why fitness-play matters to you

Why there is no formula to figure out perfect weight

by tomas on February 4th, 2010

I just finished writing a response to Gina Kolata’s latest article Slimmer Doesn’t Always Mean Fitter and Tara Parker-Pope’s Column on the NY Times Well Blog The Best Weight for the Best Workout.

I am not a fan of Gina Kolata mostly because I don’t think she is daring enough nor does she believe in training. She also seems to craft articles that are fraught with issues of direction and lack of purpose. To me this entire article could be summed up in the following with the following line:

“… people vary so much that there is no formula to figure out the perfect weight. ” done.

On the most basic level, this article represents a missed opportunity to discuss issues about training – eating, resting and playing. About finding a balance and forgetting about the scale. I guess I like British Style journalism better. Opinionated. Purposeful. Filled with Facts. Searching.

- If it were me writing the article: I say something like this: Stop getting on the scale. Train, Eat, Rest and Play. Repeat and look for ways to improve this mix. That’s it. If you do that right you will enjoy yourself and ultimately if you are taking care of yourself properly (not over eating, smoking, using drugs/alcohol to excess), you will look and feel great too.
________
For those of you who want to read more. Here’s my full response:

I’d actually like to know which sports are not “particularly” affected by the tug of gravity? Do we live on Mars? I knew it

I’m being a bit facetious in case you didn’t get that here.

On Earth: Any Purposeless excess weight will penalize you. period. Whether it is muscle or fat. it is by it’s very nature: dead weight. hence the saying.

Surfers see this when big beefy guys try to paddle out using their brawn. Climbers know this too.

Doesn’t all this discussion of ideal weight somehow miss the point entirely here?

This reductionism is confusing me and honestly perpetuates a lot of bad body image mythology. Examples abound:

Men’s Health talks about functionality yet fills their pages with articles and ads about how to get bigger “guns”, etc.. Women’s magazines do the opposite and needlessly worry women that their arms or legs might become too muscular if they use too much weight. The song there is all about toning and losing the fat.

Would not a better question be:

How can I get to my ideal weight based upon the things I love to do most?

Why? Because the Next Question is the One Question Worth Answering:

What do you LOVE to do?
or asked another way how do you like to play?
What are the demands of these activities that you love? Can you analyze the requirements:
- Skills
- Movements
Are there examples of individuals who practice these things at an exceptional level? What do they do?

Could you devise a systematic approach to training and improving your experience of those activities?

You get the point?

The further you pursue these questions the more detail you get.

Examples:

What to eat to fulfill the calorie requirements of your training and activities?

What kind of capacity you might have to build so you can move and function optimally?

But to review:

All of this is derived from the answer to the question:

- What activity/sport do you love? How do I train/play it?

Unfortunately, you will be sad to learn that none of this is easy nor will 9 mins. a day get you what you want nor should it. There are no blue or red pills and even with liposuction, tummy tying and all the performance enhancing drugs in the universe you will still have to find the answers to the original question and figure out how to train for it.

This is in essence what is missing from 99% of these fitness discussions online: – Where’s the biomechanics? the physics, the chemistry of it all?

You need to know this stuff on a basic level. It’s a part of you. It will improve your performance and reduce your risk of injuries. So, here’s a quick list stuff to look up and understand better

- Dynamic Warm Up
- Mobility
- Core/Pillar/Torso Strength
- Quickness
- Balance
- Strength
- Power
- Speed/Agility/Coordination

You should be familiar with these terms and understand how your body uses these systems so you can create a methodology for yourself that will systematically and progressively get your body to adapt and develop the ideal amount of muscle and fat for you to sustain your training and the activities/sport you love.

Am I making sense here?

You learn how to read, write, add, subtract, multiply, shouldn’t you learn how your body works and how to use it optimally to do the things you love most?

Isn’t this process the heart of fitness?

