. Go to primalblueprint.com/dont-just-sit-there for more of Katy’s suggestions on how to become and better non-sitter. Special thanks to Katy and Primal Blueprint publishing for allowing me to use portions of their Don’t Just Sit There audiobook for this podcast.

Guest Hero: Monica Reinagel - licensed nutritionist with a Master’s of Science in Human Nutrition. Hello cubicle cucumbers, open space spaghetti, corner office onions, home den Doritos and coffee shop shallots. My name is Brock Armstrong and I am… not the Workplace Hero. I know you expected me to say that I was. It happens every darn episode. But the goal of this podcast is to make you into a Workplace Hero. I am just hear to fill your ears with inspiration. When you think about it, most of us spend at least 40 hours per week at our place of work (47.7 hours is the actual average even if we only get paid for 37.5 hours). We put time and effort into what our home looks like. We put research into the car we buy or the clothes we wear. Why wouldn’t we put at least that much effort into how we approach our workspace? Before we get started, now that we are a few episodes in to the podcast, if you enjoy this podcast and the tips and strategies it contains, I encourage you to visit SkywalkerFitness.ca. That is the wellness coaching business that I run. Whether you are wanting to run a 10k or a marathon, race in a triathlon, pack on some muscle, clean up your diet, or get lean and ripped, I will create a plan for you. No cookie cutter programs allowed. Just 100% tailored programs that fit around your life’s commitments. And for being a Workplace Hero, I will give you a special deal on your first 3 months of coaching. Head over to SkywalkerFitness.ca and send me a note so I can start building you the perfect program to meet your wellness goals. Let me set the stage for you - It’s Monday morning. In a surprise turn of events, you feel great! You had an amazing weekend of good sleep, good food, fresh air and exercise, and aside from the one glass or wine (or beer) you had with dinner on Saturday night you stuck to your diet exceptionally well. You are feeling so good that you pull out those skinny pants that look so good on you but often feel a little tight around the waist. And - yes! They feel good. Sadly, something goes awry with the kids, or you take a little too long chatting after your sunrise yoga class, or doing your morning journalling, or spacing out on your coffee cup, and you find yourself running late. So you put your coffee in a travel mug, grab a banana and eat on the way to work. You think to yourself “at least I didn’t grab one of the crappy meal replacement bars” - you are still on track! The problem is that around 9:30 or 10:00 am the banana wears off and you find yourself hungry and losing energy and focus. And you are supposed to be leading a breakout meeting in 15 minutes. You don’t want to dig into the lunch that your prepared on Sunday night - not yet - it’s too early. What do you do? You know Debbie always has M&Ms on her desk and you saw one of the EAs from upstairs bring down the leftover donuts from the Monday morning SLT meeting. But you have been doing so well! What do you do? What do you do? Ok, that story may not sound exactly like you but I am sure you can relate and extrapolate the sentiment to match something in your life. Even those of you who work in a home office can likely relate to being in a rush and feeling trapped by your lack of solid meal options. We’ve all been there. A fridge full of condiments… First, let’s look at what happened to our fictional Hero. What was the issue, really? In my opinion, the issues is that breakfast was left to chance. Lunches were prepared (in out fictional scenario) but breakfast was not and while a banana is a better choice than a bowl of sugary, overly processed cereal, it lacks many of the nutrients that keep us full, fuelled and focussed. According to AuthorityNutrion.com a banana contains: Calories 89 Water 75 % Protein 1.1 g Carbs 22.8 g Sugar 12.2 g Fiber 2.6 g Fat 0.3 g So, not much in the way of Protein and Fat (both of which keep you feeling full) but quite a bit of sugar and carbs (both of which make you feel good for a short time but lead to a sugar crash quite quickly) and a ton of water. It also only contains 89 Calories and if you believe the calories-in-calories-out theory even a little bit, you will find that 89 calories will only fuel an average sized woman for 20 minutes of walking briskly, on a level, firm surface (according to CalorieLab.com). So the solution here isn’t to pack a bunch of mid-morning snacks, it’s to make sure you eat an awesome breakfast. Choosing the right types and amounts of food so you get hungry when it is appropriate… not when your team is in the middle of hamming out an actionable plan that is both synergistic and C-level. Ok, let’s move forward in the day. Lunch break is over and you have jumped back into your day. 2:00 hits and you get a slight rumble in your belly or you start to feel a little logy and unfocussed. A lot of times I think people reach for a snack in the afternoon not because they're hungry but because their bodies or their brains just need a break. And in those cases I think you'd be better off, instead of going to the vending machine, stand up from your desk look away from your screen, do some stretches, get the blood flowing. That’s Monica Reinagel. I’m a licensed nutritionist and creator of the weekly nutrition Diva podcast. And my blog and nutrition coaching programs live at nutritionovereasy.com If you have an opportunity get outside, get some fresh air, take a little walk. Even just have a conversation with somebody else in the office of a friend. Just give yourself that little break. Sometimes when we feel snacky, that’s what we really need. Which is something that is