Beware!
Various sources erroneously prescribe hyperventilation as a body hack for swimming for longer periods underwater. In fact, hyperventilation before you go diving can be harmful, as the activity removes too much carbon-dioxide from the body, thereby fooling the brain into thinking that a new breath is not needed. Swimmers are at risk from passing out and drowning due to this practice.
Life, as a whole, is usually challenging. Today's hectic lifestyle is largely unhealthy, both, physically and mentally, due to poor eating habits, excessive stress, lack of sleep and physical activity, etc. While changing these habits overnight may be difficult, there are a few body hacks which can easily be incorporated in our day-to-day lives, making life more efficient and more healthy. From beating fatigue to managing stress, we have easy solutions for it all. Check out these hidden body hacks, which despite appearing seemingly insignificant, are actually very helpful.
Best Body Hacks and Tricks
To Get Rid of Tiredness
In today's world, pulling an all-nighter for either studies or work is not uncommon. Though you may be extremely tired, sleep is not an option really. Normally, you would either drink a cup of coffee or take a short power nap to keep you going. Researchers took a look and this situation, and asked, why not do both?
Although it seems contradictory to have a cup of coffee before a nap, it was found that this combination works much better than either just a coffee or a nap. The trick here is that, caffeine does not act immediately after you drink coffee, but it takes around 15 minutes for its effects to kick in, thereby stopping adenosine (an enzyme which induces sleep) formation. So drinking a cup or coffee and diving straight into bed for a 15-minute power nap gives you the benefits of both, delivering a killer blow to any tiredness that you may be experiencing.
To Soothe an Itchy Throat
If your throat is itchy or ticklish, a simple solution is to scratch your ear. Doing this stimulates the nerves of the ear, creating an involuntary reflex of spasms in the throat muscles, which then gets rid of the itch.
For Better Speech Clarity in Crowded Places
You are at a party with loud music and a lot of chatter, and all this noise is making it difficult for you to have a conversation with someone, because you can't listen to the other person talk. This is a problem that most of us have faced at one time or the other. To improve your hearing powers, just turn your right ear towards the person you are talking to.
This works because, the right hemisphere of the brain processes tones and music like a pro, while the left hemisphere is great with understanding speech. Also, the right brain controls the left side of the body, and vice versa. This means that, the right ear is better at picking up speech, while the left is better for ambient sounds and music. Which is also the reason why all good headphones are specifically marked with Right and Left symbols.
To Reduce Anger and Stress
If you find yourself in a bad mood, ready to tear the world apart, hold a pencil between your teeth, but don't bite hard. Doing this uses the same muscles that you use for smiling, tricking your brain into changing your mood.
To Regain Sense of Balance When Drunk
When a person has had a drink too many, he/she might feel dizzy and see the world spinning, leading to embarrassing accidents and possibly some nasty injuries. This happens because, drinking alcohol dilutes the blood in the cupula (a part of the ear), which is responsible for guiding the brain for body balance. However, there is a really simple trick to controlling this problem. Simply place your hand on something that is stable, like the top of a table.
Since your brain cannot rely on the cupula anymore, the table top provides it with a secondary reference point, which helps keep you in balance. While keeping your foot on the floor also works to a certain extent, using your hands works better, because the hands are more sensitive, giving your brain more accurate inputs.
To Get Better Results While at the Gym
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Since we were kids, most of us have been drilled with the idea that stretching the body before a workout session is absolutely essential. However, it turns out that, this long-held belief can actually cause more harm than good. Research conducted by the University of Nevada found that, static stretching not only causes the person to wear out faster, but also increases the chances of injury. This is because, the muscles have a natural tendency to resist and tighten themselves when stretched. Also, by forcibly stretching the muscles, the fibers are lengthened, which makes them wear out faster, leaving you unable to perform to the max.
Now no one is suggesting that you avoid stretching exercises completely. Stretches are good for the body, but they should be done either separately or after a workout session to get maximum benefits. It is recommended that, one do some warm-up exercises, such as lunges, squats, or a quick jog instead of the stretches, before you throw yourself completely into your regular exercise regime.