Call me a nut. But my search is to find the perfect balance of these four elements:

- Training
- Eating
- Resting
- Playing

While at the same time enjoying my life, my family and finding some meaning to why I’m here. For me this is basic. critical and important. it connects me the physical laws of the universe and every thing around me inthe most profound way. There are times when I can balance these four elements well and I feel a sense of “flow” like I’ve reach my fullest potential. Then it fades and this all starts up again.

so, my advice:

Answer the first question.

What bring you the most joy and positive experiences, physically?

Train, eat, rest and play. Repeat this. everyday

The rest will follow including the ideal body weight.

Tomas Anthony
founder
everyday athlete®

http://www.everydayathlete.com

Posted in why fitness-play matters to you | 3 Comments » |

what are your favorite things to do?

by tomas on January 15th, 2010

Ski or snowboard?
tennis?
rock climb?
skateboard?
surfing?
Dance?

What keeps you motivated, fit and trim?
Here’s a few clients doing what they love most:

carveboardwavesequence1

Tomas in Cali

Tom Indy

Tom E. at Stowe

30_december_2007_mike033-104

Trevor K., Whistler, BC

JK6M2373-3

George D. Whistler, BC

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Over 50% of married women in the US want a thinner husband

by tomas on January 15th, 2010

Over 50% of Wives/Partners/Girlfriends report that they want their “husbands” to lose weight.  It’s more likely that they really want is for them to be in better shape and lose that belly.  (comments anyone?)

Tara Parker-Pope writes in her Well blog on the NY Times that:

“Just over half of married women in the United States want a thinner husband…”

In my experience, married women want their husbands to be in better shape. It’s not simply about body weight but rather more specific:

- a bulging stomach, no butt and flabby muscles is simply unattractive to women.

So Dads & Married Men. Here’s my advice: Have fun and figure out how to lose that belly. Make sure that whatever you chose you don’t over do it at first. Injuries lead to more fat accumulation. Being out of shape is not helping you or most likely your sex life.
PS. Single Males and Hipsters
- that bulging mass is not helping you out man. using your body to make a statement about how you don’t buy in to the “mass marketing of fitness” while admirably is simply foolish. Go climb some rocks, skateboard, or take a survival course but whatever you do: Lose the gut.

Posted in why fitness-play matters to you | 2 Comments » |

what’s it going to take to get you moving?

by tomas on January 13th, 2010

so, what’s it going to take to get you moving?
- high cholesterol – cardiovascular weakness- out of control and stressful life – 20- 30 extra pounds – bad knees – injured back
- pain and discomfort everywhere – depression?

Do things have to be really bad before you do something about it?

Perhaps it’s part of our hunter – gather genetic programming to “settle down” and put on the fat while the eating good. But I doubt it. Predominantly, the “wait in see” crowd are men. The same individuals who are going to die younger and are at higher risk for every major killer.

For those mathematicians, I’ve looked at the cost savings on investing in your health and come up with the following simple formula:

For every $1,000 invested wisely* in your health and fitness today you save $10,000 in potential health care costs later in life.

Ratio of 1 : 10 (this is a very conservative estimate and doesn’t take into account “quality of life” improvements)

Examply: Open heart surgery or cancer treatment can costs upwards of $250,000.00 to treat. Moreover most health insurance companies won’t pay for your “special” treatments by the time you suffer from one of these illnesses the way things are going.

* wise fitness choices: I believe that fitness is quantifiable and that there are specific and measurable results that any program should produce. Most importantly, fitness should help you realize: – a reduction in body fat and body mass, help prevent serious injuries and NOT provoke significant or repetitive stress injuries; improvements in: – cardiovascular function – static and dynamic posture and movement – and should help you modulate your mood and enhance your experiences by improving your ability to enjoy the things you love and encourage you to Play more.

So, what did it take to get you moving?

or are you still waiting?

I’m interested in hearing from you?

