S5E38 The Healing Power of Sleep: A Walk and Talk with Chris; Navigating Recovery, Honesty in Conversation, and Outdoor Podcasting in Season 5, Episode 38 of The Chris Abraham Show

Episode 169 of 455 · · 13:38 · Season 5, Episode 38

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In this episode, Chris delves into the importance of body recovery, the healing power of sleep, and some candid moments from his daily life. This 38th installment of season 5 shares interesting anecdotes on physical wellbeing and a dive into Chris's unconventional approach to podcasting.

Key Points Discussed:

  • The healing power of sleep: After noticing his knee inflammation decreasing overnight, Chris draws attention to the power of sleep for healing and recovery. He shares his unique experience of "catching his body healing" while he sleeps and reiterates the importance of a good night's sleep for overall health and wellness.

  • The benefits of a protein and fat-based diet: Chris emphasizes his diet's contribution to his recovery, highlighting the importance of protein and fat in his carnivore diet. He explains how his diet aids his recovery and positively affects his heart rate.

  • His walking regimen and fitness tracking: Chris discusses his fitness routine, including his transition from a 20-pound to a 30-pound weight plate, and the effort to increase his daily steps. He uses tracking devices like Fitbit and Garmin to monitor his progress.

  • The significance of the right shoes: Chris discusses his preference for minimalist shoes from Whitten, bought on Amazon, which help prevent imbalances and potential ankle twists during his long walks.

  • Life in DC and dealing with the heat: Chris shares a glimpse of life in Washington, DC, with mentions of weather conditions and his preferred gear to beat the heat.

  • The myth of the five-hour sleep cycle: Chris recalls his encounter with a senator who claimed to function on five hours of sleep. He underlines the misleading nature of such statements and emphasizes the need for ample sleep, especially for high-performance athletes who need significant recovery time.

  • Reflections on high-level athletes and sleep: Chris observes that top-tier athletes likely prioritize sleep and recovery more than they publicly admit. He points out the common practice of daytime naps and ample rest periods in their routines.

  • Interesting digressions: Chris occasionally veers off the main topic, touching upon topics such as the color of his gear and his use of a chest rig. He also shares his plans for volunteering at a park run and possibly watching the Barbie movie.

  • Podcasting outdoors: Chris records this episode while walking outdoors. He notes the potential drawbacks of street noise and wind but enjoys the process, providing a refreshing departure from traditional podcasting settings.

  • The importance of honesty in conversation: Chris underscores the need for truthfulness in public discourse, drawing from his own experiences of believing others at face value.

Advice from the episode:

Sleep is an essential part of recovery. Chris highlights the immense transformation he has witnessed in his body due to adequate sleep. He recommends giving the body plenty of time to rest and recover, particularly when engaging in physically strenuous activities.

Conclusion:

In Episode 38, Chris shares personal anecdotes, explores the critical role of sleep in recovery, and provides a unique, on-the-go perspective on podcasting. He underscores the significance of a protein and fat-rich diet for recovery and gives insights into his daily routine.

Tune in for more candid discussions and personal insights from Chris, and remember to prioritize sleep for optimal health and recovery.

Transcript

Read the full transcript (1,327 words, machine made)

This is the Chris Abraham Show. Hey there, This is Chris Abraham. Chris Abraham Show season five, episode 38. Is it 38? I'm not sure. I think it's 38.

And I caught my body healing last night. It was weird. Like, I know it's not what was happening. It was that. My knee was sore and it had been inflamed and that over the course of my sleep the inflammation decreased and I, you know, bent my knee and all that other stuff and then then it went away. But in my weird dream space, I believed that over the course tonight, the abuse that I've been putting my body in with regards to bye, bye bye.

The abuse that I put my body in with this 30 pound plate and all the stuff inside. I woke up in the middle of the night. My Mama says, What you going to do with your life? Oh baby dear, I know you're still #1. And girls, they want to have fun. Oh girls just want to have fun.

So I woke up in the middle of the night and my knee was like really sore and like, I'm afraid about my knees not dealing well with this. You know, I think it's like 24 kilogram bag now. And I'm using these Whiten or Witten minimalist shoes, cheap shoes off of Amazon because I don't want too much cushion because I'm afraid of imbalance or. Twisting my ankle or something like that. So I took an extra long walk yesterday, but only, you know, with this new weight.

I've only been doing like 8 to 10,000 steps and I want to do 14,000 steps, but I'm adapting from a 20 pound plate to a 30 pound plate, so I don't want to overdo it. Also, it's humid and hot here in DCI. Think it gets up. Gets up to 90. I don't know, 88 to 86. It's not that hot.

