The Buffalo Theory as told by Cliff Clavin: No one can explain this as well as Cliff Clavin, on Cheers. One afternoon at Cheers, Cliff Clavin was explaining the Buffalo Theory to his buddy Norm. and here's how it went:
"Well ya see, Norm, it's like this... A herd of buffalo can only move as fast as the slowest buffalo. And when the herd is hunted, it is the slowest and weakest ones at the back that are killed first. This natural selection is good for the herd as a whole, because the general speed and health of the whole group keeps improving by the regular killing of the weakest members.
"In much the same way, the human brain can only operate as fast as the slowest brain cells. Excessive intake of alcohol, as we know, kills brain cells. But naturally it attacks the slowest and weakest brain cells first.
In this way, regular consumption of beer eliminates the weaker brain cells, making the brain a faster and more efficient machine. That's why you always feel smarter after a few beers."
Has your dream come true: a six-pack without moving a muscle?
Simply imagining exercising muscles can have a similar effect to hitting the gym, a new study finds.
Although mental imagery has long been used in sports, this is the first study to show that mental imagery can slow or even stop muscle loss resulting from inactivity.
Professor Brian Clark, director of the Ohio Musculoskeletal and Neurological Institute, and study leader, said:
“We wanted to tease out the underlying physiology between the nervous system and muscles to better understand the brain’s role in muscle weakness.”
In the study, published in the journal Neurophysiology, healthy people had their hands and wrists immobilised in a cast for four weeks (Clark et al., 2014).
During this time one group did no exercise, while another imagined strong muscle contractions in their wrists.
They did this for just 11 minutes, five times a week.
The other groups just sat still for the same amount of time.
