In the most recent Exuberant Animal blog post, head of EA, Frank Forencich, offers us a compelling question to ponder:
Is “exercise” part of the problem?
Frank says it is.
Exercise, he says, involves sets, reps, forced movements in unnatural or limited planes of motion, etc.
I think he’s right.
Nice gym.
The “Workout” Dilemma
For many of us, even the term “workout” fades into the single word “work.” It doesn’t sound like fun. What’s supposed to be enjoyable about it? Especially after you’ve already been working all week anyway?! Who wants more work?!
A Rose by Any Other Name
It’s important to remember where gyms came from. Original “gymnasiums” in Ancient Greece (the ones the European gymnasiums were modeled after, which are the gyms that ours were modeled after) consisted of an open sandy pit outside, and maybe a large, empty room, with some different apprati and weights to throw around. But mostly, you’d just throw yourself (or maybe another person) around.
In the process, you’d learn some things. Like how to deal with your own body. Or how to deal with disorientation (tumbling). Or how to deal with another person’s body (wrestling, boxing), or an external body of other sorts (shot put, weight, discus, javelin).
In the earlier part of the 20th Century, most American gyms still looked this way. They were mostly empty space, with some weights around the perimeter, and maybe some uneven bars and gymnastic rings. Maybe the gym would be totally outdoors. Or at least have some outdoor space to play around in.
Your “workout” would consist of a combination of strength-skill movements. Things that weren’t as simple as “just pick that up.” You’d have to think a little bit about what you were about to do.
You might even have done some gymnastic-type things in there.
Further, there would be a community of like-minded folks in there watching you, coaching you, helping one another out, and competing with each other. It wouldn’t be a line of hamsters on their wheels…excuse me, treadmills…
Oh The 80′s
In the 1980′s, the bodybuilding phenomenon really took off. Large chain gyms like Gold’s, Bally’s, etc., took advantage of, and fueled the craze.
Group exercise classes became modeled after school classes – One Teacher, Many Students.
People grew competition-crazed.
Muscles bulged and glistened.
And the nation continued to get fatter.
Please adopt a cardio machine...they're lonely
The True Cost of Fitness
And in the melee, we all were swept up.
But what was it all about, in the end? “Fitness?” Fitness to do what? For what purpose? To be able to do our jobs better? No, most likely not. To contribute to our communities? No. To hunt more effectively, or do something better?
No, just fitness. To be fit.
Many of the aspects of our lives have turned into this in the past twenty years – to do something, simply to do it.
No value other than the doing of it. Which is fine, but weird.
Those massive gyms, with all of their equipment, and the fees people pay to belong to those gyms…what is that about?
It isn’t about fitness.
What is your goal? Why do you do it? And wouldn’t you want it to be enjoyable?
Another beauty...
Exercise, Fitness, and Movement
Frank insists that what people need is more movement. I agree with him 100%. But I also see that people must be coerced to move. Calling it one thing or another doesn’t mean much. Changing the way it looks, its external appearance, attracts attention.
All animals are attracted by the new, the novel. They require what is familiar, but they are attracted to what is different.
So while I agree, that people need to move more, and that “exercise” may inhibit them, I think the means to get ourselves moving will come from different sources than from symantics.
We need more toys.
Worlds that change toys.
Toys That Change Worlds
Toys That Change Worlds is the subheader of one of my all-time favorite blogs (linked to the first few words in this sentence). It’s not for everyone. It’s very philosophical…just warning you.
But the point of that blog is that it’s possible to change your perception of reality, to change yourself, deeply and meaningfully, by playing with a new toy.
That’s why I’m not against things like Wii Fit, or the vibrating health saddle, kettlebells, bodyblades, or anything else.
In fact, I wish there were more of them! And I wish that more groups of people would get together on a regular basis to play with all of those great toys.
Imagine if you had a block party, where everyone went around the block, into everyone’s house, and had to use the workout toys in that house for at least 5 minutes. Then you all rotated. Heck, what if you raced from house to house?
Sounds like fun!
And I think there’d be a lot of exercise equipment that would get dusted off, and have the hanging clothes taken off it.
Sure, strong. Sure, flexible. Sure...
Real Strength
In the end, true strength is total-person strength. It is strength of will, strength of character, strength of judgment, strength of muscles, lungs, heart, mind, connections. Real strength knows no bounds. It spills over and out of the individual, into everything they do and touch. It extends beyond them, into their friends, family and community.
Real strength also accepts no limits. It seeks constantly to improve itself, to become more, to become stronger still.
Real strength is flexible. It does not break, it bends, and then springs back into place. It flows like water, wearing away even the hardest material over time.
To be truly strong, you must cultivate yourself. You must accept who you are. You must come to learn and embrace your greatest gift to humanity, and act to express that gift in every word, thought, and deed.
You must “workout.” You must “exercise.” You must “play.” You must “stretch.” You must do it all, and do it from the core of your being, for all you are worth, every day, tirelessly, until your time has run its course.
That is real strength.