Learn about why a “toned” appearance has nothing to do with muscle tone; how meetings literally impair your mind, and what you can do about it; and, how to be less jealous when your friend excels at your “thing.” In this podcast, Cody Gough and Ashley Hamer discuss the following stories from Curiosity.com to help you get smarter and learn something new in just a few minutes: A "Toned" Appearance Has Nothing to Do With Muscle Tone — https://curiosity.im/2UsuajF An Hour in a Conference Room Produces Enough CO2 to Impair Your Mind — https://curiosity.im/2Uzsi96 Here's Why It Hurts When a Friend Excels at Your "Thing" — https://curiosity.im/2UswS8P If you love our show and you're interested in hearing full-length interviews, then please consider supporting us on Patreon. You'll get exclusive episodes and access to our archives as soon as you become a Patron! https://www.patreon.com/curiositydotcom Download the FREE 5-star Curiosity app for Android and iOS at https://curiosity.im/podcast-app. And Amazon smart speaker users: you can listen to our podcast as part of your Amazon Alexa Flash Briefing — just click “enable” here: https://curiosity.im/podcast-flash-briefing.
Learn about why a “toned” appearance has nothing to do with muscle tone; how meetings literally impair your mind, and what you can do about it; and, how to be less jealous when your friend excels at your “thing.”
In this podcast, Cody Gough and Ashley Hamer discuss the following stories from Curiosity.com to help you get smarter and learn something new in just a few minutes:
If you love our show and you're interested in hearing full-length interviews, then please consider supporting us on Patreon. You'll get exclusive episodes and access to our archives as soon as you become a Patron! https://www.patreon.com/curiositydotcom
Download the FREE 5-star Curiosity app for Android and iOS at https://curiosity.im/podcast-app. And Amazon smart speaker users: you can listen to our podcast as part of your Amazon Alexa Flash Briefing — just click “enable” here: https://curiosity.im/podcast-flash-briefing.
Find episode transcript here: https://curiosity-daily-4e53644e.simplecast.com/episodes/conference-rooms-impair-your-mind-get-a-toned-look-and-overcome-friendship-jealousy
CODY: Hi! We’re here from curiosity-dot-com to help you get smarter in just a few minutes. I’m Cody Gough.
ASHLEY: And I’m Ashley Hamer. Today, you’ll learn about why a “toned” appearance has nothing to do with muscle tone; how meetings literally impair your mind, and what you can do about it; and, how to be less jealous when your friend excels at your “thing”
CODY: Let’s satisfy some curiosity.
A "Toned" Appearance Has Nothing to Do With Muscle Tone — https://curiosity.im/2UsuajF (Ashley)
If you think you can change the shape of your muscles with different styles of exercise, then I’ve got some bad news for you: A Toned Appearance Has Nothing to Do With Muscle Tone. You know the idea that lifting heavy weight with fewer reps will make your muscles big and bulky, and lifting a light weight with more reps will make your muscles long, lean, and toned? Well, science says that’s not a thing. The true definition of the word tone is the constant, involuntary state of partial contraction your muscles are in during rest. But in pop culture, a “toned” muscle is one that's attractively firm and defined, but not overly large or bulging. The thing is, how firm and defined your muscles look and feel have nothing to do with your muscles. Muscles only grow or shrink; they strengthen or weaken — they don't get softer or firmer (or longer or leaner, for that matter). What makes them feel soft and look undefined is body fat. If you lose enough weight, you’ll have a six-pack regardless of whether you actually have strong ab muscles you’ve been working out. And there are people with super strong core muscles who certainly don’t look like they have a six pack, because their body fat percentage is just too high around that area. The body fat rules apply to everywhere on your body, not just at the points you want to lose fat. "Spot reduction" is the term for burning fat at just one spot, and that, too, is a myth. Losing body fat means making sure a healthy diet is part of your exercise routine. And many studies have found there's no difference in muscle size and strength after lifting heavy weights at fewer reps versus light weights at more reps. In the end, it doesn't matter how much weight you use, but how intense your workout is. Intensity is what will burn calories, boost metabolism, and enhance strength.
