Igor Konovalov
JS developer with a passion. Currently working as a senior software engineer at Epam
Antifragility applied or
how to get positive response from regulated stress
Today:
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Status quo and exposition
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About antifragility, resource and discipline
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Practice
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Q&A
About me
Born in Russia, Sankt-Petersburg, Kolpino in 1985
After graduation traveled for 10 years in Middle East, Central, South East Asia and Africa
Started with some form of physical training when became 25 years old
Became professional programmer in 31
Not:
- doctor
- trainer
- psychologist
Problems encountered and solutions
Antifragility is a property of systems in which they increase in capability to thrive as a result of stressors, shocks, volatility, noise, mistakes, faults, attacks, or failures
Example of Antifragile systems:
- Immune system
- Restaurants
- Airlines
- Silicon valley
Present time and PTSD
Past
Over time
Present
Over time
Desired
Over time
Stress response:
Fight, Flee or Freeze
Stress example: Cortizol release during giving lecture
Body stress response in detail
Resource and discipline
Prefrontal cortex
- focusing one’s attention
- predicting the consequences of one’s actions; anticipating events in the environment
- impulse control; managing emotional reactions
- planning for the future
- coordinating and adjusting complex behaviors (“i can’t do a until b happens”)
Dopamine response
"Easy" dopamine
"Hard" dopamine
The holy grail of motivation: to be able to attach reward to the effort process itself
Routine
8 hour sleep
Sunlight in the morning
Cold shower / plunge
Light exercise
Circadian Rhytm
Cold shower/plunge
- Increases energy and focus by releasing epinephrine and norapinephrine
- Building resilience and grit. Training top-down control (prefrontal cortex)
- Enhancing mood by releasing dopamine over prolonged period of time
- Increases metabolism, increasing body temperature
- Cold adaptation, brown fat thermogenesis
- Muscle physical recovery (of applied more than 4 hours after training)
Cold shower
How to approach
Start warmer than you think you need to and ease into it over a few days. Do not expose yourself to cold water after strength or hypertrophy training
11 min/week - combined
Stop if you start to feel sick!
Exercise
Exercise amount
resistance training: 50-70 min a week
1 day rest
2 days rest
3 days rest
Zone 2 Heart Rate Training
- Increase in the number of mitochondria
- increase in mitochondrial efficiency
- increase in “metabolic flexibility”
- lower resting heart rate
- a decrease in blood pressure
- lower risk of injury
- improves insulin resistance
Mitochondria
Mitochondria are membrane-bound cell organelles (mitochondrion, singular) that generate most of the chemical energy needed to power the cell's biochemical reactions
We only produce the number of mitochondria we need to support the amount of energy we require
Conclusion
- Start small
- Consistency
- Optimize and evolve
- Never stop learning!
Q&A
Links and Materials
- Huberman Lab podcast
- Leverage Dopamine to Overcome Procrastination & Optimize Effort
- Dr Peter Attia about best exercise for longevity
- About whole body benefits of kettlebell training
- Zone 2 training
- Wim Hof Method
- Stress toolkit
- Healthy Gamer (psychology)
- A bit on Athletics in Ancient Greece
- Adapted cold shower as a potential treatment for depression
- About chronic stress
- Daylio app - mood tracker
Antifragility-applied
By Igor Konovalov
Antifragility-applied
About: Let's talk about willpower, motivation, ability to overcome struggle, importance of discipline and how it helps us to live a happier and fulfilled life without burden of constant fear and stress. I'll tell personal story and share my own thoughts and routine that helped me immensely, allowing not only to survive but thrive in a world of constant change.
