Good morning my friends!

A few weeks ago I discussed substances released in response to aerobic and anaerobic exercise called myokines. https://www.longecit…131#entry918894

It turns out, myokines are only one small (albeit very important) part of the body’s response to exercise. 

In fact, multiple organs throughout the body release a panoply of substances that scientists have named ‘exerkines’. 

See this fantastic review in Nature for more on this fascinating new area of science. https://www.nature.c…574-022-00641-2

The main organs involved are as follows:

1. myokines – skeletal muscle

2. cardiokines – heart 

3. hepatokines – liver 

4. adipokines – white adipose tissue 

5. batokines – brown adipose tissue 

6. neurokines – nervous system

These substances enter the blood stream, enhance organ to organ crosstalk, and exert local as well as systemic effects throughout the entire body. 

Here’s what it looks like…

Here’s what it looks like in the nervous system…

For more info, see the Nature review.  https://www.nature.c…574-022-00641-2

To help you remember some of these ideas, I created flashcard fronts (FCF) and flashcard backs (FCB) for you to add to your Anki flashcards using key terms from the Nature article.

Anki is free. Download it here. https://apps.ankiweb.net/

Just copy the ‘flashcard front’ into the front of your flashcard and the ‘flashcard back’ into the back. 

Complicated, I know. lol

Use Spaced Generation Learning to generate answers to your flashcards by ‘drawing your reference frames out loud on a spaced repetition schedule’.

Make sure to perform your Anki reps daily (just use their default ‘spacing’ algorithm) since the brain will adapt (create a memory) in response to what it repeatedly encounters (ie. temporal intervals and temporal relations are key).

Additionally, a simple drawing made each time you encounter a ‘flashcard front’ will help connect the various ideas, involve multiple brain regions (motor cortex, sensory cortex, etc.) and make them stick in your memory. 

I use pencil and paper to draw my reference frames and engage the motor and sensory cortices during learning and retrieval. 

Happy generating!

Note: The spacing on the ‘flashcard backs’ is intentional. That is how I parse sentences in order to make the logic of the statements clear to me. Feel free to adjust them to your own liking!

FCF: What is resilience?

FCB: the ability of the body to 

resist, 

adapt to, 

recover, or 

grow 

in response to stressors

FCF: What is high intensity interval training?

FCB: a form of exercise training 

characterized by bursts of high-intensity activity 

followed by less intense recovery periods.

FCF: What are exerkines?

FCB: a broad variety of signalling moieties 

that are released in response to acute and/or chronic exercise 

that exert their effects through 

endocrine, 

paracrine and/or 

autocrine pathways

FCF: What is acute exercise?

FCB: a single episode of exercise 

(often resistant or aerobic exercise)

that is completed during one visit.

FCF: What is chronic exercise?

FCB: multiple exercise episodes (often resistant or aerobic exercise) 

performed over the course 

of weeks 

to months.

FCF: What are MicroRNAs?

FCB: non-protein coding RNA molecules 

that are regulated in a transcriptional or post-transcriptional fashion 

to affect mRNA transcription and/or degradation

FCF: What are exosomes?

FCB: a type of extracellular vesicle 

released by parent cells, 

which contain 

RNAs, 

proteins and 

lipids, 

to facilitate crosstalk between tissues.

P.S. I’ll be talking a lot more about exercise in future posts since it is literally nature’s God-Stack for cognition (just look at all of those substances above!). For now, make sure you exercise at the same time every single day…and by that, I mean this…just take a 30 minute walk at the same time every day. That’s it! Don’t complicate it. Don’t overexert yourself. Remember our fundamental beginner’s principle: standardize THEN optimize. Get a daily 30 minute segment standardized for 7 days per week at the same time every day. Once that is locked in to your schedule, then you can use that time segment for resistance training, different forms of exercise, different intensity levels, etc. For now, just get it locked in at the same time everyday. No stress, no pressure. Just a relaxing stroll. 

I go for a 30 minute walk (or I run or lift) immediately after my 30 minutes of bright light upon waking. So, wake up, restroom, drink water then First Light (30min), then First Hike (or Bike) (30min). Corny, I know. But it rhymes!

I get books from audible or a podcast or a YouTube vid and listen to them at 3.5x speed (start at 2x speed and gradually increment up if you’ve never listened at this speed before) while I’m walking. You’ll never go back to normal speed listening again. Enhance the body and brain at the same time! I love simultaneity. 

Sync Your Central Clock with Bright Light Therapy: http://www.lostfalco…re-to-buy-them/

Sync Your Microbiome Clock with Dextrin: https://www.lostfalco.com/supplements/

Sync Your Peripheral Clock with Meal Timing and Exercise Timing (Hex Bar, Pull Up Bar, Fit Desk): https://www.lostfalco.com/devices/

Use ‘Sequence Eating’ to Control Glycemic Response: Eat Fiber/Veggies first THEN Protein THEN Carbs (eat fat with fiber and/or protein) https://www.lostfalco.com/supplements/