Improving Peak Performance: Strategies for Success

Peak performance is a popular phrase that has a number of connotations. In fitness, it implies ways in which athletes maximize their potential for competition, generating the mental stamina and physical strength to succeed in sports. In business, performance indicators involve project management, organization, and communication skills that yield cost-effective results for employees and companies.

Our concern is realizing the power and improved response of minds and bodies that are well-maintained. In this sense, peak performance becomes a strategy for favorable environments in which our bodies support the mobility we depend on every day. How we eat, sleep, and stimulate our bodies determines the level of performance we can expect in return.

Do you use proper lifting techniques and maintain good posture, for instance, reducing the potential for muscle spasms, torn tissues, and spinal misalignment? Do you eat healthy, nutritious foods that promote adequate energy and tissue growth? Are your sleeping habits replenishing your body’s reserves for optimum health? Let’s discuss these issues in more detail.

Mind Your Posture

Did you know you can stimulate your nervous system by writing with pen and paper in as little as 15 minutes per day? The simple act of putting pen to paper inspires the body to use motor skills, nerves, synapses, and sensory receptors to concentrate on applying adequate pressure to create legible letters and summarize our thoughts.

Likewise, a sensible exercise program stimulates muscles, joints, and bones while keeping our spine and its supportive nervous system lubricated and properly aligned. The spinal cord and lower back provide a cushion for our entire bodies. When we use poor posture or stretch these elements beyond their limits, they respond with pain and weakness, limiting our mobility and increasing the chance that other muscles and tissues will break down as a result.

You Are What You Eat

Nutrition is also essential for peak performance. Americans often choose their diets based on how things taste, not how nutritious or supplemental they are to our health. Therefore, foods like chocolate, caffeine, frozen dinners, and carbohydrate-rich foods that drive blood sugar levels sky high become popular choices for people on the go. The toll they exact on our bodies over time is something we can avoid.

The more we rely on artificial chemicals and ingredients, the harder our systems must work to break foods down. Conversely, a diet rich in fresh fruits, vegetables, and protein adds essential vitamins and minerals.

Vitamins B12 and D, for example, support adequate amounts of myelin, the layer of fat that supports the nervous system. Serotonin, magnesium, calcium and flavonoids reduce the effects of stress and help muscles relax. These are the nutrients that regulate immunity and homeostasis, the tools that provide dependable levels of energy and autonomic support.

Sleep It Off

A final element of peak performance is adequate rest. Sleep is something we often take for granted, accepting the amount of rest we get each day as a blessing. Furthermore, keeping late hours means missing out on our body’s peak recovery times between 11pm and 1am.

Sleeping comfortably at night allows our most important systems the chance to rejuvenate. Using environmental controls, breathing techniques, aromatherapy, and supplements like valerian root while eliminating stimulants and late-night meals are examples of things that aid a restful night’s sleep.

Caring for ourselves pays dividends when our bodies respond with peak performance levels that ensure us better health. Nature provides the resources; we must apply the principles to optimize desired results. Our mothers offered sound advice when suggesting we eat our vegetables, stand up straight, and don’t stay up late. As adults, it is up to us to keep these things in mind to maintain peak performance and achieve great things for ourselves.

This week we will be hosting a “Peak Performance in 2009” workshop at The Specific Chiropractic Center. To attend this interactive discussion on issues and strategies related to optimum health, please consult our web site at http://www.thespecific.com/events/index.html for dates and times by location.

References:

How to get sound, restful sleep. Healingdaily. Retrieved April 1, 2009, from http://www.healingdaily.com/exercise/sleep.htm

Simple Tips to Keep Your Nervous System Healthy. Dr. Ben Kim. Retrieved April 1, 2009, from http://drbenkim.com/nervous-system-healthy.html