Victor Alameida: [00:00:00] the best ways to increase your speed is underwater training. When you get used to it and you just, it feels too light. You can add weights underwater. You can add parachutes, you can add flippers, you can increase. increase the resistance under the water as you're moving and one of the things I like to do is throw kicks, high knees, butt kicks, side shuffle, squat jump tucks.
Bring in your knees, exploding up, and it's gonna be building the muscles with that resistance. So you come out of the water, imagine how you're gonna be able to jump. You're gonna be able to explode forward and be able to bring that knee up and kick. All that is retained in the muscles when you come out of the water. Really beneficial.
Now if you go under the water, It's gonna also be working on your breath. You're gonna have to learn how to oxygenate your blood through breath work. Going under the water, learning to calm the mind so that you can allow yourself to hit that anaerobic and stay under there [00:01:00] for a minute, two, three, four, five, depending on your training.
What's up, y'all? Welcome back to another episode of The Unlimited You. We're here in the middle of winter. It just snowed here in Maryland. And we're going to be talking today about training in extreme conditions. The benefits, the hazards, and you know, [00:02:00] training out in the snow, training in high elevation, training in heat, sand training, multiple other things that we're going to talk about.
First, we're going to start off with a little flute song that I have for y'all here. This is a drone flute made by Naked Earth in Florida. It's got a little beautiful condor sculpted in the [00:03:00] front So Training in extreme conditions. In that scenario, right, let's say you're out in extreme cold. First, you have to prepare. Preparation is key in all of these kind of settings. And one of the big key factors you guys consider is, are you wearing the right clothing? If you're going to be going, training out in the cold, you want to be using layers so you can take off layers because as you heat up, you're going to be sweating.
So you want to be taking off those layers your sweating and then, after you're done training, you're going to start getting cold, so you're going to want to put layers back on. Very critical. Also, as you're putting down those clothes, they're probably going to be getting cold.
So you've got to be thinking about that. Another important thing to think about when you're going to train out in the cold, especially like long treks. You know, if you're going out in the middle of the woods, are you [00:04:00] properly equipped to stay the night in a cold area. You know, are you gonna be able to, you know, set a fire?
Are you gonna be able to, you know, withstand the cold? Is it gonna snow? Check the weather. Let someone know where you're going because you need a backup plan. Take a friend. Always usually take a friend with you. If you're not taking somebody with you, then at least, at least, let people know where you're going.
And be very careful. Training out in the extreme cold, you can freeze to death, frostbite. But, it's really great for burning fat. So, the cold induces this it's on an article. I wrote it on my website. Cannot think of the details at this moment. And, it talks about the, how the cold on your body, induces faster fat burning, and then you're also heating up the body through exercise in the cold, you're inducing more fat burn.
And going [00:05:00] between cold and hot can also do the same thing. So if you're going from sauna to an ice bath, vice versa, multiple times. And ice baths, for example, are really beneficial. When you go into an ice bath, it allows your muscles to relax, so it helps inflammation, it helps breathing, it helps you learn how to stay calm in a very intense environment.
It's very beneficial for your nervous system, for your immune system. Just everything in general it's a very great way to channel stress exactly, like putting it into something that is painful that's beneficial to you, allowing you to really release that tension and it forces you to calm down. Where if you're going to want to get out, but if you can breathe through that intense situation, you learn how to be in a chaotic environment and remain calm, and that is exceptionally valuable.
Along with the monumental amount of health benefits that you get from doing it. So you're actually gonna go train [00:06:00] in the snow, right, you have to be careful. Sometimes this stuff is slippery. Like, if I'm training in the snow, have good footwear. Like, don't be wearing slippers like I'm wearing right now.
You know, have actual good footwear that you're going to be ready to train in. Maybe you go barefoot, but be careful because sometimes you can't see the terrain, right? If it's just cold outside. Awesome. Go training for it, right? When you're out in nature in the cold and you're pushing it make sure you have water always hydrate.
