Why do we train? And when we do, what’s the “best” way?
For me it’s helpful to understand what we’re doing in the large and small picture in training.
“Physical activity” is really (literally) simply any movement of the body. It’s better to define “physical activity” in these terms, and use other words to describe specific types of physical activity.
For instance, “exercise” is a specific type of physical activity, one in which we seek to intentionally disrupt homeostasis toward a specific end goal or result.
Gyms or outdoor exercise areas are places we go to create specific types of stress on our systems.
Health
The number one reason for doing exercise is that our body requires exertion and movement to remain healthy.
To be “healthy” is to function optimally (really in all “categories” of human relationship – best defined by the Exuberant Animal Mandala – body, mind, spirit, land, tribe, ancestor) (health includes death). In “health” we disrupt homeostasis and then allow it to return.
If we were to look at “health” as the relationship between the disruption of and return to homeostasis, the variability in this wave (of disruption and return) in both frequency and magnitude (x and y axes) would be a good indicator of overall health. That is, as long as it is truly variable, and not chaotic (i.e., there’s a rhythm there…).
This tenet is true for all living systems. Environments that are more diverse and “variable” (like rain forests) have greater robustness, great resilience, and greater “health” than less-variable environments (like deserts).
Hearts that have greater variability between systole and diastole, or between heart beats, are healthier than hearts with completely “normal” waves (regardless of their amplitude).
click the picture for a fun paper!
Fitness
Fitness is not health or necessarily healthy. Fitness is the capacity to perform a specific task. A person or other animal may be perfectly “fit” for one task (like sitting in the car, at the desk, and on the couch), but completely unfit for another (like doing anything else).
We can train our relative level of fitness for a specific task by understanding the demands of that task, and by introducing those demands to our body in a gradual fashion (again, allowing for the disruption of and return to homeostasis).
Often, simply performing the task itself will get us more and more “fit” for that task. Sometimes this is a very hard way to go, however.
As you can tell, though, certain tasks might limit our variability. They might restrict our range of motion, or the particular ways in which we move. We might end up training ourselves right into a heart attack, knee or hip replacement, or chronic muscular pain.
Sport
This brings up the issue of sport, and sport-specific training. Much of the exercise advice out there is based on sport training, and much of the training advice I’ve seen is based on training methods for other sports (e.g., bodybuilding-type programs being recommended for basketball players, etc.).
Sport almost always demands an extremely high level of fitness in some specific qualities at the expense of all others. The only sport where this may not be the case is the Decathlon – also the reason that the World Record holder in the Decathlon has always been known as “The World’s Greatest Athlete.”
But of course, the decathlete’s general ability comes at a price. Only rarely will any decathlete beat a world record in a particular race.
Social and Cultural Definitions
To do “society” to relate and to create explicit and implicit definitions of relations (rules of engagement) within/among a group of people.
Doing culture, then, is believing, behaving, creating, and valuing in accordance with explicit or implicit socially-defined norms.
Our idea of health (even my very broad definition above), and fitness, (and beauty, and everything else), is socially and culturally defined, maintained, and conditioned.
General Fitness
So can there be such a thing as “general” fitness? I guess the decathlete would be the highest example of the most-generally fit individual. But even a decathlete’s training is very specific.
My short answer is no. All training is specific, whether you want to admit it or not.
Why Do It?
Humans have reached the top of the food chain (as long as we stay in our man-made environments, at least, or carry some powerful technologies with us into other environments).
We call exercise a “work-out” because that’s precisely what it’s designed to do for most of us – replicate the normal physical work our bodies need to be healthy.
Health itself is relatively simple. The most important component of health is happiness.
Happiness generally, and in meaningful relationship with body, mind, spirit, land, tribe, and ancestor. Don’t believe me? That’s okay. Go get really unhappy about it and I’ll meet you on the “other side” to discuss. But you might have to wait a while…
Regular, diverse, and varied movement is healthy. Bio-regional diet is healthy. But happiness is most important.
Want to know how to be happy? Just do it.
Fitness? Let’s save that for the next post!
