i know exercising has its own risks, but one that involves the BRAIN??? and i sometimes have headache after a session.. T_T

EXERTION HEADACHE. 

What actually occurs is that the blood vessels in your brain expand beyond their normal thresholds which puts pressure on the meninges (small nerves that cover the brain) which causes the painful headache. The headache subsides once the heart rate drops along with the blood pressure, but the headache lingers because the meninges remain extra sensitive. 

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Typically exertion headaches occur when a combination of the following circumstances are true:

1. You're Dehydrated: Dehydration thickens your blood

2. Valsalva (Holding Breath): This causes a dramatic spike in blood pressure

3. Poor Neck Position: Anything other than a neutral spine causes constrictions on the Carotid Arteries, the main arteries that deliver blood to the brain.

4. Increased Heart Rate: As a set progresses, your heart rate will steadily climb so that by the end of your set it can be close to (or above) your maximal heart rate.

5. Heavy Weight on Body: The more weight you have on your body, the more your blood pressure will rise as you exert yourself lifting it. Because legs are the strongest muscle group in the body, you typically lift more weight with your legs. The correlation with heavy weight and an increase in blood pressure makes compound leg movements more risky than other movements.

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To prevent an exertion headache:

1. BE Hydrated: Drink enough water that you're piss is white the day before your lift and the day of, and drink water during your workout.

2. NEVER Hold Your Breath: Most good lifters pride themselves on having good form. When I'm working with a client, in addition to proper mechanics, I include proper breathing as a requirement for a rep to count. "Your holding your breath, that rep doesn't count."

3. Maintain a NEUTRAL SPINE: Unless you're performing a neck exercise, there is no need for your neck to be bent. Let it be comfortable and neutral and focus on the target muscle.

4. Allow for RECOVERY/ do CARDIO: First of all, do some cardio to condition your heart and lungs to be able to work hard. This will prevent the body from being too shocked on rep 9 and 10 on those Squats! 

Second of all, give yourself enough time between sets and exercises for your heart rate to come down. You shouldn't jump in to the next set or exercise while your heart is pounding. Not only will you not perform as well because your cardiovascular system will fatigue before the muscle your training, but you will also put yourself at risk for the headache. As a general rule, any time you're doing a heavy compound movement, especially on legs, make sure your heart rate is comfortable before you begin the set.

5. Single-Leg, Single Joint / It is what it is: Try doing some single-leg leg extensions before you do your squats to pre-fatigue them so they go to failure sooner. Also, single joint leg movements can help you isolate the quads and ham strings so you can strengthen them through their entire range of motion which will help your Squat/Deadlift. However, it is what it is. As long as you can handle the heavy weight with good form, you should do it. It is what it is. Heavy weight on the squat bar/leg press/hack machine is GOING to cause an increase in your blood pressure. As long as 1-4 are good to go, move whatever weight you can control with good form.

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Remember, an EXERTION HEADACHE is an INJURY TO THE BRAIN. If not taken seriously, it won't go away and can become worse. Just like any other injury in the gym, certain steps must be taken to transition the body back to a high performance level again.

just a reminder for me : only have children when you're ready psychologically and economically. if you really want the best for them.

and.... HUNDREDS just for un-compulsory shots as safety measures from possible illnesses. 


and we haven't talk about TERTIARY EDUCATION. hundreds of thousands.


so please, future me. think before you even intend to procreate.  

my favourite online perfume shop!

obviously, this is not a paid advertisement. i just thought to share an online shop that can be trusted :) 

perfume has never been my favourite thing to buy. most of the time, i'll use not even half the tiny bottle before i forget its existence and accidentally threw it away. 

but one day i came across this online perfume shop. apparently, the shop sells two type of perfumes

1. imitation perfume (made in Dubai)

2. original perfume (made in whatever country they're suppose to come from, usually US or France)

the albums are full of this very lovely bottles of perfume, and as expected, i was promptly tempted to buy. my first purchase was Katy Perry's Purr and Dior Miss Cherie. of course i bought the Dubai ones... the original ones? er.. maybe after i earn my own money ;D

the seller was kind and she answers your questions, though i didn't ask much. and i got my stuff pretty fast considering it was preorder system. 

talking about the original ones, i think the price is lower compared to when you buy them from the mall. i never made any detailed comparison, because i'm still not economically able to buy them (ouch!) but if i want to buy original perfume, i'd definitely buy them from her!