Let's go into the heat one. This is kind of I personally love training in the heat. There's a lot of benefits to it. There's a lot of benefits to you know intentionally taking yourself into a heated situation like a sauna So for example, if you go to a sauna and you stay in there for 20 minutes, You There are 30 minutes and you take a 15-20 minute break and then you go back in.
It releases growth hormones, which induces healing in your muscles. It helps [00:07:00] your body heal and amongst many other things. But if you're exercising, that's going to be a critical thing. If you're injured, it's going to be an amazing thing to help your body heal. You know, exposing yourself to heat for an extended period of time.
170 to about 212 degrees. Now there's some saunas that don't get that hot. Maybe you have a sauna that gets to like 140. It's okay. It's better than nothing. It's better than not having a sauna. And in the sauna, you can exercise, right? Some people may not even be able to last 10 minutes. Do what you can.
Feel your body. If you start getting lightheaded, dizzy, you're feeling your blood pressure, you can start feeling your heartbeat, get out, take a break, cool down, make sure that you have a way to cool down either like a cold shower or maybe water that you have that you can pour on you. But you don't want to go from a sauna to like a hundred degree day.
And then you're going to have a heat stroke like that. So you want to have a way to cool down after you're exposing yourself to critical [00:08:00] heat. Now there's also exercising. In the heat, right? Let's say it's 105, 110, 120 people in Texas and frickin desert get crazy temperatures out there. Here, max will get to like 100 maybe.
And, if you're training out in that, in the humidity, you're gonna be sweating a lot, you need to hydrate. If you're in the dry, you still need to be hydrating, cause you're gonna be sweating, it's still hot. And, you need to be careful. If you're going to be venturing out into nature at that temperature, it is dangerous.
Reconsider it unless you have proper equipment, proper escape plan. Maybe you parked your car at the end of the trail, you're only going like a mile or two, you came back, you know the trail. Cool, but be very careful going out into long ventures in high degree of heat if you're not used to it. And one of the benefits is it causes you to sweat more.
It's gonna get your body to release that heat. One of the things we didn't [00:09:00] talk about in the cold is when the cold dries out the air so it's harder for you to get that oxygen. In the warmth, the air itself is hot and it's harder for you to breathe. You're gonna have to breathe in through your nose and control your breathing the hotter it gets.
Taking big breaths like that can hurt. Slowing your breath and controlling your breath in the hot area is gonna allow your body to retain that calmness through your heartbeat and not get out of control. So that'll keep you longer in the heat without having that, you know, lightheaded feeling, that heart pumping feeling.
And if you can really focus on the breath. Maybe you never get there, right, because you're able to maintain that inner composure, your organs and everything are more relaxed, and if you have a way to cool down. You do so, you know, like you're not going to spend an hour in 170 degree sauna. I mean, some people do, but you don't need to do 30 minutes.
You know, I think I've done 45 minutes in a, in a [00:10:00] 170 degree sauna. And I think I've done an hour in 160 degrees sauna and the hotter it is, the better. And then the long, less I have to stay in there. It's, it's, It's wonderful. And it's a great time to do breath work, to do meditation. Because you're having to focus on your breath, and then you can actually focus on that spot in the middle of the forehead while you're sitting there.
And it's a meditation practice along with getting all these benefits. On top of that, exercising in the sauna, right? Think about this when you exercise, some people overheat because their body is producing so much heat in their muscles, and they can't get that heat out. They're sweating, and they overheat.
So by you training your body, in the sauna, you're exposing yourself to heat. You're heating up your muscles, you're heating up your body. It's harder for you to breathe and you're actually hitting and increasing your VO2 max. If you're hitting that limit, if you're like, maybe you're working out, you do a few pushups, you do, you know, a few dips in there, some squats and then you do some [00:11:00] breath work and then you sit and you meditate.
