Similar Posts
- Finding What Works for You | Fitness | Fitness as Nutrient Partitioning | Nutrition | Nutrition Science | The Value of Good Nutrition
F.N.A.Q.: Losing Weight, Making Gainz?
You probably know it by now. I have things to say. Thanks to the questions and lessons I learned from you, I always have a big list of blog ideas, video ideas, Instagram ideas, and even book ideas. Sometimes in those lists, patterns emerge. I see common beliefs and cultural practices that end-up messing up my athletes. They usually take the form of "evident truths" that don't need to be questioned. What I have found out is that the opposite is correct. They need to be challenged. Moreover, they need to be aggressively examined. Because of that, I have created the series: "Frequently not asked questions". Today's video is the first of this series and it has to do with losing weight and athletic performance. Watch it and let me know what you think.
Functional Fixedness
However, because we humans clearly cannot have nice things, the term has been bastardized, oversimplified, and not problematized enough. When Henrick laughs at my suggestion of doing curls, he is just repeating a learned behavior. It is common in the functional world to look at other forms of training and think they are poor, vain, or irrelevant. On the one side, this is how every culture is created, by creating an other to separate from. That’s how we define our existence as a thing. On the other hand, this attitude is the representation of a very bad case of functional fixedness (FF). Think of this as a bad habit of the mind, a way of thinking that hinders more than helps, and that in the case of Henrick will limit his performance and his movement capacity. The purpose of this post is to explain to you what FF is so that you can catch yourself in this trap, and do something about it.
Build your garage gym
I love garage gyms. I consider myself a garage gym person. I believe in home-fitness. I think fitness is most productive when it becomes a personal and regular routine. If you are an avid reader for example, and you consider reading and learning new stuff an essential part of yourself, you can understand what I am saying. I love commercial gyms, I work in one. I understand their value. But I think nobody should need a gym to improve the way they move. It is like libraries: they are fantastic, but you don't need one to read. You should be able to read everywhere.
Why is the Assault Bike so Hard? - Part II
Part II on why the Air bike is such a mean piece of equipment.
Why train?
In the world of fitness it’s common to hear that you should find a “why” for your training. The idea behind this practice is to find an emotional connection to some part of your identity to use as motivation whenever you feel like you want to throw in the towel, or not get out of bed for your morning workout. Although this can be very useful, it is also the source of a plethora of cheesy motivational memes and worse, it comes with the assumption that exercise is inherently good for our health and all we need is more motivation and willpower. This seems like an innocent idea but it is NOT. This way of thinking takes from us the opportunity to question the physiological purpose of our training, and in doing so set us up for failure before we even start, regardless of how many hours of sweat we put in. I believe that this is the kind of “why” we should identify. Let me explain.
Nutrition, Sex, and Priorities
Don’t get me wrong, you can still buy pre-made food, order food, whatever you like, just be intentional about it and don’t let convenience and value be your first priorities. Put nutritional value first and then pick the most convenient cheapest option you can find. Don’t let advertisement victimize you and save you at the same time. Gain control of your shit! Set your priorities right and find yourself a high-quality lover for lunch time.