FYI, Katy Perry's Purr is officially my favourite now! :D i hope i can buy the full set later hehe.

kanbanflow : the daily task manager

recently, i was piled with many task and assignments, and up until now i have only the general idea of what i have to do.

this morning, i found kanbanflow, a task manager that's really quite simple.. and it has pomodoro timer! yay!

fyi, pomodoro timer is a method of doing task whereby you're given 25 minutes to do the work and 5 minutes break for each session. (usually i have 25 minutes work and 30 minutes break teehee) before this i relied on this one adobe air app for the purpose of getting the pomodoro timer. but i lost it somehow. ::shrugs::

so this is the interface of kanbanflow.

click to enlarge

don't worry if you don't know how to use it. as soon as you sign up, there'll be a 2-minutes tutorial on how to manipulate things in the site.

so the pomodoro timer is at the lowest part of the site :

and this is what will appear once you click on it :

another thing i love about kanbanflow is that it enable us to set not only task, but also subtask. thus it allow us too monitor the detailed part of a particular task.

i hope i'll continue using it, coz it's so good :D

info dump : how to keep track of american tv series

i download things. constantly. besides anime and mp3's, i'm all over american tv series, especially those related to high school, college and young adults. ALSO, the funny ones.

so, to keep track of them old and new ones, coz, you know malaysia is being WAY off the actual airing date in US, so i go to this website.

WWW.TVSRS.COM (just click :3)

why i like it :

1) this site provides real time updates for each tv series. at the right side of the site, there's a list for Today, Tomorrow, After Today, Yesterday and the list of all the series they hosted there, alphabetically. 

usually, after like after 5 hours of the actual airing date, the show's torrent will be uploaded, and so i have to get to work :3

2) they constantly add new shows in the archive. coz there's so many shows, i just detect the new ones by the code S01E01. of course, lol.

3) it has decent brief information about every show. so instead of harrassing IMDB i can just read the synopsis there, and if still in doubt, THEN i will go to IMDB to check it out further, rank, etc.

:) 

last year, the first time i read this list, i had mild paranoia of stepping into an elevator +_+

the number one case frighten me the most. can you imagine being left alone with a human head in an elevator? with the eyes looking at you? i'd be traumatic for the rest of my life.

the list

by girl for girl : menstrual cup, alternative for tampons and pads

i've been eyeing this thing since the end of last year, but never actually be tempted enough to try. and still not know. but i found a good reasoning by in a yahoo answer and i thought i want to dump it here. in case i want to buy one, eventually.

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Pros; 

• Healthy and safe.

Menstrual cups allow your vagina to function as it would normally, self-cleaning and keeping the walls of the vagina moist to protect from infection and damage. As menstrual cups are made from either medical grade silicone or natural gum rubber it means there is no where for bacteria to multiply. Menstrual cups do not contain synthetics, chemicals, additives or bleaches which means no increased risk of infection or long-term health problems. This is put into direct comparison with tampon health risks, because of their affect on the vagina and chemical treatment tampons put women at high risk of everything from vaginal infections to TSS, vaginal splitting to cancer. Unlike tampons menstrual cups have never caused or contributed to a death. Menstrual cups have never been associated with TSS or any other health problem. Many women also reports lowered menstrual flow, bloating and cramping when switching from tampons to menstrual cups. 

• Clean. 