You know, that's sometimes what I do. And then I'll do like a little bit of stretching, stretching is amazing in the sauna. You're already loose be very careful doing exercising and stretching in the sauna because it does increase your heart rate. So if you have any heart problems or you have any heart issues, it could be a problem.
And just make sure you know yourself before you're doing these things because these are extreme ways of training. We're not like talking about like normal, you know, this is like, you're trying to push it, you're trying to, you know, push your healing, you're trying to push your training, you're trying to push your endurance, your cardio, your ability to do things.
I love, I love, I love snow, and it's like, perfect. Perfect. Snowball chunks. Look at this. Look at this. Oh, I'm not going to throw it at the camera. That'd be insane. So in the heat a lot of benefits a lot of danger there's also you know heated yoga. [00:12:00] I think it's around 100 to 120 some classes are 90 to introduce people to it.
So, you know take an intro class geese in the hot work out in the heat. Work out in like 80, 90 degree room. You know, do your training in a heated 80, 90 degree room where, you know, you're doing your regular cardio training. You don't have to go like a hundred degrees. You can just turn up the thermostat in that room, put a little heater in that room and then boom, you're going hard at 80, 90 degrees.
You're going to be sweating. You're going to be pushing that VO2 max. And then you're going to be getting those same benefits. Maybe not like the growth hormones and it's not going to, you're not going to get the same benefits of sauna, but in the exercise, in the cardio aspect, you're going to be hitting those same, the same goal, and you're going to be cleansing your body.
So the sweat releases toxins, right? We want to be putting in water, releasing the bad stuff out. Make sure you go in the bathroom and you're not just drinking water, hydrate, electrolytes. While you're exercising, it's [00:13:00] okay to have a little bit of sugar. It's really the only time, because it goes just in and it's like, let's go.
It revitalizes you during the exercise. And, you know, in the heat, you got to be very careful. You start feeling those, the symptoms. It can lead to vomiting, and it becomes like a tailwind situation, where you're then puking, drinking water, and puking because you drink water, and then you can't drink water.
So, if you find yourself in that situation, wait. 30, 45 minutes. You're gonna be thirsty as hell and then have a sip of water. Had this happen to me twice. First time I went to the hospital. Second time I learned how to do it. Didn't go to the hospital. First time was from blowing glass. Second time was from training really hard and then blowing glass afterwards.
I was just beat and dehydrated. Long glass is hot. You're standing in front of a 21 hundred degree furnace, blasting at you. And if it's a hot day and you're in a box that's 120 degrees, standing in front of a 21 degree furnace, [00:14:00] you're pushing it. And I did that for six hours. And on a 90 some degree day, it was 120 inside the studio.
It was, it was, it was, It was time. It was time, yeah. My buddy he hydrated better. I sweat a lot. I was, I sweat through like two shirts. I was like ringing them out in the sink. It was, It was a lot. It was a lot. And, you gotta be careful. So, when, if that situation happens, sugar, electrolytes, chocolate milk, you know, get it in, liquid, into the system.
You'll see the person like come back to life. So, important find yourself in that situation, know how to get out. Know, have those things ready. You know, You know you're gonna push it. Maybe bring some chocolate milk. Have it next to your water bottle, put it in your backpack or something. Maybe bring a little cooler that you, you know, you got your electrolytes, your chocolate milk or something, you know.
I like to do chocolate milk because it's [00:15:00] got fat, it's got protein, it's got sugar, and like all those things combined, it's just like recharged in the middle of exercise. Now it's heavy. You're not going to be like chugging. It's just like a sip and then like water. You know what I mean? You're trying to get those nutrients in you.
I do plant milk. Most people will do regular milk. Dude, do what you like. Make sure it's healthy. Make sure it's sourced well. And let's go into high altitude training, which is amazing, right? So high altitude, there's less oxygen at that higher altitude, which forces your body to get used to this lower level of oxygen.
