Todd S

TomB, Strength can be increased without always going to failure -- of completing a rep or completing a specific time under tension. Going to failure is useful in determining current limitation. But for progression of workouts I think it is best to choose a number of sets and a number of reps (or time) per set such that failure is not reached. With the right choice, the workout initially is probably not easy. Over a period of weeks -- it should become easier -- and the number of sets and reps/time can then be adjusted to progress in strength. Most of us get stiffer with age. Flexibility (range of motion of joints) and mobility (strength within the range of motion) are important in terms of avoiding injury. At 73, I find that I need to spend a lot more time on flexibility exercises and mobility exercises than when I was younger. I've been going to the same gym for 36 years now -- participating in the noontime cardio-mix (i.e., aerobic dance) class 3 times per week. For many years, if I had sufficient time I used strength machines before the class. But now for strength exercises I prefer mostly bodyweight gymnastic fundamentals -- mostly targeting core and upper body. Hollow body rocks and arch body rocks, for example, are something I do every time as part of my warmup. I also do deck squats. The major pain that I experience regularly is related to having had torn cartilage removed from my left knee almost 40 years ago. The tear was likely from skiing during high school years. I managed the knee lockup issue without surgery for many years -- until the time when I was unable to straighten my leg for more than 3 hours. Left knee pain has worsened in recent years -- to the point that I usually can't jump without pain -- and I sometimes need to pause for a short time if I notice pain with every walking step. The class that I take involves a fair amount of hopping on one foot -- which I can usually do -- but sometimes I do get sore feet. --Todd

Well, I've seen ACSVD (atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease) indicated as cause of death on a death certificate. That seems more like just a disease process to me. I presume that this indicates that the autopsy was only looking for likely death by natural causes.

mccoy -- FYI, Out of curiosity I looked up the negative review commenter -- and I think that castaliarachelfrancon.academia.edu describes her research interests and writings (among other things).

Hi mccoy, I included that negative comment for TomB's enjoyment -- and the possibility that he'd run across it himself anyway (if he followed up by looking at the web site that I pointed to). At the time I looked, that was the only comment posted. I didn't attempt to do any searches to get information about the reviewer. I thought it was a poorly crafted comment. That negative comment seems irrelevant to my already expressed expectations for the Dreem 2. If the device is indeed sufficiently more comfortable than the Dreem 1, then I'll have good use for it.

If you go to dreem.com/en/research near the bottom of the page it lists Scientific papers & publications. These page include: The Dreem Headband as an Alternative to Polysomnography for EEG Signal Acquisition and Sleep Staging Pierrick J. Arnal1,􏰀, Valentin Thorey2, Michael E. Ballard1, Albert Bou Hernandez2, Antoine Guillot2, Hugo Jourde2, Mason Harris2, Mathias Guillard3, Pascal Van Beers3, Mounir Chennaoui3, and Fabien Sauvet3 1Dreem, Science Team, New York, USA 2Dreem, Algorithm Team, Paris, France 3French Armed Forces Biomedical Research Institute (IRBA), Fatigue and Vigilance Unit, Bretigny sur Orge, France; EA 7330 VIFASOM, Paris Descartes University, Paris, France Abstract Despite the central role of sleep in our lives and the high prevalence of sleep disorders, sleep is still poorly understood. The development of ambulatory technologies capable of monitoring brain activity during sleep longitudinally is critical to advancing sleep science and facilitating the diagnosis of sleep disorders. We introduced the Dreem headband (DH) as an affordable, comfortable, and user-friendly alternative to polysomnography (PSG). The purpose of this study was to assess the signal acquisition of the DH and the performance of its embedded automatic sleep staging algorithms compared to the gold-standard clinical PSG scored by 5 sleep experts. Thirty-one subjects completed an over-night sleep study at a sleep center while wearing both a PSG and the DH simultaneously. We assessed 1) the EEG signal quality between the DH and the PSG, 2) the heart rate, breathing frequency, and respiration rate variability (RRV) agreement between the DH and the PSG, and 3) the performance of the DH’s automatic sleep staging according to AASM guidelines vs. PSG sleep experts manual scoring. Results demonstrate a strong correlation between the EEG signals acquired by the DH and those from the PSG, and the signals acquired by the DH enable monitoring of alpha (r= 0.71 ± 0.13), beta (r= 0.71 ± 0.18), delta (r = 0.76 ± 0.14), and theta (r = 0.61 ± 0.12) frequencies during sleep. The mean absolute error for heart rate, breathing frequency and RRV was 1.2 ± 0.5 bpm, 0.3 ± 0.2 cpm and 3.2 ± 0.6 %, respectively. Automatic Sleep Staging reached an overall accuracy of 83.5 ± 6.4% (F1 score : 83.8 ± 6.3) for the DH to be compared with an average of 86.4 ± 8.0% (F1 score: 86.3 ± 7.4) for the five sleep experts. These results demonstrate the capacity of the DH to both precisely monitor sleep-related physiological signals and process them accurately into sleep stages. This device paves the way for high-quality, large-scale, longitudinal sleep studies. -- and with a negative review comment as follows: Castalia Francon 2 months ago Unfortunately the DREEM people do not reveal exactly how precise or nuanced EEG signal they measure, in terms of the architecture of the different periods. The EEG technology used in a typical sleep lab is many decades old and often of little use in understanding the specifics, for example in a nonREM period that would indicates, "spindles" or 'ripples" or gamma waves" or do any analysis on the meaning of the different patterns other some unspecified pattern exists. For those wishing to know nothing more than a crude EEG sleep lab overnight would provide the DREEM seems useless. The few studies on memory enhancement, etc are not convincing and apparently without basis in their assumptions. But if you want to time travel back to the technology of a few decades ago and feel good about that, well what's another $500..??? ;0

Hi Mike, I don't know what your expectations for the Dreem 1 were, but mine were for it to provide objective information that would be useful in evaluating the results of self-experiments on factors that might affect my sleep. It does provide that.