Allowing the vagina to self-clean as it would normally and not giving bacteria a place to multiply means that the vaginal environment is no different with a menstrual cup in as it would be without a menstrual cup in. Menstrual cups are sanitary like all other menstrual options but they can also be sterilised. They take nothing to clean, soap and water is all that is needed. Personally I recommend emptying in the shower, particularly when first getting used to the menstrual cup this makes things easier. If you find you have to empty in a public bathroom you can carry a water bottle, wipes, use toilet paper or just reinsert without risk. 

• Convenient.

Menstrual cups can be worn safely and without leaks for up to 12 hours at a time, this includes from a very light flow to very heavy flow, you can use them before your period is due to avoid being caught without protection, you can wear them safely at night, you can wear them to deal with excessive discharge. Menstrual cups are also perfect for sports as they do not cause cramps or bloating, they are reliable and nothing shows on the outside of your body, they also don’t absorb fluids making them great for swimming. You never need to carry spares, never risk running out, and don’t have to worry about disposal. You also don’t have to constantly change absorbencies or worry about health risks. 

• Cheap.

One menstrual cup will cost you around $35, cheaper if you shop around and depending on what brand you choose. I figured out last week that if I had still been using tampons and pads it would have cost me £20,000 over ten years; where as my menstrual cup only cost me £17, which is a hell of a saving. Most menstrual cup brands offer money back guarantees so you can try them and if not for you then you can get all your money back, so you have nothing to loose in trying them – oh, plus if one brand doesn’t work for you it means you can try another one without having to pay twice! 

• Environmentally friendly. 

A woman will use 12,000-16,000 tampons or pads in her lifetime; a menstrual cup lasts for up to 10 years so that cuts down on a lot of waste being put into landfills or blocking up our sewage systems and ending up on our beaches unable to biodegrade. Manufacturing of commercial tampons and pads means the use of non-organic cotton and synthetic materials made from a small percentage of the wood forested for the purpose, these materials are then chemically treated which adds to pollution, and the extra energy required for these unnecessary treatments results in increased CO2 emissions. 

As for cons, to be honest I don’t think any menstrual cup user will really come up with many cons and the ones that you can come up with are rare cares where a person’s personal ideas or experiences come into play, not issues with the menstrual cups themselves. 

Cons;

• They are more hands-on, which some women are uncomfortable with.

 
• They can be difficult to get your head around at first, all new ideas are, insertion can seem problematic as menstrual cups seem large (in fact they aren’t much bigger than tampons and your vagina can more than handle it) and because they may pop open a lot at first. You get time to try them and you can try on dry-runs, but it is easier to do when menstruating and trying different folding methods – sometimes women loose grip of their menstrual cup and it goes flying. Removal has similar problems, wondering for the firs time how the hell to get the cup out without splitting anything, again you get over this in time and best done in the shower at first to avoid mess (menstrual cups aren’t normally messy, but have the potential to be if you loose your grip or slip). Using a menstrual cup becomes like second nature. 

• Some women feel discomfort, we are all different, although most women say they are very comfortable some women can feel pressure on their rectum or urethra, other women find the suction is too strong. 

I should also make a note to the brand you linked to, Divacup, they are one of the bigger and better known brands, they offer a 12 month money back guarantee which is longer than any other brand offers, they are silicone so this means that they are easier to keep clean and see menstrual flow, and they don’t leave any taste or smell in your vagina as rubber ones can. Cons of the Divacup are that they are one of the larger and less flexible brands, this may not be a problem for you at all, but if you get one and it is a problem I recommend the Mooncup or the Ladycup – Ladycup are actually the smallest and most flexible menstrual cup brand available.

