Friday Book Report: Lowly Origin

Jonathan Kingdon’s book Lowly Origin traces the evolution of humans.  He contends that what used to be perceived as a linear process is actually more of a family bush with many branches, some leading to extinction rather than to our present existence.  It is an interesting story, framed within an ecological and social context around the question of what brought us to stand up.

Two concepts that are teased out in the text seem particularly relevant to our current fitness situation (note:  I am using the word in the usual context for this blog, not in the evolutionary sense).  One is that our major heritage, as animals, is as opportunists and niche-swipers.  We are not specialized, particularly, in our bodies, but in our minds, where we recognize and exploit resources first discovered by other animals.  This makes us almost endlessly adaptable, which is great; we can learn to cope with many different challenges.  It also means that we have to be mindful of the consequences of our choices and their impact on other creatures, both human and otherwise.  Fitness is about living into our potential.

The second concept arises from the first.  Our experience of the world, given our relatively unspecialized forms, is mediated through technology.  For early humans, this meant that we used tools to make food accessible to us (stones, sticks, knives, fire).  This habit of being has percolated well beyond the survival level.  Perhaps it is not surprising that we have become smart phone addicts given that we evolved in concert with technology.  Again, this evolutionary habit provides us tremendous opportunity for growth and encloses within it a dangerous potential for abuse via disconnect from the rest of the world.

In our current climate, I can wholeheartedly say that it is a pleasure to read about real research and thoughtful theorizing.  If nothing else, this book is good for our scientific fitness as we work to survive the very concept of alternative facts.

More writing it down...

There is a theme to the week.  This notebook is my current journal.  Writing has useful fitness applications, believe it or not, and so wins points with me for efficient use of time.

There have been studies that indicate that journaling reduces stress.  Gratitude journals in particular seem to have beneficial effects.  It may be that journaling is meditative, or that the reflective process of writing increases the brain version of proprioception, or that creativity taps into different circuits than we use regularly.

Whatever the reason or mechanism, journaling provides one more tool for our wellness kit.

Write down more!

This clipboard is a tool familiar to my clients.  This is where I keep track of workouts.  For clients, it gives me a place to write down record-breaking lifts or thoughts for the next workout or exercises that would be good to add to the repertoire.

When I use the clipboard on myself, I use it a little differently because I make myself work out with myself more than once or twice a week.  This is where I write down my goals for the week and where I track what actually happened.  The point is, I keep a record.  I know that Thursdays are the hardest days to work out.  I know I tend to shirk the mat exercises when I do Pilates (so you notice that all the exercises on my Pilates list for the week are mat exercises this time out; I am sneaky like that.).

Set some goals.  Track what happens.  Learn stuff.  Do it again.

Write it down...

Like everyone else, I would like to eat better, exercise more, weigh less, and look cuter.  Most of all, I want to feel good.  Because I am lazy, I love finding ways to accomplish lots of things at once, so this post makes me happy.

The picture is a notebook and pens.  They may be my best weapon for accomplishing my goals around eating.  Numerous studies suggest that writing down what we eat significantly impacts what we put in our mouths.  For one thing, we don’t really want to write down that we ate an entire carton of ice cream, so we might stop at a bite or two, or skip it entirely.  For another, it makes us conscious of the fact that we ate more bread or fewer vegetables than we thought.  It forces mindfulness.

Beyond that, keeping track of what we eat, how much, when, and how we feel supplies us with useful data.  If it turns out that we feel terrible every time we eat eggs and we had not yet made the connection, we can then adjust our intake.  Or we might learn that the days we skip our afternoon snack are the days we Must Have Chocolate in the middle of the night.  We can see the patterns.

As much as I like notebooks and pens and writing, I really really hate writing down what I eat.  It is a challenge not to write down “annoyed” for how I feel every time.  That is why I have added this post.  I have now told anyone reading this that I am going to do it, so it’s out there, in the world.  Ask me to show you!  Hold me accountable!  It is another way to make the practice more effective.  (And, of course, I am happy to hold you accountable, too.)

Let’s do this.

Monday Workout: That Looks Familiar...

Normally I make a new workout for each week.  It helps with boredom, both of the body and the mind.  Last week, I spent the whole week sick, so I didn’t get to try this one out.  If anyone else did, great!  You already know what to do!  If not, here’s our chance!

1 min cardio
back lunge with foot on bench	20
suitcase swing	20
pushups	10
plyojacks or crunch jacks	20
side plank with arm raise	10/side
pretty princesses	10

Monday Workout: with a new exercise in it!

Back to reality!  I have a cold, so I am not actually testing this one today.  I’m sure it will be fun by tomorrow or Wednesday.  (Which reminds me:  resting is allowed when we are sick.  Do only as much as creates energy and health, not more.  No one is helped when we hack and cough and suffer and drip all over everything.)  Anyway, by now you can guess that there are four rounds since there are six exercises. 

The new exercise in the bunch is the suitcase swing.  Stand tall with a pair of dumbbells at your sides.  Squat as usual, but instead of letting the dumbbells hang, keep them in line with your torso (like a backswing).  As you come out of the squat, swing your arms overhead.  Make sure to maintain lovely posture and engaged abdominals throughout.

1 min cardio
back lunge with foot on bench	10/side
suitcase swing	20
pushups	10
plyojacks or crunch jacks	20
side plank with arm raise	10/side
pretty princesses	10

This is a tiki for no reason

I didn’t blog yesterday because vacation and because I spent the day snorkeling at Molokini crater.  Just because I am on vacation doesn’t mean I am not thinking about fitness, however.

Snorkeling, as demonstrated by one of the lovely crew members of the snorkeling boat yesterday, is not a labor-intensive sport.  Pretty much we lie face down in the water staring at fish and flapping our arms and legs a bit when we want to move from place to place to see other fish.  The fitness component comes at a different point in the experience.

The particular boat we took was a catamaran that pulled up to the beach.  No easy walk down the gangplank.  Getting on and off required wading through waves.  While the crew helped out, a certain basic stability was required. 

We may not need to be strong to do the things we really want to do.  But we may very much need to be strong to get to the point where we can even try to do those things.  I saw beautiful fish and floated in clear water and tasted salt and got a little sunburned yesterday because I could get on and off the boat.  I know people who can’t do that.  Let’s stay strong so we can be amazed by life.