Myths of Essentialism

In the Book Essentialism, Greg McKeown cleverly (Sarcastically) reminds us of how far off the essentials of life we've veered off. This is also true of the Fitness world, we are slowly forgetting the basics. I'll point out a couple of the Myths that Greg talks about and relate them to fitness.

Turning my sciency geek on...

Myth #1. I'm too busy living to think about life. In this day and age you have to always stay on, always be plugged in. Be stressed and unfulfilled but don't have down time. If you're not talking about how busy you are and how much time you never have, you're not actually living, neither are you conversation worthy.

Truth is in order to have focus and you need space to focus.

In the gym or in a workout being busy is where we confuse activity for actual work, where we are more focused on the gym time we put in, instead of the actual work being done. 

Jogging either on the treadmill or outside everyday for an hour is only beneficial for a short time. Your body adapts very quickly to this type of repetitive work. At some point your metabolic rate will drop because of the repetitive nature of the activity and your body starts using lean muscle as fuel and not fat.

I'd rather you lift some HEAVY weights, I doubt you can do it for very long. Some sprints {Or vary the speeds of your running} will do you good as well, again that can't take an hour. You'll look like you're not busy in the gym and especially because you'll not be there for long, but at least you've done some real work.

Myth #2. If everyone is doing it, then I better join in as well. Do everything that's popular... now. Let the fear of missing out consume you. Don't listen to that quiet voice telling you to be different, just go with the crowd.

The Truth is there's Joy in missing out, Please Discover it.

The latest 'Best' fitness fad may not necessarily be the best. For this reason, your muscles don't really care where resistance comes from; whether it's crossfit, bootcamp, bodyweight, kettlebells etc it doesn't matter, muscles will still adapt. The next time you ask your new gym whether they have kettlebells before you sign up, let it not be because it's the in thing.

Also jumping from one fitness trend to the next may be detrimental to your progression. Today it's Zumba, tomorrow it's spin, and the next it's Bootcamp. Variety is important alright, but don't make it a thing. Find a program that suits you and stick to it. 

I chose the outdoors because I Feel at home, I can do this all day everyday...

Myth #3. I'll stay up late and get it done. If you ever talk about sleep, only mention how little of it you got lately. Boast about getting four hours of sleep last night or how you pulled an all nighter earlier that week. It's ok to get tired and admit it, but do not under any circumstance show weakness or even worse laziness by declaring that you got a full eight hours of sleep in one night.

Truth: sleep is for high Performers.

I can't stress the importance of Quality sleep to your workout enough. Whenever you do your resistance training all you're doing is tearing your muscles. During sleep is when these muscles are rebuilt to become stronger and better. For cardio training, the quality of your next workout is dependent on how well you've recovered from your previous workout. You can't compromise on sleep and expect results.

Myth #4. More is better than less. Remember that the key is to have more of a thing than someone else, be it money, prestige or personal satisfaction. Just get more. Social media is a good place to start.  Choose shallow interactions over real meaningful friendships & relationships.

Truth: Quality over quantity anyday. And don't just say it, do it.

Your fitness journey should be a personal journey. The aim is to be your best self, not better than someone else. Aim for quality full range of motion repetitions before you can shoot for quantity. Do 5 pushups all the way to the floor before doing 19 (Like the half pushups that Michelle Obama & Ellen DeGeneres displayed on TV) Aim for 2 strict pullups instead of 5 half ones.

Myth #5 When things don't workout, Just force them. Ignore the stresses and how it affects others. Forget headaches, shoulder & neck strains. In fact get so used to the pressure that you start to ignore it. Keep telling yourself you are not straining or stressed.

Truth: You should never force anything.

This always happens when a training or a diet worked for a friend or a relative. IT MAY NOT WORK FOR YOU. If it just doesn't seem to fit, you hate your workouts and dread the food you'll be eating, don't ignore these signs hoping that if it means getting to where your friend got, you should put up with it. It's not the training or the nutrition that produces results, it's the marriage between the individual, the training and the nutrition. It's known as the principle of individuality.

(BONUS) Myth #6. It's not enough to just support a person through their problems, we need to save them. We've become exceptionally great at owning people's problems. Forget boundaries, let's make other people's problems our own, and own them fully.

Truth is we needn't and we shouldn't rob people of their problems.

This week, think long and hard about the things that are essential to you.

As usual we are at the YMCA, starting a new month New program.

Every Monday, Wednesday & Friday.at 5.25-6.30pm
5.30-6.30pm.