I don’t write a whole bunch about nutrition, mostly because I’m a personal trainer, and as such I’m not qualified to put anyone on any particular diet. I can talk about food in broad terms, but it’s worth properly stating: if your personal trainer does try to put you on a diet, make sure they’re qualified. We know about exercise. And it is our job to teach you about that. But we are famous for working outside of our scope of practice.
Beware! Having said that, I am opinionated, and I do like to discuss concepts as much as I enjoy details. So, onward to concepts! The term “diet” we often take to be restrictive these days, but the word may actually relate more broadly to any eating program for any purpose, it may have phases or periods or a specific desired result or not – and even more broadly it may simply relate to whatever it is you happen to eat. For example, the diet of a chimpanzee includes but is not limited to: fruits, other parts of trees, insects and occasionally, other chimpanzees.
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I remember hearing once, if It’s a weird tip, or a secret, that means it’s scientifically un-proven. It’s good to bear that in mind when bombarded with magical-sounding weight-loss propaganda.
And when it comes to body size and training, we assume like crazy. One thing may not actually be connected to another. Training is – on a fundamental level – simply about what you do, not about your shape or even any outcome. All that is, as the ancient Greeks would say, with the Gods. You do not control outcomes. You can control your intention and actions, and maybe even your desires if you think about them in a certain way, if you’re unafraid to question them, though that statement could lead me off on a whole other tangent. But when it comes to physical training and exercise, the trick is only this: Appropriate progressions, in the context of conditioning the body and mind to the work over time. We know this. I saw a film about – among other things – steroid usage in sports in America, and it was surprisingly engaging. Bigger Stronger Faster. Much depth. There was one man who was trying to become a star wrestler, he’d had a lot of knockbacks, but he was determined; he knew he was destined for greatness and had so much to give.
He was probably right, but what he actually has to give may not be what he thinks he has to give. And his true talents – if he’s anything like me – they might align not with his desires, but with his fears and insecurities. He’s loving and dedicated. These are admirable qualities. What he really has to give is probably more tender and real than his chosen career path accommodates for. But I don’t mean to just project my baggage, instead it made me introspective. Not knowing what life is like for him, but knowing what it’s like for me… For me, my true talents do align with my insecurities. It’s always been an uncomfortable reality: you know you’re on to something when it cuts close to the bone. You mightn’t yet know what that means, it might mean you should leave it alone and keep it secret, or it might mean you need to investigate. Investigating my fears and insecurities has been key to learning what I have to offer, especially working in a fat-phobic modern fitness industry. The secrets to my strengths are hidden within my weaknesses. This is not academic or theoretical. It is surprisingly practical. Immediate. There is no hierarchy of attractiveness. Not in any absolute sense, not outside of what we have constructed as a culture. And that construction is an illusion. Much as I can tell, the people I have been attracted to in my life – there’s no set criteria. They have been different sizes, races and complexions, always different, and the similarities are difficult to quantify. And a gain or loss of ten pounds doesn’t change one single thing. And what people may find attractive about me, is often not what I would have expected. But the concepts, the ideas, the suggestion that you can control how people perceive you by changing your body, the promise of becoming more attractive through behaviour, discipline, training and hard work. It’s powerful. I find myself from time to time, wishing I looked a bit different. Wanting to ‘sculpt my body’ in one way or another. One could ask – what are you going to do about it? It’s a common question. It assumes that the pursuit of a goal will result in satisfaction, or at the very least that any attempt is worthwhile. I’m not going to diet, let alone starve myself, and I enjoy training very much, but there’s this other aspect, internally – why can’t I just resist the overwhelming weight of the cultural pressure to be thinner, the pervasive prejudices of an entire civilization simply by strength of will? Whhyyyy??? I heard a rumour once that during the Cold War, the CIA indirectly funded some pretty crazy art, and artists. Andy Warhol’s peers. They specifically wanted to tell the world that this is the land of the free – look what we can do here, at what you can do. You can do anything here. They wanted the world to know that America was different from the Soviet Union. That the people in America were free and prosperous. My Sister In-Law, many years ago, said the media contributes to the infantilisation of society. I didn’t understand what