To Avoid Side Stitches While Running
While running, most people exhale when the right foot hits the ground. This tends to put pressure on the liver, which is on the right side. This pressure also pulls on the diaphragm, creating a painful stitch in your side, stopping you in your tracks. To avoid this, consciously breathe out when your left foot hits the ground.
To Avoid Overheating Your Body
All that running can sometimes get you overheated, which might prove harmful. To quickly reduce your body temperature, simply pour some water over one of the body's several cooling points, which include the wrists, neck, the insides of the elbows, knees, ankles, and thighs, the top of the feet, and the spot on the temple just in front of the ear. Alternatively, you can also tie a damp cloth on your wrist or neck to keep your body temperature in control while you exercise. However, do not depend completely on this method. Using the cooling points in combination with running the air conditioner/fan, drinking water, etc., is the best way to beat the heat.
To Get Rid Of Pain
Most of us have had small accidents, such as tripping on a door frame, or stubbing the little toe on the leg of a table. In each of these cases, the pain far exceeds the scale of the accident. It makes us want to scream and curse our hearts out, but civilized people that we are, we keep our mouths shut. However, research shows that, cursing and venting out your pain through your voice helps reduce the intensity of the pain by more than 50 percent.
To Wake Up Sleeping Limbs
At some time or the other, each one of us has been faced with the situation of having our hands and legs going to sleep, leaving behind a prickly/tingly feeling, which is really annoying, to say the least. The hands usually get into this state due to compressed nerves in the neck region. So, all you have to do is move your neck around for a few seconds, loosening the nerves, which makes the feeling disappear. However, if the problem is with your legs, just walk around for a minute or so to get them active again.
To Calm the Mind When Nervous
Life is often unpredictable, and even the best laid-out plans can go awry without any warning. So, if you are feeling nervous about anything, be it an exam, or if you are expecting a child, follow these tips to feel better immediately.
Option 1: Calm your nerves by blowing on your thumb. This works because, the thumb has a pulse of its own, and blowing on this reduces the temperature, helping the heartbeat get back to normal. Additionally, one tends to breathe deeply during this exercise, which by itself is proven to be helpful in stopping nervousness.
Option 2: If you are nervous about an interview, take a high power pose (poses which depict confidence and relaxation are best) for a few minutes. This gives a boost of testosterone, temporarily increasing your self-confidence.
Option 3: Researchers have found that, students who are nervous about exams do better when they write about their emotions on the night before. This relieves tension, allowing the mind to focus better, helping in better performance. Apart from studies, this method can be used to handle other stressful situations as well.
To Avoid Acid Reflux While Sleeping
Do you often suffer from acid reflux while sleeping with a full stomach? Lying on your left side while sleeping will take care of this problem, as this pose puts your stomach at a lower position to the esophagus, thereby preventing stomach acid from moving up your throat. However, it is always better to give a 2 - 3 hour gap between a meal and a nap. Avoid sleep immediately after eating, if at all possible.
To Cure a Brain Freeze
People who consume cold foods or drinks may often face painful brain freezes. This is because, the brain is tricked into thinking that the whole body is cold, causing it to overheat as a way of compensation, thus creating pain in the head. To stop this pain, push your tongue to the roof of your mouth, and try to cover as much area as possible. Doing this reduces the heat in the cranial cavity, making you feel better almost instantly.
Drinking Water to Solve a Myriad of Problems
All of us know that consumption of water is absolutely essential for our survival. However, water can not only help you survive, but also let you live life to its fullest. Drinking two glasses of room-temperature water immediately after getting up activates your internal organs smoothly. Drinking a glass of water before every meal improves digestion and controls one from overeating. A glass of water before going to sleep reduces cardiac problems, and increases the chance of having a longer lifespan.
Hacks for Hiccups
Did you know that, the longest case of hiccups occurred to a man from Iowa, named Charles Osborne? He hiccuped for 68 years! To make sure that the same does not happen with us, people around the world have worked hard and come up with innumerable remedies for this problem. Nevertheless, we give you some options which we feel are the most reliable methods of solving this irritating issue.