With a web search, you can find some reviews of the Dreem 2. I think that the Dreem 1 was a great product except for the discomfort -- for a mostly side sleeper like me, at least. I ordered the Dreem 2 -- after exchanging some messages with Dreem support about the changes. The Dreem 2 is touted as much more comfortable than the Dreem 1, but the deep brain stimulation feature is disabled with the Dreem 2 in the U.S. market. [It still works with the Dreem 1 -- and with the Dreem 2 in the European market.] The Dreem 2 is a registered medical device. The stimulation feature apparently didn't meet the FDA standards for proof of efficacy.

Gordo, I can confirm that plugging the USB connection from the CompCooler UniVest into an Apple 5 V charger instead of the 7.4 V battery still works for running the water circulation pump.

Thanks Dean for your detailed review of the water-cooled CompCooler UniVest. This influenced me to get a beige one (what was available at the time in M/L size) a couple of weeks ago. It was delivered by Amazon from vendor CompCooler for $219. My order also included the spare 3 L reservoir, which cost an additional $42.99. I agree with you that this product is well made. I've found it very comfortable to wear in the house all evening on hot days. I've also worn it on a couple of weekends so far when experimenting with Nordic Walking on San Francisco Bay trails on hot days -- and found that it helps to reduce fatigue by keeping front and back upper torso cool.

For the last couple of weeks, I've been experimenting with using simple pursed lip inspiration during the rising portion of 10 or 15 Jefferson Curls performed just before going to bed. This is very relaxing, And I think that it should increase spinal flexibility while strengthening associated small muscles that support the spine. The use of pursed lips to constrain the inspiration helps to slow the down movement -- and I'm guessing that it might provide the same benefits as the advertised gadgets. [You can look up Jefferson Curls. I want to emphasize that they be done correctly. Always keep the bar close to the body, only moving out at the bottom to get past the feet. The upward movement should reverse the downward movement, keeping the bar close to the body. Start with no weight on the bar or rod -- building up slowly over many months or years to as much as half body weight or even body weight.]

Mechanism -- FYI, I would likely attend another CR Conference organized by David and Robert with relevant scientific speakers. I've been at all the past such conferences except the one in Atlanta, which didn't appeal to me partly because it appeared to be a minor attachment to a Gerontology conference and because of timing considerations unique to me. I live in the San Francisco Bay Area. I'll be vacationing in the Adirondack mountains of New York state during the time of the "Ending Age-Related Diseases, NYC: 7/11 - 7/12" conference, but I wouldn't take the time from my vacation with family to travel elsewhere during that time.

Thanks Dean for bringing this topic up again. More than a year ago I paused use of my vibration machine (during early morning supported handstand) along with pausing all handstand progressions due to a shoulder injury that was not likely caused by handstand work. I think the injury was caused by inappropriate execution of a thoracic bridge progression step. That is, I was doing a "twisting bear" transition into more of a "table" rather than the correct "bridge" positioning of the shoulders. Connective tissue recovery takes a long time. After a lengthy recovery period -- including adoption of exercises in consultation with a physical therapist -- I have recently restarted supported handstand training -- with no recurrence of pain. The vibration machine is still where it was -- and I expect to begin using it again soon. --Todd S

Thanks Michael. The Dreem looks interesting. [There is also a Philips SmartSleep headband with some similar functionality to at least part of that of the Dreem.] In the links I didn't see anything addressing potential EMF risk from an ARM computer on the forehead overnight -- other than that WiFi and Bluetooth are disabled then. On the web site, it is interesting to look under Support at the Technical help pages. There are 13 responses to issues apparently brought up by users.

Dean -- FYI, I've now also ordered the Yahoo fit TICKR from eBay. Delivery is projected to be the end of September. [This is my second ever eBay purchase. The first was the vibration platform that you talked about -- see https://www.crsociety.org/topic/11697-whole-body-vibration-therapy-for-bone-health/?do=findComment&comment=16514 -- and that I continue to enjoy briefly standing on and doing a supported handstand on every morning.] I'm willing to contribute my future HRV data if it seems that it might be useful information. Todd

Dean, The beans had a salt content of 135 or 140 mg per 1/2 cup serving. Yes, I used the whipping attachment -- on both of the electric mixers. I didn't measure the time, but it was probably too short -- i.e., somewhat less than the 1/2 hour or so that I see you used. I also think that I needed to use a larger quantity of further reduced aquafaba for the mixing to work better. Todd