Posted in why fitness-play matters to you | 1 Comment » |

Would you like to have an influence on how you die?

by tomas on December 24th, 2009

We do not choose when we live but we can decide what we do with the time we have.we all would like to live a full, healthy and less stressful life. I believe that: the choice is yours. There is ample data supporting the idea that we can have a profound influence on not only the quality of our life but ultimately how we die.
I begin with a recent excerpt from the NY Times Well blog by Tara Parker-Pope, and written by Gretchen Reynolds, published an article titled: Can Touching Your Toes Test Your Arteries? The article suggests that there is “a relationship” between our arterial flexibility and how flexible we are in our lower back, hamstring and calf muscles. Unfortunately, the test used in this study is not something you should try at home as it can be unhealthy, even dangerous for your back. (I wish the researcher had designed a better experiment and I question the value of his conclusions and ideas based upon his methodology and thus unfortunately his hypothesis seems very flawed.)

That said there’s an important take away that I think was missed in this: we all have a lot more control over how we influence the quality and length of our demise. In essence: We can choose how we die. While it’s true that we could be killed, injured or be the victim of random violence or disease, there’s less likelihood of this than us simply growing old and dying. Here are ways that each of us will probably go (data is from the CDC website)

Leading Causes of Death
(Data are for the U.S.)

Number of deaths for leading causes of death
- Heart disease: 631,636
- Cancer: 559,888
- Stroke (cerebrovascular diseases): 137,119
- Chronic lower respiratory diseases: 124,583
- Accidents (unintentional injuries): 121,599
- Diabetes: 72,449
- Alzheimer’s disease: 72,432
- Influenza and Pneumonia: 56,326
- Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome, and nephrosis: 45,344
- Septicemia: 34,234

what should be clear is here is that there is that 6 of the top 10 causes of death are directly effected by how well we take care of our physical and mental health throughout our lives. In addition, over 80% of the leading causes of death are conditions that most cases are directly effected by changes in lifestyle and exercise.

More importantly: if you want the quality of your experience to improve every day, no matter how long you live, if you did nothing else but improved your physical health you’d feel and live better. If you get stuck on the “how” to do this then stick around and ask questions. This is the purpose of this website and blog.

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what will it take?

by tomas on December 2nd, 2009

I got a call tonight. it got me thinking about my life and the choices I’ve made. some of us think that life happens to us that we are mere actors, scripted, and doomed. I feel differently but perhaps that’s because I feel like I’ve been given a second chance when none was supposed to come my way.

what will it take for you to realize that life doesn’t offer many second chances?
why would you waste any more time being miserable in a mindlessly job or routine?
how bad does it have to get for you to create a real life for yourself?

Survival is easy.
Purpose filled, meaningful life, hard.

but worth every minute.

I believe that moving is essential to finding out who you are and how to make yourself happy. we are all different but how we create a significant life starts with movement.

however, it’s hard to move if you’re weighted down by your past mistakes as your body literally carries them with you. every day. so, it’s time to let them go.

So, delete them. throw them out. Do whatever it takes to erase the past. forever. what you did before doesn’t matter. if you feel compelled to reconcile what happened in your past then write letters to all those people who have helped you. thank them. call them. go and see them.

Forget forgiveness right now. forgive yourself first. Exception: if you’ve done something terrible. then I’m sorry, but only a lifetime of hard work will help you and those you have hurt, feel better. start now. the faster you get going the better you will feel.

unemployed or underemployed?
if you are unemployed or underemployed, then there’s no better time to change. Lose everything: all the weight you ever wanted to lose literally and figuratively. I mean everything. all the needless crap that piles up in our lives and on our bodies. Beware: don’t fall victim to drugs, alcohol or worse. look no further than your tv to see what happens when a life implodes (A&E’s Intervention).

there are people and there are tools out there to help you:
- ebay
- craigslist
- AA
- others

Keep moving. Move to another land. surround yourself with good people. stay away from the bad ones. but whatever you do;

don’t stand still.

