The Metrics of Fitness: What Makes Someone Athletic?
July 20th, 2010
Lately I’ve been thinking about what it takes to be athletic. What are the measurements, skills, and abilities that make someone so? Should you be able to jump high? Run far? Or land a ball on a target from 100 paces?
Even with the help of stodgy dictionary definitions, the question of what makes somebody athletic is a broad one. The interpretations are varied but there are common factors that can generally be agreed upon. This article outlines the research and thought that I’ve put into the subject, and attempts to find an answer that covers all bases. After all, how can you land a ball on a target when you don’t know what the target looks like?
Different Approaches to Building Muscle and Burning Fat
May 31st, 2010
Recently I challenged myself to put on 10 lbs of muscle in 3 months. I managed to do it. Unfortunately, with those 10 lbs came another 8 lbs of fat. When I started burning the fat with aerobic exercise I found my muscle gains eroded too. “I’m taking 2 steps forward and 1 step back,” I thought.
This was a problem that needed mitigation so I did some research on the subject. Here’s what I learned about winning the tug of war between fat and muscle.
Fudge Factor: The Deception of Seeming Fit
May 17th, 2010
When a fitness program/product/book/DVD/diet/etc. claims extraordinary results, it sets off our collective BS detectors. Yet many people eagerly shell out their money anyway. Why?
Purveyors of fitness don’t sell health, they sell hope. They sell the Hail Mary, the chance that a miracle just might happen. These dreams become so much more believable when there’s “evidence” to back them up. Fortunately for the purveyors, the measurement of fitness is a confusing, inaccurate science.
I call the techniques they use the “fudge factor.” They’re technicalities, temporary solutions, visual tricks and mismeasurements used to make someone seem fit, but with no real or lasting effect. Here are some of the grifters’ scams, exposed.
Facial Fatness: Visual Comparisons of Chubby Cheeks and Manorexia
April 26th, 2010
According to World Health Organization specifications, I’ve qualified as both “Overweight” and “Underweight” at different points in my life. Both situations dramatically changed how I looked. This was especially noticeable by my face.
When I really got the hang of losing weight and could do so without much effort, I started noticing the aesthetic downsides of having very low body fat. I couldn’t find any decent comparisons of facial appearance versus body fat percentage, so I decided to swallow my pride and share my experiences on the subject. Here goes, pictures and all.
Pack on the Sexy: Results
March 16th, 2010
A twig of a human nowadays, I decided to beef up quickly, a process known to bodybuilders as “bulking.” I challenged myself to put on 10lbs of muscle in less than three months. I derisively called this challenge “Pack on the Sexy.” Watch the intro video here. These are the results, warts and all.
Becoming Fit and Measuring It
November 16th, 2009
Getting in shape can be a herculean task. Trying to decipher the terminology of fitness is a big part of what makes it so daunting. BMI, BF%, creatine, l-glutamine, l-argine… what do those things even mean? In this article I will tackle the two most often metrics used to gauge fitness: body mass index (BMI), and body fat percentage (BF%). In simple terms, you’ll discover what they mean, and find out why understanding them is so critical to success.
Make Fitness Your Bad Habit
September 28th, 2009
If I’ve learnt one single lesson about fitness it’s that there’s no one single lesson. Getting in shape is about doing a multitude of tiny things that amount to a significant lifestyle change. How many tiny things? Pick a number. I’ll guess 10,000 or so.
Trying to single out the most important of those 10,000 things is a fool’s errand. So I will simply focus on one of my favourites: making fitness addictive. In my experience, doing so has had a significantly positive impact on my exercise routines and made all the other tiny changes a little bit easier.
Walking and Running vs. Everything Else
August 24th, 2009
I’ve had a lot of luck losing weight with running. Many people have. So when people ask my advice on getting fit, naturally I tell them to run. This isn’t always a perfect suggestion. What is good for me might not be good for someone else. So in this article I will be comparing some of the more popular and effective exercises. While you never need to restrict yourself to one exercise it often makes sense to specialize. Each activity is different with its own pros and cons, so you can decide which one is right for you.
Get Better Posture the Hard Way
August 10th, 2009
I tried every trick in the book to improve my posture. None worked. So I asked my doctor why I’ve had such a hard time straightening up.
“Because you’re lazy”, he answered matter-of-factly.
I was expecting a more textbook response. Nevertheless, he was right. If getting good posture was easy, everyone would do it. The truth is it requires hard work and a significant, long-term change in your physiology, surroundings, and mentality. When you’ve let your posture go, correcting it isn’t a weekend project. However, it is a relatively straightforward process if you dedicate yourself and take a few simple steps.
Build Muscle the Hard Way
May 13th, 2009
If you’re interested in putting on a bit of muscle, accept this fact before you do anything else: Building muscle is hard. If it was easy, everyone would do it. Part of what makes it so exceptionally difficult is that it requires knowledge as well as training. Working out is straightforward. Knowing which exercises to use, nutrients and supplements to take, and what order to do so is the complex part. As a result, when you ask three bodybuilders for advice you’ll get five different opinions. Distilling these opinions to their proven base truths, this article shows how to work smart, so you can focus on working hard. Yes, sorry, you need to do both.
