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1028 sats \ 9 comments \ @BTCFC 8 May alter_native

I've become a fan of deliberate short term stress exposure and hormesis. The most recent ones I have been practicing has been deliberate cold exposure and heat exposure. For cold I either take a cold shower in the morning, or wear an ice vest for an hour or so and just go about my day. For hot, I take a hot bath for 25 minutes or so, adding hot water depending on whether I feel I need more heat. Exercise is also a way in which you can stress yourself within a controlled environment, for a certain amount of time. I've been doing proper strength and conditioning for well over 2 years now with my best friend who is also my trainer. But on top of that, I've been playing around with high intensity interval training to get even more out of my cardiovascular health. And now I want to try something a bit unorthodox but I feel could have benefits.

Basically, I want to try out putting myself through deliberate pain (think shin conditioning for kick boxers) in order to condition my body to handle physical pain better. I know, what is wrong with this guy, right? But as an athlete who plays in a contact sport, football (soccer), there are many moments where I have to deliberately go into a play knowing it'll be painful. A 50/50 ball or getting ready to get slide tackled or getting bodied. Nothing as painful as fighting sports or the likes of American football, but nonetheless there are many moments within a game where the result can be painful. And I've noticed myself not fully commit to a play because my body doesn't want to feel pain. Thing is, whenever I get injured, it's usually because I go into a tackle or 50/50 ball half heartedly, not fully committed, hesitating and fearful of pain.

Therefore, I recently have felt it important to expose myself to deliberate pain in order to decrease the amount of hesitation and fear I have when playing. Weird idea, I know. Will it have benefits? Not sure.

So I kindly ask stackers, do any of you have experience with exposing yourself to deliberate pain? And if so any advice or tips on how I should go about it? I'm thinking like Thai kick boxers I start with my shins by using a stick or what have you, albeit nice and slow lol.

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53 sats \ 2 replies \ @1GLENCoop 8 May

I've had a lot of major dental work throughout my life. At one point it seemed like needing to get another root canal was the norm whenever I went for a routine check-up. I felt like facing the pain head-on, so I asked my dentist to go ahead and do it without novocaine or any other painkillers. He looked at me like I was crazy when I said it. He probably was right.

Did the root canal, no painkillers of any sort. It was brutal pain, but I forced myself to bear it since I knew that once the root was yanked out, the pain would subside faster than novocaine would normally wear off.

Did I really do that? Yes.
Would I ever recommend that to anyone? No. Not unless you're as crazy as I am.

21 sats \ 0 replies \ @BTCFC OP 8 May

Just reading this made me wince... What a trooper!

21 sats \ 0 replies \ @itsrealfake 8 May

Mental

I love it

100 sats \ 0 replies \ @itsrealfake 8 May

First and foremost: if you're not playing professionally, then you don't need to "fully commit" and your body's natural fear of becoming injured is a great thing to pay attention to. this will become more valuable as you get older and stop healing as easily.

Moving on:

In highschool I (mostly gently) dragged my fingernails on brick/drywall as I walked the hallways to desensitize myself from the sensation & sounds. Chalkboard noises don't really mess with me anymore either.

Likewise, if you place the backs of the forearms on the edge of a table, and shift the arm around you get a pretty good grinding/crunching sensation that's unsettling. I put a good deal of effort into getting over that.

As part of karate instruction, we used Makiwora Boards. You can DIY this very easily, and I recommend it. After you're done ripping up the skin on your striking surfaces, you can soak in salt+vinegar.

https://m.stacker.news/30025

Also, in karate, we practiced barefoot on hot concrete for the part of the year when that was possible.

1 sat \ 3 replies \ @Satosora 8 May

I do this everytime I bike. Feel that burn and push as hard as you can. And when you have done that enough, you can hear your heartbeat in your ears from all the blood pumping through your neck. Its a good feeling! Self torture lol

1 sat \ 2 replies \ @Fabs 8 May

Ever squatted that long and hard that your dick started to "tickle"?

Man...

0 sats \ 1 reply \ @Satosora 9 May

10 sats \ 0 replies \ @Fabs 9 May

It's advisable, really hits those muscles.

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @Undisciplined 8 May

The more I've learned, the more hormesis seems like one of the major missing factors in modern life. So many ailments seem to be related to lack of exposure to various stressors.