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also, this is one hell informative site about this thing : http://menstrual-cups.livejournal.com/

my favourite beautiful natural phenomena :)

from this list 

1. light pillars

source

 in very cold weather → ice crystals suspended in atmosphere → ice crystals reflect light back to us

the higher the ice crystals → the taller the light pillars

2. maelstroms

source

3. aurora

source

particles ejected on solar wind → particles channeled into atmosphere → particles and atmosphere collide → particle ionize atoms → light released

 

only two types of monotremes live today : platypus and echidna

echidna

 

platypus

these two monotremes are so cute!

i just hope i won't mistakenly put the term 'monotremes as 'metronemes' =_=''

the young man who founded tumblr. well, a young man with beautiful eyes, in my humble opinion :)

david karp (it's the real name, alright, don't laugh) invented tumblr when he was only nineteen. right, at nineteen i was... yeah, struggling with trials to apply free template on my blog. 

he invented tumblr because he felt the need to express himself, without the 'big empty text box' (when we clicked 'new post' in blogspot, for example) stopping him. weird. why don't i feel suppressed by this empty white box? coz i know i have the power to write whatever the **** i want to write on it? well, maybe  :)

a bit more about this young man with beautiful eyes is that he learned coding at eleven (when i still didn't even have the chance to *touch* a pc), was homeschooled from the age fifteen, and had lived in japan alone when he was eighteen.

this is one spectacular dude. :) wonder why i never hear his name before. all i hear is two words : mark zuckerberg.

 

how to know when someone is lying in your face? unfortunately i only get 4 tips.

a) liars will make excessive eye contact  because they know that it will help them sell their story. normal chat usually require only around 30-60 percent of oye contact. other than that, liars will blink more frequently too.

b) people who are telling true story tend to skip to other parts of the story and they tend to be demonstrative. liars, on the other hand will construct the story chronologically with many meaningless details.

c) a lying person tend to repeat back the question ask = to buy more tim for them to think.

d) let's be honest, when someone says the previous phrase, there's a chance that they are lying because truthful people doesn't usually need to declare their honesty.   

inspired from pamela meyer, author of liespotting

some ways to get MORE from skype, though i’m not an avid user atm, but maybe i could use these in the future.

 

screen sharing. brilliant. if malaysia’s internet speed magically get 300x faster in the future, i could definitely use this feature to watch videos together with a friend. :P oh, as a part of info dumping, i better put in how to access this feature : click the overlapping rectangle on the toolbar beneath the video-calling screen. then one can decide between sharing the entire screen or just a part of it. in case one’s wallpaper consist of naked ulzzangs. okay, jk. 

send files of any sizes. useful if that file is too large for email. but the recipient must have their skype running in the background. how? 1. click the contact name from address book. 2. in the “Conversation” menu, go to “Send”, then “File” to open Windows Explorer and 3. select the file you want to send.

customize your own skype buttons. skype buttons can be put in blog or website to show your current status or to call. how? use the button wizard. for standard buttons, only enter your skype name and then choose from a list of default buttons. the wizard will then provide the code to be added in the site.

use your own call ringtone and other notification audio. how? Tool > Option > Sound from the skype dashboard. only .wav or .skype audio files can be used. bummer. isn’t .mp3 universal enough?

Group Video Calling can be utilized by up to 10 people, but among these 10 people, only 1 need to be the premium user. hmm... useful enough to share money to set up daily group discussion late at night for 1 premium account?

add effect to your voice. HA! how? download Skype Voice Changer and alter your voice properties from echoes, pitch, and time delay. 

mozilla will launch its own new web app store. yay?

the start of info dump, coz i just got my hands on some mags :)

later this year, mozilla confirmed that it will launch an app store (think Apple’s) that offer both free and paid apps that can be used in any browser, operating system and device. they adopt this open attitude so that the usage of app store will not be restricted to only mozilla user.

of course, i like the idea, but of course, i won’t buy any apps coz of my (somewhat relevant) phobia with electronic payment. i have liked mozilla since forever, and i like the fact that even with the presence of google chrome which has threatened its popularity, mozilla continues to come with new steps to be in par with the world. 

i can’t wait to see the app store :)