Posted in why fitness-play matters to you | 1 Comment » |

if movement is primal, is it “spiritual”?

by tomas on November 24th, 2009

I’ve got a nagging question that’s been bothering me ever since I first read Bruce Chatwin’s In Patagonia and Songlines, but more recently too.

If you accept that movement is an essential experience and a significant part of being human, then is movement, when practiced in a mindful, focused way, a “spiritual” practice?

I’m sure many Yogi’s out there would shout out : Yes! and just as many surfers would probably join them. However, if a group of rugby or soccer players also shouted Yea, how many of us would accept this?

In modern life, there’s been a healthy re-interpretation what defines, spiritual practice?

Do we have the room for this kind of interpretation?

I hope so. Don’t get me wrong, as I not completely against organized religions but rather looking for a more inclusive definition of spirituality. I believe that we all need to find meaning for our own existence, a connection to the natural world and to each other. I also think that this journey is filled with trials, mistakes and there’s no “quick absolution” for us.

Perhaps this is why, organized and group rituals like dancing and sports sometimes feel more like purging ceremonies than competitive events or performances. Their purpose being a means to create significant change both personally and socially for the members of the group.

Outside of large group dynamics, I think of people like Yvon Chouinard, the founder of Patagonia, who seems to have discovered a way of experiencing reality in the moment we he’s climbing or surfing as someone like Eckard Tolle, or the Dalai Lama. Yet in his case, he wasn’t really looking for it.

- It makes me wonder, at what point in our past did we lose track of how movement, not simply reflection, is primary to feeling connected to energy of experience? My hypothesis is that we evolved in such as way that imprinted movement both socially and genetically into our species. Denying this link is simply like trying to see in the dark. We might find things but not after a lot of unnecessary bruising and getting lost.

So what kind of movements have the most profound impact on how we perceive ourselves, who we are and what we believe?

Science is tantalizingly close to answering this but I’m not waiting for all the research to come in. I feel like it’s my search to discover some of the answers.

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anxiety, training and play

by tomas on November 19th, 2009

I recently read a New York Times report on (Phys Ed: Why Exercise Makes You Less Anxious By GRETCHEN REYNOLDS). While interesting, the article supports what has already been studied elsewhere in other areas including Positive Psychology or the study of Flow. We are just beginning to understand the relationship between physical health and emotional well-being in many respects. So, while I understand the need for simplification in studies to produce solid data and exploring new areas of science, I am convinced that it is essential for you and I proactively try to do our own “hypothetical research” in order to find what makes us less stressed out and anxious. Specifically, I’m interested in ways to design and implement creative solutions for reducing and controlling the inevitable anxiety and stress we encounter in life. Moreover, I would go one step further and suggest that you look to other areas of scientific study specifically the areas of:

- Positive Psychology; the study of optimal experience / flow
- Expert Performance
- Intelligent Training (i.e. functional training: training focused on improving how you move.)
- Play

Optimal Experience
In the early 1990’s, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, released a book titled Flow based upon his studies of over two decades. In this profound and thoughtful work, the ideas and basis for much of what will become the positive psychology field are revealed and examined. And even though many other popular titles have since been made available, I believe that Flow is still the most revolutionary and provocative. Perhaps the most important questions that this book discusses is: “What are the inner experiences that make life worthwhile?”

Since then you can find numerous titles that share more specific insights and methods to create the proper environment in your life for optimal experience to thrive. One such title is: The How of Happiness by Sonja Lyubomirsky. Starting on page 244., she describes in great detail how to take care of your body and why physical activity makes people happier. In the one of the most revealing and important parts to this chapter she describes how each person must customize and select what makes them feel best. Simply running or engaging in aerobic exercise for some is not enough. In fact some people feel worse doing this.

