It's important to warm up to fight fire

#106 - a lot of calories to work off

Hi there,

This week’s title is, in fact, not derived from the treacherous week we’ve had this week. I write this as the classical music on my headphones drowns out the violent crashes of the wind and wet outside as ‘Storm Isha’ digs its heels in this weekend. This is the second storm of the week, after the avalanche of revision for mock exams starting tomorrow.

Thankfully, apart from being excellent practice and a good test of where I’m at and what needs less/more work, these are hugely consequential, which takes some pressure off them. Starting with my favourite Maths tomorrow is a nice way for me to ‘warm up’ for Further Maths on Wednesday and then the tall order of Physics and Econ on Thursday.

Highlight of the week: all the food from Pongal. Our annual Tamil and Hindu harvest festival has been a treat this week, literally. From the delicacies of sweet energising Pongal to the depths of spice and flavour in my mum’s delectable chicken and fish curries, my appetite has been spoilt. Here’s hoping for some good news on Wednesday such that Mum makes me another feast… (can I have the biryani, please?)

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Among the goals for the year is to be more physically active. Off the back of my teeth incident, I haven’t engaged in any winter sports and after the cricket season ended in August, there was a real lull in how much exercise I was doing.

As per my new schedule, I’m meant to go to the gym on Saturday but sadly, a lie-in meant a shortened day which I had to prioritise towards revision (which I did successfully). However, not wanting to squander the time luxury created by a weekend day, I thought I would do some exercise at home, indulging in this 30 minute dumbbell workout on the TV.

Alas, since the workout was squat-heavy and I hadn’t properly warmed up, I was left with sore quads that stayed with me till Tuesday and even briefly on Wednesday. My Monday session went down the drain, further breaking the pattern and habit (you’ll be pleased to hear that I went on Wednesday and this morning as well 🙌)

This brings into focus the power of the warmup and its leverage. Not spending 5 minutes to get myself ready to engage in lots of squatting meant extended discomfort for a lot lot longer than 5 minutes and the consequence of not being able to go the gym. You can think of this as almost being negative leverage.

I’d like to apply this to revision and being smart about working with your energy and motivation cycles. Instead of starting with the surefire brain-hurting Physics Paper 1, I am much better off getting going with some simple Maths, ramping up to the difficult stuff.

• I am less likely to give up when I’m finding it tricky because my brain would be more in gear and switched on and might even suffer from the ‘sunk cost fallacy’ of “I’ve already studied for so long, I might as well just finish it off”

• I am more likely to do better at the Physics paper - a net better outcome.

Now, this contradicts with previous advice I’ve dished out of ‘Eat the frog’, which is where you tackle the harder task that you don’t want to do first, when you have the most energy and focus, so you can be rewarded with the easier more likeable task later. I think it comes back to the ‘5 Minute Rule’ which I’ve also mentioned before, and the power of getting going and the momentum that keeps the wheels turning after that.

The warm up is the way of getting the wheels to turn over and prepare you for the steep uphill cycle up as you get stuck into ‘the frog’. So we conclude by saying that you need a warmup but it must be effective and as short as possible, so you can get to the actual stuff that you need to do or that will move the needle the most.

Promise me that you will do a warm up next time you start exercising - you don’t deserve the pain after 😖.

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Podcast of the week🎙️

BBC Newscast: How is AI Threatening Elections?

In a year with lots of elections that I care about - in the US, India and UK (first time I can vote!) - this was an eye-opener about the true damage (and good…?) AI can do

Thing I’m grateful for this week 🙏

My coat, cap and gloves ensemble. With negative temperatures this week, getting out of the house at 7:40 has not been fun. These lifesavers have kept the cold at bay and made the UK weather feel a little bit hospitable.

Quote of the week 💬

Stop waiting for the right time. Time isn't waiting for you - Leonardo DiCaprio

Good luck to my friends with these exams, we’ll be over them very soon! I know today’s post wasn’t great, treat it as part of the warm up for a superb #107

Adi