So when you first arrive, you're like, you're feeling maybe dizzy, especially if it's a really high altitude and you just went from sea level to high up and you start walking around and you're like, I'm tired. I just walked from like my car. And like, a day goes by and you're kind of feeling more normal, you're getting more used to it, and then you have more stamina when you go back to sea level.
Now imagine if you go there, you get used to it, you wait, wait a day or two, wait a [00:16:00] day or two, get used to it, like, you get there, you know, maybe at night, you hang out, you go to sleep, you wake up, and then you go for it, let the body get used to it. Then push it. That first day you push it in high altitude training, the air is going to feel thin.
In here, it's just, it feels thin because you're huffing for air but you're not getting oxygen. So you just, you're like, what? It feels like asthma in a sense. Like you're huffing through a straw but nothing's coming in. And you have to really regulate the breathing. A lot of these extreme trainings always come back to the breath.
Because that's kind of what freaks out when you're in these situations. Not so much the cold, unless you're really exerting yourself, but especially the heat, especially high altitude, your body's going to be freaking out. So you have to slow it down, breathe, calm down, take a few breaks and then keep going and you'll get used to it.
Then when you go back to sea level, you're going to be like super cardio [00:17:00] insanity length. So it's amazing training and it's really beneficial for endurance and especially if you're fighting, you're training for endurance, you're training for a match, you know, you got like a couple weeks, take like a whole week, train in the mountains, come back, get used to sea level.
You're still gonna have that endurance. Breathe and then eat well, go to your, your event. You're gonna be super charged, really great, ready to train. Underwater training. So this is kind of two boats where you can do partially underwater, you can do completely submerged, and one of the benefits is whenever you make any movement underwater, you have full resistance.
So if I move this way, I have resistance against the entire chain of my arm. While if I have like a band or something, I only have resistance pulling in this direction. If I move my arm, it is going to change and move with me in every [00:18:00] single movement. So it allows for more dynamic training of muscle. So when you're doing a side kick, every part of the motion has resistance to it.
When you're doing that front kick, every part, every punch has resistance. That resistance. So it's building the strength and it increases the speed. So if you're moving faster in the water, it's going to work on that fast twitch muscle with that increased resistance. You come out of the water, that resistance is gone and then you're moving like lightning.
It's amazing. It is one of the best ways to increase your speed is underwater training. When you get used to it and you just, it feels too light. You can add weights underwater. You can add parachutes, you can add flippers, you can increase. increase the resistance under the water as you're moving and one of the things I like to do is throw kicks, high knees, butt kicks, side [00:19:00] shuffle, squat jump tucks.
Bring in your knees, exploding up, and it's gonna be building the muscles with that resistance. So you come out of the water, imagine how you're gonna be able to jump. You're gonna be able to explode forward and be able to bring that knee up and kick. All that is retained in the muscles when you come out of the water. Really beneficial.
Now if you go under the water, It's gonna also be working on your breath. You're gonna have to learn how to oxygenate your blood through breath work. Going under the water, learning to calm the mind so that you can allow yourself to hit that anaerobic and stay under there for a minute, two, three, four, five, depending on your training.
I think I can only last like maybe two minutes comfortably, then I'll come up if I'm really focused. But, it's difficult. It's difficult because you, you, it requires complete relaxation, and surrender, and training, and knowing that you're going to be okay. [00:20:00] Because the mind freaks out, and you have to learn that, hey, if I can just relax, if I can just focus on my feelings, on my body, and what's going on around me, and not so much of this, like, impending doom that you feel.
Then you can relax through it and you can get to the other side of that. And underwater training is like, again, you're getting that same training of partially underwater with the resistance on top of deprivation of oxygen. And it is, it's beautiful stuff. Dangerous. You can drown, right? If you get stuck somewhere, if you go too deep.
So just be careful if you're doing underwater training, if you're doing, In, you know, partial water training, be careful where you're doing it. Sharp edges. You know, if you're doing it at a pool, don't be trying to do squat jump tucks at the very edge, and then you bust your knee and your face on the edge.
