Good thing you got your thinking cap on, Gaz! I plumb forgot to mention it...
Using motivating, but not a beat faster than your intermediate walking speed, can help put your brain into a focused but relaxed state.
Read
this to learn about brainwave states.
Too slow a beat, and its sedating (delta and theta types). Too fast, and its primarily beta beats. Too excitatory for our needs.
The alpha brainwave state is the desired goal for this activity... And it and the beta brainwave state, are the alternating states you want in the gym.
Most of us can easily muster the beta state...you can induce it with CNS stimulants. Downside in using the stimulants, is that they also exact a heavy toll in oxidative stress damage because you don't *oscillate* off of that excited state, for the duration of the period of drug action.
In the self induced state in the gym, you can switch back and forth, to ease CNS negative effects of brief periods of intense exertion. In fact, if you have ever felt like you were in a trance state in the gym or while relaxing to good music, your brain was functioning primarily in the alpha state.
Now hear this: alpha brain wave states induce hGH release, and from that, IGF-1. It also co-induces NGF (nerve growth) and other peptides, ones that control hunger, immune and connective, bone and blood supply and repair functions to muscle and muscle support matrix.
In other words, this is the
mind-muscle connection state you want. If you do this, you will considerably enhance the benefits of both regular walking and resistance training.
Train your brain. Do it while walking. It makes it much easier to slip into this focused but not-CNS-taxing state, and also to alternate it with that more excited (high intensity exertion ready state) - the beta state - when necessary in the gym. This is a simple, clever trick to spare your CNS excess damage, and avoid overtraining from high intensity workouts.
Interestingly enough, if you go to Frank Zanes website, you will see that he happened on this same notion, and uses a audio-visual feedback system to elict the same brain training.
Ours is a better approach. Why? There's the oxygen angle. Hypoxia, a common state in those with chronic stress, induces the expression of a gene that causes breath holding, unconsciously.
During the day, it manifests as shallow, interrupted breathing. Same at night, but more prominent in its negative impact..you have this lowered heart rate, and it tends to stop the heart, momentarily. Its called sleep apnea.
See, there is actually a gene for this breath holding habit! And, its turned ON by a lack of GABA from too much time spent in the beta state. You make and release GABA and taurine, in the alpha state. You make and release glutamate and acetylcholine, in the excited state in the brain and body CNS.
Not good chemical karma, to have too much excitement, and not enough calm - causes aging and rapid cellular damage to the CNS. Negates the positive effects of training (its overtraining).
Thanks, Gaz! This notion of alpha brainwave chemistry is really the driver behind those benefits I mentioned...
If you haven't cottoned on yet, this whole thread is fricking GOLD. Very advanced, yet simple notions to grasp.
This is using your head outside, as well as while in the gym, to optimize human performance.