An Hour in a Conference Room Produces Enough CO2 to Impair Your Mind — https://curiosity.im/2Uzsi96 (Cody)
According to research, long meetings might be hard to sit through because they’re literally bad for your brain. I don’t just mean that they’re boring — I mean, they are physically bad. According to a 2016 study from the international environmental design firm Gensler, after just one hour of meeting with others in a conference room, the level of carbon dioxide reaches 1,400 parts per million, or ppm. The human brain evolved in an atmosphere around 200 to 300 ppm of CO2, but nowadays, we're regularly dealing with outdoor levels of 400 ppm or more. That's bad for the environment, but it's also bad for your brain. As a 2015 Harvard study found, your cognitive abilities actually fall as the concentration of CO2 rises. At a level of 945 ppm, brain functions decrease by 15 percent. At the 1,400 ppm level that the Gensler study found, the air becomes so polluted that cognitive performance can be stunted by as much as 50 percent. And by “cognitive abilities,” I mean the areas of strategizing, focus, decisionmaking, and the capacity to understand new information. Y’know... pretty much all of the reasons you're in a meeting in the first place. Oh, and here's the kicker: That Gensler study measured the air quality when just three people were in the conference room. Three! So, you can expect the air to be even more polluted when more people are present in the room. Now, don’t go out and buy a houseplant, because unfortunately, that’ll do little or nothing to help with the air quality. But you do have a few options: crack a window if it's warm enough outside, or use an electric fan if it's not. If you don't, you'll be back to mindlessly nodding your way through those long company meetings and just hoping that you never get called on.
[NHTSA]
ASHLEY: Today’s episode is paid for by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. CODY: NIT-suh is working hard to combat texting while driving. And texting and driving isn’t just a dangerous problem, it’s deadly. If you drive while distracted, you’re THREE TIMES more likely to crash. But far too many people still don’t recognize the dangers.
ASHLEY: Did you know that when you send or receive a text, you take your eyes off the road for about 5 seconds? And at 55 miles per hour, that’s like driving more than the length of a football field, with your eyes closed.
CODY: Between 2012 and 2017, nearly 20,000 people died in crashes involving a distracted driver. And if your own safety isn’t enough reason to stop driving while distracted, here’s another one. It’s also illegal. That’s why cops are writing tickets to anyone caught texting while driving. They’re doing it to save lives.
ASHLEY: So remember, if you text while driving, you WILL get caught.
CODY: U Drive. U Text. U Pay.
Here's Why It Hurts When a Friend Excels at Your "Thing" — https://curiosity.im/2UswS8P (from Wednesday) (Ashley)
There’s a reason why it hurts when one of your friends excels at your “thing.” Fortunately, you’re about to learn the science behind why it happens, and how you can deal with that little green jealousy monster swelling up inside you. I’m talking about when you think you’re a really good guitar player, and you show up at an open mic night and your friend just crushes with their performance. [CODY: This happened to me in cross country in high school / ad lib]
ASHLEY: The reason why it hurts when your friend is better than you at your “thing” comes from a psychologist named Abraham Tesser. In the 1980s, Tesser came up with what’s called the self-evaluation maintenance (SEM) theory. It's based on two elements: First, people behave in a way that will help them maintain a positive image of themselves; and second, a person's relationships have a substantial impact on that self-image. Basically, you want to see yourself in a positive light, but your friends can have a big impact on the way you see yourself — whether it’s good or bad. It’s easy to have a good time and feel good about a stranger accomplishing something you’re good at, because you’re less likely to compare yourself. And it’s great when a friend is good at something you’re NOT good at, too. But when a close friend does well at something you do have an interest in — or worse, something that makes up your identity — you’re gonna have a bad time. Fortunately, Tessar came up with four ways to cope with this — although they’re not all good. The first method is to distance yourself from your friend. If your best bud beats you in an audition, then either spend less time together, or try to focus on the ways the two of you are different. The second method is to change your own self-definition. Maybe concert band isn’t your thing, so you focus on jazz, or do something totally different like how good you are on the soccer team. The third option, which we do NOT condone, is to undercut your friend. Basically, either sabotage them, or brood about why your friend had an unfair advantage, like more time to practice or more money for better private lessons. The fourth and final option? Do better next time. You can cope by trying even harder to get good at that thing your pal showed you up in. Through it all, just try to remember that you’re friends first, and friends support each other — whether they're killin' it or they're lagging a little behind.
CODY: Read about today’s stories and more on curiosity-dot-com!
ASHLEY: Join us again tomorrow for the award-winning Curiosity Daily and learn something new in just a few minutes. I’m [NAME] and I’m [NAME]. Stay curious!