Fuck The Gym
"May your choices reflect your hopes, not your fears.” - Nelson Mandela
As far as I’m concerned the gym is the gold standard with respect to making improvements in your health, performance and aesthetics. I love helping people to use it more effectively and get more out of their bodies than they ever thought possible. But if you are someone who walks into a gym and is like “Fuck this place I’d way rather be playing pickle ball with my friends!”, then go do that. There’s good research to support that getting a sufficient quantity of exercise is far more important than the type of exercise you choose to do. One notable caveat is that we are talking about improvements in general health and wellness here. Think cardiovascular, respiratory and immune health. Upgrades in specific performance outcomes like strength, speed, power and building muscle will likely require a more targeted approach. So the more specific your goals are, the more important specific training modalities become. Fortunately high levels of performance are not a prerequisite to health and wellness. Many roads can lead to a healthy body.
So what exactly is a sufficient quantity of exercise?
Excellent question! The “Physical Activity Guidelines” as laid out by the major health organizations generally settle in on the following: 150-300 minutes of moderate to vigorous aerobic activity per week (make the heart beat faster than usual) and 2-3 full body strength sessions per week (make the muscles work harder than usual). While these guidelines are geared towards helping people make Improvements in health, I have seen plenty of people make excellent improvements in performance and aesthetics as well when they work in the upper limits of these recommendations. So 300 minutes per week of aerobic activity and 3 strength training sessions. I know that sounds like a substantial time investment, but the return on that investment is solid and has potential to be life changing for both current you and future you.
How many people actually meet these guidelines?
Another excellent question!
25% of U.S. adults 18 and over currently meet the guidelines
17% of U.S. adults 65-69 currently meet the guidelines
7% of U.S. adults 80 and over currently meet the guidelines
I’ll let those numbers speak for themselves but a few questions to consider…Do you think activity recommendations should go up or down as we age? Should the 70 year old you move as much, more or less than the 30 year old you? Is the time of life when your body is evolutionarily designed to become less effective at maintaining muscle, bone and cardiovascular health the time to start doing less activity?
So are you saying “Fuck the Gym!” or “Go to the gym”?
Another zinger! Holy shit you are killing it with these questions. What I’m saying is that you are going to have to find your own way with this fitness thing. Consistency trumps optimal. So while I do think the gym is an amazing place to meet those physical activity guidelines, I also recognize that enjoying your fitness is probably the key to staying consistent over the life course. There are plenty of interesting ways to resist gravity so find yours and get after it. Forever!