Option 1: Breathe in as deeply as you can, and hold your breath for 10 seconds. Now, without exhaling, breathe in more air, and hold for 5 more seconds. Again, breathe in as much air as possible without exhaling, and hold for a final 5 seconds, before breathing out slowly. This usually getting rid of the hiccups.
Option 2: Studies suggest that, the amount of carbon dioxide in a person's bloodstream has a direct relation to the occurrence of hiccups Therefore, breathing into a plastic bag for 30 seconds should increase CO
2 levels in the body, which will almost certainly stop the hiccups.
Option 3: Doctors think that, hiccups might occur due to the irritation of the vagus nerve, which is located near the diaphragm. Drink water while you have your ears plugged. This will soothe the nerve and stop the spasms of the diaphragm which cause the hiccups.
Hacks for Headaches
In the United States alone, over 28 million people suffer from migraines, with many experiencing attacks every month. Here, we give you a few time-tested hacks to stop these headaches.
Option 1: Rub Peppermint oil on your temple and leave it on for 10 - 15 minutes to ease a headache. Peppermint oil has anti-inflammatory properties, which soothes the nerves and relieves pain.
Option 2: Place your hands and feet in a tub of warm water, and at the same time, place an ice pack on the back of your head. Doing this helps drawing out excess blood from your head towards the hands and feet, thereby reducing the headache.
Option 3: Eat a handful of almonds; this works in curing headaches, as the nuts contain salicin, an enzyme which works like an aspirin. Not only do you get rid of the pain, but you also have a tasty treat. It is important to chew the almonds well to get the best results.
Some More Cool Body Hacks
To Suppress a Gag Reflex
You are at the dreaded dentist's office, and are keeping your mouth wide open as he/she probes deep inside with some fearsome tools. In situations like these, gagging is a natural reaction. However, to force your body to stop the gag reflex, simply close your fist around your thumb tightly. It works every time.
To Prevent Blisters if You Accidentally Singe Yourself
If you singe yourself by mistake on any hot surface, you can reduce the chances of the burned area turning into a blister with a simple hack. Just clean the skin and apply light pressure with the finger pads of the unburnt hand. While applying ice to the burn relieves the pain faster, using only your fingers brings the affected skin back to normal temperature, therefore preventing blisters.
To Suppress the Urge to Pee
When you have to go, you have to go. But what if there is no bathroom in sight? What do you do then?
Option 1: Scratch the back of your calf vigorously; this distracts the brain and gives you a little more time to find the loo. However, this trick loses its effectiveness in people who are not very sensitive (thick-skinned).
Option 2: If scratching your calf does not work, doctors recommend fantasizing about sex. Again, doing this preoccupies the brain, making your discomfort lessen drastically. Male readers needn't worry about getting an embarrassing erection in an inappropriate place. We have a hack for that too. Simply flex your thigh muscles for 30 seconds to get relaxed again.
To Reduce Eye Strain
With most of us having jobs that involve staring at a computer screen for hours at end, eye strain is a very real problem, which leads to vision defects in the long run. To keep this devil away, follow a simple exercise called 'tense and relax'. It involves flexing every muscle of your face that you can at the same time, and holding this expression for a few moments, before relaxing. Repeat this for 2 - 3 minutes, several times in a day.
To Relive a Toothache
If you are having a bad toothache, you can drastically reduce the pain by following a simple hack. Just rub the back of your hand at the webbed part between the thumb and the index finger with an ice cube for 5 - 6 minutes. This method is thought to work due to interruption in nerve signals to the brain. However, be sure to rub the hand on the same side of the body as the toothache is located.
To Learn New Things Faster
Learning a new language, learning to drive, giving a speech correctly, and a number of other things comes only with practice. While this is completely true, one can boost the learning process by reviewing the subject matter just before going to bed. This works because, most memory consolidation happens when we are sleeping. Therefore, anything you put some thought into before going to bed is likely to get encoded in your long-term memory, improving your performance when you try again the next morning.
With all these hidden body hacks in your arsenal, you are now ready to face the world with confidence, and do your thing in style. Best of luck!