The implications for this are profoundly more important than suggested here. While it’s great to find scientists suggesting we all should exercise more to improve our happiness, what they seem to fail at is taking it to the next level.
Positive Psychologist and other scientists should leave the “how to exercise” in the hands of people who know how to help people functioning optimally and ultimately with you. What is right for you based upon what brings a sense of play, joy and challenge may be significantly different from others. Moreover, research has shown that generic exercise prescription is less effective than customized and personalized programming. Specifically, any exercise prescription needs to address variations from individual to individual in all both aerobic vs anaerobic systems as well as kinesthetic skills (I include proprioception in my definition of kinesthesia here for a more detailed debate about the differences between these two terms look here: Proprioception vs. kinesthesia.

What should be apparent is that simply moving more but not in a thoughtful or intelligent way is not ideal. Given the demands of modern life and the complex decisions you are asked to make every day, you need better information and advice on how to move better that is connected to who you are, what you love and ultimately gives you the best that science can offer. If I had an objective for this blog I can honestly say it would be fulfill this mission for you:
to be your source for information on fitness, play and improving your experiences using the best science available.

A short note on the idea behind this blog
I hope you find the material authentic and transparent in purpose. I am committed to teaching and not simply marketing. I am also very dedicated and passionate and open to new ideas. I continually search for information, ideas and methods enable us to make better decisions and create positive experiences. While I am a firm believer in the idea that you learn more from mistakes, I don’t believe that we all have to make the same ones but rather can learn from others.

This is why I started writing a blog in the first place and my intention is to live up to this ideal:

Posted in how can you thrive?, positive hypotheses, why fitness-play matters to you | 9 Comments » |

“extreme sports”, play and athleticism

by tomas on November 16th, 2009

If you are new to this blog you might think that this blog is about surfing or skateboarding or some other “extreme sport”. It’s not. What it is about is about training to play better. And it just so happens that surfers, snowboarders and skaters (among others) know something about Play and optimal experience that many others don’t. The purpose of this post is to demystify and hopefully inspire you to take a second look a these pursuits no matter how old you may be. You may find that they offer you a unique way to experience the pure joy and playfulness of your youth you never could have imagined.

You have probably thought like many others that Snowboarding, skateboarding and surfing and other alternative ways of having fun are “extreme sports”: Dangerous, for crazy people, or adrenaline junkies.
This could not be farther from the truth. People of all ages and skill levels practice these sports year round and the incidents of serious injuries is lower than most team sports. I would argue that these activities are not really sports at all.

Surfing, for many is considered a more of a religion than sport. Why? Because there’s so much more surfing than simply catching a wave. Many Zen Buddhists are also practicing surfers. Surfing is about being in the moment and connecting to nature. There’s so much more than simply the physical demands.
Using myself as a simple example: I train for it intensely but not for the reasons that you might think. But rather because it allows me to experience more of the ocean, for longer periods of time and insures that I will not run the risk of injuring myself.

For years I played team oriented sports exclusively. This was a mistake. I see a lot of unhappy, ex-football, basketball, soccer and other team sport athletes, who are out of shape and who do not enjoy moving any more. In contrast, most of the “extreme sports” parents continue to work hard to stay connected to their sport and the communities that support these activities. Overall they also seem to be in better shape and just as passionate about their experience of playing these sports.

It is never too late to try.
If you have never had the opportunity to ride on a board down a wave, a mountain, or a skateboard down a sunset stained hill: simply do it. The wave can be tiny, the mountain small and the hill gentle. You will feel deep change inside and hopefully a moment of timeless flow where all of your conscious thoughts are gone and all you feel is the wind, water, snow, air and sun on your face.

Take an interest in learning how to ride a board you will laugh and marvel at how such a simple thing could bring you so much joy.

george jump t-shirt

surfing poster tom e backside

george powder poster

Posted in why fitness-play matters to you | 6 Comments » |

Noah Shimabukuro, fitness for surfers, liquid fitness training

by tomas on November 11th, 2009

Noah Shimabukuro learns his first “Core Exercise” and just how hard it is.

Posted in videos, why fitness-play matters to you | No Comments » |
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