going to come up in a future episode about “movement snacks” which is a way of getting your doctor prescribed 30 minutes per day of exercise without having to get up early or stay out late making time for the gym. Now, it could also be possible that your body needs some calories and in that case I think you want choose calories that are going to sustain your mental performance for the afternoon, that aren’t going to leave you feeling sleepy. Sound familiar? We talked about this earlier when we were talking about breakfast. So you want to reach for things that are lower in sugar and higher in protein and/or healthy fat and I think the trick to that is to plan ahead and not wait until you're already hungry to start figuring out what you're going to eat. What kind of things do you suggest? I like to have nuts in my desk drawer or if you have a refrigerator at work you can stash some healthier choices in there - maybe some yogurt and some fruit or a sandwich or some hummus and raw vegetables - but the idea is that by front loading and stocking your environment with some healthy choices you can afford to take that snack break and really fuel your body instead of just throwing yourself at the vending machine or the coffee cart. When I go grocery shopping I can’t help but notice the ever growing aisle of energy bars. Sometimes when people feel their energy flagging in the afternoon, they think it makes sense to reach for an energy bar. I mean, after all that’s what they're designed to do right? Wrong! Energy bars are really designed for athletes who are burning a ton of calories, they are exhausting the muscles, they need a fast source of sugar in order to continue their physical exertion. And so energy bars tend to be really high in sugar and that's the last thing that you would want if you're sitting at your desk and looking for a little boost in energy. Because a big dose of sugar is more likely to just put you to sleep. Ok, this is clearly a topic that we could go on and on about but instead, let’s get to your homework. This week is an easy one. Head over to Monica’s website at nutritionovereasy.com/hero and get her Complete Guide to Heroic Workplace Snacking (which is also known as Chapter 6 of her book: Secrets for a Healthy Diet ), for free! That’s http://nutritionovereasy.com/hero for a free Workplace Snacking Guide. Obviously, I want you to read it as well. What kind of homework would it be if it didn’t involve reading? Come on, man! That’s it for today. After you grab your free chapter at http://nutritionovereasy.com/hero make sure you give this podcast a review or a rating. Especially during these first few weeks of launching a podcast, it really helps out. ** Workplace Hero is researched, written, narrated and recorded by me Brock Armstrong in rainy downtown Vancouver. Additional research and editing by Eleanor Cohen. Artwork by Ken Cunningham. Today’s Hero is none other than the Nutrition Diva herself, Monica Reinagel.

Today’s Guest, Brock Armstrong, is a podcast veteran.  Ifirst learned about Brock on the first podcast I listened to, BenGreenfield’s show.  Now I listen to a number of shows, in factI like so many different shows for different reasons that when Ipile my audiobooks on top of them, I rarely have enough time in aweek to listen to everything I want to.  But as I said, backthen Ben’s show was the first one I listened too and I enjoyedit.  Brock, I later learned, was editing the shows as well buthe was also the co-host.  And he and Ben sorta hammed it up ina casual way but spoke about some really cool topics if you’re intofitness and recovery and such like I am.  I reached out toBrock some time later and found out he’s worked with a lot of thegreat podcasts in the fitness and nutrition area with names likeMark Sisson, Endurance Planet, Dave Asprey (if you don’t don’t himby name, he’s the bullet proof coffee guy) and others.  Sobrock has been on tons of podcasts as well as behind thescenes.  and he’s soaked up a ton of info in the areas offitness, nutrition, and recovery.  He’s now running Skywalkerfitness and helping athletes with programs ranging from triathlonto running, to strengthening.  Brock is graciously offering a50% discount on a coaching consult.  Just email him andmention the discount code “vibrant”, and you can talk to Brock forhalf the usual rate.  I’ll post Brock’s emails and websitesand such on the show notes page for this episode.  You canfind all that at www.drchrisfrykman.com/skywalker. His email isbrock@skywalkerfitness.ca.   For those of you who are regular listeners of my show, you knowthat authenticity is a big value of mine and Brock doesn’tdisappoint.  We both discuss some of our own challenges withsleep routines, anxiety, what works for us and what doesn’t. We also talk quite a bit about loving what you do and checking inwith yourself (or your coach if you have one) about why you’reracing, if you’re racing.   Visit www.DrChrisFrykman.com/Skywalker tobe a part of the sleep challenge. For more information on Dr Chris Frykman and BrockArmstrong as well as some of the strategies discussed intoday's show please visit www.DrChrisFrykman.com/SkywalkerFor more great health information please visit www.DrChrisFrykman.com              Like us on FaceBook at www.facebook.com/VibrantPotential                  Get the latest updates on twitter at www.twitter.com/DrChrisFrykman Thank you so much for checking out this episode of the VibrantPotential podcast. If you haven’t done so already, please takea minute and leave a quick rating and review of the show on iTunesby clicking on the link below. It will help us to keep deliveringlife-changing information for you every week! https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/vibrant-potential-dr-chris/id1038172503?mt=2&ls=1 See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.