I don't feel it that much, but even though I don't seem to feel it that much, like my sniper boony funny hat sure does get sweaty, so I know that happens. So I woke up in the middle of the night, my mom. So I won't do that again to you. And my knee was like, I was like so stiff and awful. And I folded myself into sort of a a, an embryo kind of curled up kind of thing in my bed and went back to sleep.

And when I woke up, my legs felt terrific, right? And I. I make myself stay in bed for like 8 or 9 hours, which ends up being six 7-8 hours of actual sleep according to my Fitbit and my Garmin. So I give myself plenty of time and when I wake up I guzzle water and electrolytes. And I've been eating only carnivore, so only protein and fat, and I know that helps with recovery and with all this walking and so forth, my heart rate is down. My resting heart rate is like 56586162 and so that's good for my sleep and my recovery.

And even Garmin, which never ever gives me any body battery. They tend to always just like steal body battery. I actually got a huge body battery boost overnight so I obviously slept well and my HRV was good, but it was pretty amazing. Like to feel like I woke up in the middle of the night. I'm like, Oh my God, I effed up like. I broke myself, like my legs are traumatized from all this walking with all this weight.

And I woke up really like thinking that, really feeling that. And and then when I woke up in the morning, everything felt like completely peachy. And so I'm like, I caught you body, I caught you, I caught you healing and recovering. And now I understand the extreme value. Of sleep, because that only happens really during sleep. So get your sleep, kiddos.

Honestly, if you don't prioritize sleep in your life, you're an asshole, right? Like these people. I got the such the wrong idea during when I was 16 with close up study tour we met with. My senator, Senator Inouye. And he was like, I only need five hours of sleep every night.

I just get five hours of sleep now. I lived in a world where I thought people didn't bullshit or didn't lie or didn't talk crap. So I feel like if someone told me something, I believed them. I still believe you if you tell me something. But I always put little asterisk by things that I think are lies or bullshit. And I feel like someone who is a high level athlete or a high level bodybuilder or a I feel like these people are secretly like long sleepers.

I feel like they take recovery as seriously because I've started to see like these fulltime athletes. You know people who are underwritten by Olympics money or by Nike or Brooks or whoever, whomever Hoka, they have time during the day. People practicing for the Olympics take daytime naps and they sleep and they they will do one workout in the morning. And they will go home, they will eat and then they will freaking crash and then they will do, they will do a a second workout, they'll have dinner and then they'll go to. Then they'll go to bed, they'll go to bed. So I feel like high level athletes watch too much Andrew Tate and feel like that if they're not fronting. If they're not making people feel like they're super people by saying that they don't need a baby's level of nine hours of sleep a night to recover from, you know, £1000 deadlifts, here comes a big truck.

I'm sure this is the one that goes by every day.

There's wind and there's trucks. And so, like, this is going to be a terrible episode. But the good news is, is that this is a terrible episode anyway.

But I am walking with my camel. Sorry, my coyote. Brown. I keep on wanting to say it's Narnia, but there's a type of of giant, giant rodent. I saw one of them in Portland, OR.

It's a Nubia Nubia. No, that's that's a an African woman. All I can think of is Narnia nutria. So nutria is a color, and nutria is the exact color. I think is what other countries called coyote brown. And I just call it 10 or khaki.

But calling something khaki is khaki cool, not tactical. And that's not cool at all. So yeah, I'm walking with it. I've got my chest rig. It's.

Gray runners kit bag in rip stop nylon and it's I think the medium size maybe becomes another truck.

This is fun. What would Jesus do?

This is so much fun. I think it's always fun to do podcasts this way because honestly, I don't want anybody to listen. So if I have blah blah blah podcasts like this. Maybe someone will listen to be like, I'm not going to listen to that, Listen to all that wind and all that Yammer and all that street noise. It's crazy. Who would listen to that?

Fair enough. So I did sign up to be a tail, tail, runner tail, whatever for the park run this Saturday. So I have to be there. At 08/30 and I'm biking there and then afterwards I'm going to join them for coffee. And then who knows what I'll do next.

Maybe I'll go to Courthouse and watch the Barbie movie. Anyway, everything's so crazy. I think I'll call it a day and I'll talk to you tomorrow. Take care and Aloha. Bye, bye. Thank you for listening to The Chris Abraham Show. Make sure you subscribe so you don't miss any future episodes until next time.