So just be mindful of where, and the people around you. Some of these can be explosive exercise. Be moving and splashing water some places too. [00:21:00] Another thing to think about. I love it. I love it. I cannot like, understate the importance of like that type of training for speed because it transformed my speed.
Going to the pool and doing this kind of stuff. It's just like, it's so good for you. And it teaches you to breathe if you're like swimming. If you're doing this stuff under the water. Breathing, doing stuff. Breathing, doing stuff. Right? You're working out and you're learning this dynamic way to do your training and it just like skyrockets you.
Sand training. So there's two ways, there's like punching, sand and rice, knife handing, punching, you can like massage it and it builds toughness in the whole hand and the knuckles. And there's also running and training in the sand, because the sand, as you step on it, it moves, so it causes the foot to shift differently, creating different balance [00:22:00] point training, and building the muscles in reactiveness in your foot, so that you can balance easier, and not that type of ground.
It's dangerous to run crazily on sand if you've never done it before. Cause it's easy to roll an ankle, to roll a knee. So, you know, start off slow, do some very light training, get used to it. See how it is. Then, you know, some more complex movements. And then once you start building it, maybe not the first time, then you can start doing some crazy stuff.
Maybe some spinning jump kicks. If you know what you're doing, if you feel very comfortable, go for it, know yourself. And it's really important. The sand when you pivot can sometimes dig your feet in and then cause a knee to twist out of the socket. So as you're twisting, you have to be very mindful of that planning foot.
As you repivot, okay. For specific redirections, the foot can sink and slide, creating slips, allowing, you know, something to come out of [00:23:00] place. So, just be mindful in different ways, on top of ankle rolling, that you can potentially injure yourself, so that you can be mindful as you're doing these actions and prevent the injury.
That's pretty much, I think, covers it. I mean, like you can do other kinds of extreme training. Like, I mean, I guess you can do, like, high wind training. But, you Yeah, that pretty much covers it. And the biggest thing is just knowing what you're going into, having the methods to back you up in case something goes wrong, knowing where you're going, and then being mindful as you're doing it, because you're doing something that is not normal, that is not, you know, safe.
Let's literally just say that it's not necessarily the safest. Maybe like some of the water training is safe, but be mindful and don't put yourself in an [00:24:00] unnecessary situation out of ego. Know your body, know your limits, and know when to stop so that you don't hurt yourself because it's going to set you back more than the training is going to put you forward.
So train to your limit, train to where you know you can go, and then heal, and then do it again. Then you're going to have a higher limit. But if you keep pushing limits in these kinds of extreme situations. That's where like, real big dangers can happen, right? That's how a slip a faint and things that you don't want happen, and it's really important to have someone there, either helping, watching, managing, or training with you, that you can watch each other in these kind of situations.
I really recommend that. I've done like extreme training by myself. And I don't, I, when I'm like, I've gone out in nature in 105 degree heat in the middle of the desert and went for a hike and a run. And I was like, I'm gonna [00:25:00] go as far as I get to about one third of this water bottle left and then I'm going to turn around and I think I didn't even get that far. It's kept on hiking and climbing and I started feeling a little bit tired. It was hot, stretched, walked back to my car and I was like, that, that was good.
And I felt, I felt great the next day. It was like, It was intense. It was hard. It was hot. I could feel the heat. It was strenuous. But I didn't, I didn't push it in that environment because I didn't want to find myself in a situation that I couldn't get out of. So be mindful. Be safe. Push yourself, but do it safely.
Have fun and grow. Grow through this journey by Seeing where you are and accepting your limitations and not pushing them, respecting them and allowing yourself to change so that you can then better address that need. And then you can move [00:26:00] forward easier, analyze where you are and then we can move forward.
But if you just move forward without understanding where we're at, we get lost and things happen. Have a safe journey. Have a beautiful time. Namaste.
