Using Stimulation To Your Advantage

By Brendan Brazier • May 24th, 2010 • 15304 Views

Not all stimulation is bad or always has a negative effect. It will always result in greater fatigue as mentioned above, but depending on what it is summoned for will determine its value. When the adrenal glands are stimulated in order to achieve something that could not be done (or done as well) without this stimulation, the stress that results can be viewed as positive. Or classified as “production stress”, as I term it in my book, The Thrive Diet.

Here’s a way in which stimulation can be used to ones advantage: An athlete who has recalibrated by eating a clean diet and has abstained from all stimulating foods — including cacao — can benefit from a small amount of adrenal stimulation before a race. Drinking a cup of yerba maté (a South American herb) or eating a small amount of cacao before a race will boost performance. The caffeine in the yerba maté or cacao will stimulate the adrenal glands, thereby improving endurance and facilitating a better performance than would have otherwise been possible. This will also bring about greater fatigue within a day or two, and that’s fine. At the time of the race, the athlete simply borrowed energy from the future to fuel performance. Extra fatigue a day or two later will be a small price to pay for his elevated performance. The same holds true for those trying to get more done at work. Stimulation can enable them to achieve more in the short term.

However, if this borrowing strategy is used too often, it will lose its effectiveness and simply become another form of stress that perpetuates the cycle. To be effective, the strategy can be used only a few times a month, once a week at most, for those times when a boost would really be beneficial. Ideally, you would rarely, if ever, need it; a healthy diet that is stimulant-free will provide you energy by nourishment.

If stimulation is used when it will not help you achieve something of value, it is of no value, and as explained above, a detriment. I term it uncomplementary stress in The Thrive Diet. I consider the regular consumption of cacao a form of an uncomplementary stress. I view it as a form of credit, similar to shopping with a credit card. You get energy now that you don’t actually have, but you pay for it later — when the...

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Location:  Vancouver, CA

Brendan Brazier is a professional Ironman triathlete and a two-time Canadian 50 km UltraMarathon Champion.  He is the bestselling author of Thrive Fitness and The Thrive Diet and the creator of an award-winning line of whole...