We Grow from Adversity - On muscle mass, starvation, and cryogenics

We grow from adversity, but not from comfort. Here are some examples that support this statement:

Muscles grow under stress, with resistance exercise: training with weights

You don't usually see long-distance runners with big muscles. Endurance training may be exhausting, but it is far from being considered strenuous or intense.

Few people die of starvation

Most of us carry enough bodyfat to support a few weeks of not eating - only consuming water. Overweight people can fast for longer periods of time; very lean people can do it for shorter periods (days to weeks). In fact, the longest medically recorded fast was of an obese person who did not eat for 382 days; he fasted his way to normal weight - from 207 kg to 82 kg. I wrote about this here.

It's all about how much fat you carry around and how good you are at using it for energy.

More over, when food is not consumed, the body has more energy to divert to processes such as cellular repair, increased waste disposal, recycling of proteins, and regeneration. Timing and duration of a fast are key aspects that have to be considered on an individual basis.

Cold Stress

Personal example:

In December 2012, I decided to experiment with cold showers. It was winter time and I was subjecting myself to something against common-sense. It was a deeply disturbing first experience. In fact, I wrote a blog post about it.

But I decided to continue. I wanted to increase my tolerance to cold as I thought it may elicit health benefits. I began becoming somewhat comfortable with cold showers.

I took longer cold showers. Then I took cold baths => longer cold baths => ice baths. I even experimented with cryosaunas - exposing myself to -193 degrees Celsius (picture at the top).

To regain sensitivity to cold, I would withdraw from cold exposure for a while. It's all about stress, tolerance, and adaptation.

Post-Traumatic Growth

People who go through traumatic experiences are more prepared to deal with subsequent similar episodes.

"It is often characterized by decreased reactivity and faster recovery in response to similar stressors in the future. This occurs as a result of exposure to the event and subsequent learning."*