On fitness

A few weekends ago I attended the CrossFit Level 1 Trainer Certification course. I had several reasons for doing this. First, as I’ve written about before, I believe continuous learning and personal growth is one of the most important ingredients to a happy life. CrossFit - and fitness in general - is like golf in that it can never be completely mastered: the weights don’t get lighter, you simply get stronger and faster. Second, any opportunity to gain knowledge about a subject that interests me is time well spent. My long-dormant passion for photography recently flared up so I’m planning on taking a class on that as well. Third, one of my dreams is to own a gym someday. I think of this course like a foundation of cement for a building that may not be built for, but just knowing it’s there reminds me that it is there waiting for me to drive the first nail into the first 2x4. Lastly, anyone who pays attention to macro trends in human health would agree that we are in the midst of a severe crisis. The obesity rate continues to rise and chronic disease is the most common cause of death in the developed world. The WHO estimated that 60% of all deaths over a decade ago were from chronic disease and the CDC confirmed that these comprised seven out of the top ten causes of death in the US in 2014. One of the few fears I have about growing old is the idea of becoming immobile and helpless.

I continue to see more and more elderly people stooped over, hunchbacked and unable to simply stand up or bend over to pick something up on their own. I can only imagine what today’s mobile-addicted, shoulders-rounded, chin-on-chest culture is going to look like in their 80s and 90s. Certainly there are neurological and other reasons that force people into assisted living (which means just that: unable to live a normal life without the assistance of others), but an increasingly common cause is a lack of basic strength and mobility. These people don't need to spend 30 minutes a day reading a magazine while pedaling a recumbent bike over decades. They need to practice squatting down to the level of a low chair without the use of their hands and bending over to pick something up off the ground without rounding their back and collapsing their spine. If your grandparent is going to walk up a flight of stairs, what is more relevant, being able to bike for an hour at a snails pace or having (relatively) strong legs, glutes and core muscles? The answer seems obvious because it is.

One of the things I admired most about my grandmother was the fact that despite a longstanding disdain for what she called “health nuts” and “fitness freaks” in her southern drawl, she constantly challenged herself physically whether she knew it or not. She spent countless hours working in her garden and more than once I saw her bend down, pick up a heavy bag of mulch and carry it to the other side of the yard. Had she ever even heard the word “deadlift”? Probably not yet that’s what she was doing. When looking to buy an apartment, she sought out ones with stairs which she would inevitably climb a dozen times per day. She insisted on driving a manual transmission, one of many reasons driving with her was truly terrifying. These small things - and I’m sure many others - compounded over years and decades to produce someone highly capable and independent well into her seventies and eighties.

I think everyone should approach their health and fitness with a goal. Like any legitimate goal, it must be specific and it must have a timeframe. “I want to get less fat” might feel like a goal, but it’s pretty difficult to measure progress against. An actionable version might be “I want to reduce my bodyfat index by 5 points before my next birthday.” First, you need the appropriate measurement tools so you know where you are today. Second, you need a plan or program that will address that specific goal. Third and most importantly, you need to religiously stick to that program - no matter what - for a painfully long period of time. Lastly, you need the ability to measure progress against the original status marker. Nothing motivates like success.

In my opinion, this is one of the best things about fitness and athleticism ever written. It is unmatched in its simplicity and its effectiveness. It is a prescription for maintaining a broad, general and inclusive fitness over one’s life, which for most people is enough. Of course there are outliers: professional athletes and olympians, bodybuilders, etc, but the rest of us simply want to be able to handle anything that life throws at us and live on our own well into our final decades. We want to play a pickup game of flag football in the sand without being doubled over with our hands on our knees after every play. We want to run a 5K at a respectable clip without training for it. We want to be able to pick our kid off the ground and put them on our shoulders without injuring our back. And when our back does hurt, we’d ideally be able to address it ourselves.

I think Greg Glassman’s fitness in 100 words manifesto can be further simplified for the average person. Get sweaty and out of breath several times per week. Lift something (relatively) heavy regularly. This should not be easy: specifically, it should be very very uncomfortable. Measure your progress and be competitive, even if its only with yourself. Identify things you cannot do today but would like to be able to do and practice them until you’ve achieved mastery. Be patient as this may take years. Pursue full range of motion for every joint and know how to address common ailments. Nutrition is even more important: you cannot out-work or out-train a bad (or even mediocre) diet. Eat whole foods and avoid anything that comes in a package. If you do see a label, read it and put it down if it contains more than a few grams of sugar. If you must deviate, do so no more than once per week. If you don't like the way you look, record everything you eat and drink for a week in an app. Be ruthless in identifying where you are going wrong because the answer will undoubtedly be in there.

Most importantly, find something that you truly enjoy that checks the boxes above. If you go to the gym three or four days a week and spend 30 minutes to an hour on the elliptical or treadmill but hate it, then quit! Find something else today! Join a soccer league. Convince your neighbor to run to the nearby playground and do pull-ups with you. Take up tennis or racketball. Find a CrossFit gym and ignore the initial intimidation that everyone feels walking in on their first day. This stuff is simple but not easy. Chances are you know what to do (if you genuinely don’t, consider YouTube your new best friend), you just aren’t doing it. If you can’t “find” the time, read this. Remember that everyone from the 500 pound guy with multiple chronic diseases to the elite athlete is own their own journey. Just because you aren’t happy with where you are today does not mean you need to be there tomorrow. Go out, get sweaty and do something about it. Your ninety year old self will be glad you did.