Breathing, Barefoot Shoes, and Heart Rate Zones
Savage / Zen Newsletter | No. 075
"I know that man is capable of great deeds, but if he isn't capable of great emotions, well, he leave me cold."
~ Albert Camus
Training & Updates:
Welcome to spring! Over the past month I’ve started a breath work practice, gone full ham on capacity training (and paid for it), and retired my trademark Bedrock sandals(!).
Shift Adapt has free quick start guide to breathwork, but I signed up for their all access subscription to binge their webinars and download programming content.
Breathwork isn’t an exception to other types of training or tissue development — requiring progressive overload. You absolutely can “blow out” or otherwise damage / overtrain your sinus tissues.
My sandals are gone, but I haven’t abandoned the “barefoot life.” Xero Prios are significantly cheaper than my Altra Lone Peaks; both being zero-drop the (padding) stack is 5.5 mm compared to 25 mm.
In other words, these aren’t for the feint of heart as you’ll feel every rock and stick you step on! While pounding the literal pavement, I’m glad I have the Lone Peaks.
Xeros won’t suck your power away whilst lifting heavy, and have sticky rubber for jumping / agility, and won’t saw your big toes off like a sandal thong.
Xero advertises a “wide toe box”, but I still had to size up a whole size. For reference, my Altra Lone Peak 6’s are 9-Wide even with Altra’s widest “original” cut. By contrast, the Xero Prio’s are a size 10. Both are a bit long for my foot, but REI didn’t have the Altra half size, and Xero doesn’t make a “wide” size or leather option.
So far the Prio rubber is super sticky and the shoe is super comfortable day-to-day. Cheers to hard training and grinding them into oblivion to make use of that REI warranty!
What’s New:
Book Club:
The looming dystopian futures foretold in A Brave New World, 1984, Gattaca, Minority Report, V for Vendetta, etc. all have their roots (fortunately) in fiction. The reality of the “century of total war” is much more cruel in its reality.
If Man’s Search for Meaning illustrates faith in the face of fascism, then “The Gulag” is the counterpart that represents what happens when the state becomes the idol of worship.
This should serve a staunch warning of horseshoe politics when pundits echo chimes of:
“it’s for your own good”,
“the government is here to help”,
“it’s for everyone’s safety”,
“we’re all in this together”,
“you today, me tomorrow.”