I tried a Pilates video a few weeks ago. I know that might not be very manly, but I thought I would try something different to shake things up. I hoped it would be a bit like yoga, and help with my core strength.
It had an unexpected benefit… I discovered Lateral Breathing. This involves breathing deeply and engaging core muscles, in order to maximise oxygen exchange. I’d strongly recommend it, it feels great! There are apparently lots of benefits, and the main one I’ve noticed is to do with running. And it isn’t just in the way it feels (since I track everything I have data):
- Over the same course…
- My heart-rate is very similar…
- In exchange for a 1% higher cadence…
- And 30secs/mile faster speed.
- This is much more than the improvement I usually see in a similar 2 weeks of training.
So yeah, try it!
You might be wondering why I’m talking about this. Well, it feels like innovation. You might’ve read last week’s post about Active Procrastination: you never know what might help you approach a problem in a different way.
Innovation often occurs at the crossings between two disciplines. Some varied examples:
- Descartes’ Meditations is between mathematics and theology.
- Gaudi’s architecture is between engineering and biology.
- Breast Cancer is being treated between mathematics and chemistry.
- Dyson’s famous cleaner is inspired by paint particle separation.
- And many more!
So I suppose this blog post is a little nudge for encourgaging doing something different, outside your normal zones, in order to experiment and learn.
Go on, do something weird. You never know what ideas it might spark.