she meant at the time, I was much younger. But it stuck with me and I see it now, we talk about complex, interconnected issues as if they are separate – we give them two or three minutes airtime each, and we wonder why all this horrid shit happens all at once, as if mysteriously connected in some way? Society is deadened. We are not stimulated. The legend of Narcissus I know, is this: a young man of astonishing beauty had never seen his own reflection, until one day he was wandering through a quiet forest and he came upon a still, clear lake. Gazing into the water, he saw himself for the first time and, captivated by his beauty, he sat there enchanted by his own reflection for so long that ages passed until one day, he had turned into a flower. The danger of beauty? Of vanity? Of time wasted, of the passage of time? I see it, I’ve experienced it – hours, months, years spent in the pursuit of beauty, of vanity and popularity. The time passes. And what else might you achieve with your efforts? But at the same time these two extremes: we are told it’s no good, pandering to the demands of vanity, it’s unbecoming, it’s a waste of time, and yet we are taught (women especially), over and over that beauty is one of our most valuable commodities. If you don’t have your looks, what do you have? This sentiment was expressed over the loudspeaker one day by the Principal at the High School my brother attended. It reveals various truths, I think. So how do we negotiate these things? What can we combat, what do we agree to? How much do we participate? What is fulfilling, and what is a waste of time? How far can we go, and what is the actual reward in the end, for our labours? I’ve spent the last few months teaching one of the other personal trainers at work how to break wooden boards with her hands. The other day, we held a small demonstration, footage of which can be seen here. And on that day, I had three people ask me what the trick is. I said training, and conditioning the hand over time, and understanding appropriate progressions. I also pointed out that it’s easier with certain striking areas than others, but that is simply an aspect of understanding the nature of appropriate progressions. Now that I reflect upon it though, I think the question reveals something else that’s going on in the fitness industry. Of course there is no trick. It’s just training, conditioning the body, and developing over time. The two primary keys to progress are of course known, they are patience and consistency. Moving forward to what will be helpful when it is helpful, but not before. Avoiding injury, over-stimulation, boredom or stagnation. The easiest way to break a board is with a muscular – rather than bony – surface area. So of course we begin by practicing the correct technique and leverage, and getting the heel of the palm used to a small degree of impact. Over time, one may progress to striking with the knuckles, but of course – while stronger in a certain context, the knuckles are also more fragile and vulnerable to injury. So again, appropriate steps only. Move from the simple to the complex, what is doable to what is challenging. In the Southern Hemisphere, winter has recently given way to spring, and in Melbourne it’s been rather warm. And I realise, despite my objection to the contrivance, that I actually do eat seasonally - to a point.
If you haven’t noticed, I’m opposed to restrictive dieting for non-medical reasons. I prefer to take an inclusive, rather than exclusive approach. If we were to learn anything from our Paleo predecessors, I figure it’s this: eat all the foods! And preserve what you can in the permafrost. People sometimes wonder how frequently they should train, and we often overcomplicate it. Train again when you’re ready, do not train when you’re not.
There is no one correct answer because there’s an inverse relationship between intensity and frequency. The more intensely you train, especially with weights, the longer it takes for you to recover. Hence you cannot train too frequently. Likewise, if you train especially frequently you will probably find you are not capable of performing high quality work at the degree of intensity you might expect, but you may be capable of practicing low-intensity endurance or mobility work. Games have rules. But playtime is more flexible, organic. It naturally shifts and changes, but that doesn’t mean it exists without structure. It may be ambiguous, and difficult to pin down, but that’s also one of the things that makes it special.
I forget where I first came across the concept (might have been via Pop Up Playground), but what’s key for me in the difference between free play and a game as such, is that if it’s playtime the rules can and often do change at any time, you are free to quit whenever you like, and the point of the activity is the activity itself. Play exists for the purpose of playing, and only for as long as the process itself is engaging. At least, that’s my simplified definition for the purposes of my discussion, but this great article goes into more depth, describing play as “activity that is (1) self-chosen and self-directed; (2) intrinsically motivated; (3) guided by mental rules; (4) imaginative; and (5) conducted in an active, alert, but relatively non-stressed frame of mind.” |