Friday Reading Report: Intangibles

It has been a while since I read a book that was even tangentially fitness-related.  But at last, the incomparable Joan Ryan has a newish book out, Intangibles:  Unlocking the Science and Soul of Team Chemistry. 

 

I have been reading and enjoying Ryan’s work from the time she used to write for the San Francisco Chronicle sports page.  Her book Little Girls in Pretty Boxes about the participants in women’s gymnastics and figure skating sounded an early (ignored) alarm about the abuses that those athletes were subject to in pursuit of some societal ideal of what gymnasts and figure skaters should be.  Her other books are also entirely worth reading for the grace of her prose and the depth of her insight and knowledge.  So now you know:  I’m a fan.

 

All the things I like about her work are present in this current book.  She brings her inquisitive mind and deep experience to bear on what team chemistry is (or isn’t).  She does not shy away from the people who flat out deny that it exists.  It is a useful reminder to all the data nuts out there that just because something can’t be quantified does not mean that it doesn’t exist.

 

Defining team chemistry turns out to be a difficult question in and of itself.  She writes, “I had experienced it myself in my first job out of college, in the Orlando Sentinel’s sports department.  We were a tight-knit staff of a few rookies like me and a slate of veterans who deleted our adverbs and introduced us to scotch.” (p. 7)  Ultimately, she ends up defining it as a complex of factors that improve performance.

 

She does research with psychiatrists and coaches and members of teams that had notoriously good chemistry.  She develops a series of archetypes that teams need to have good chemistry.  It’s all useful and fascinating, full of great stories and memorable characters.

 

My caveat:  the book has a bit of an identity problem.  It’s mostly a sports book, but it is also trying to be a business book.  From time to time, Ryan tries to make the point that business teams need the same kind of performance-enhancing chemistry as well.  Maybe so.  Managers have been using sports analogies roughly forever, so a more direct application of sports science might make sense.  Also, professional sports are, in fact, businesses.

 

I’m still a fan.  I hope lots of people go out and buy her book because more people need a little Joan Ryan in their lives.  She tells a great story and she finds great stories to tell.

My Resolutions

My resolutions?  Sure, I’ll share:

 

1.     Eat healthy food.  For me, this means that I need to wave goodbye (again) (for good, I hope) to sugar and dairy.  Those two things make my body unhappy.  I’ll be drinking water, eating veggies, and indulging in sushi.

2.     Move.  I feel best when I work out enough, but not too much.  I need to do cardio and yoga pretty much every day.  I feel best when I lift weights once or twice a week and do a few Pilates sessions.  I get bonus points when my cardio is outside (hiking, biking, swimming).

3.     Relax.  When I relax, I don’t eat as much.  I don’t hurt as much.  I am nicer.

4.     Play.  Sure, I’m a grownup.  That doesn’t mean I can’t have fun.  I learn best through playing around, so bring on the experiments, the silly jokes, and the goofy ideas.

 

What are yours? 

Resolution Radio

We are coming up on Resolution season.  There is probably a rule somewhere that says I should love resolutions.  The Personal Training Police may come find me and haul me away if I don’t or something.

 

I do love resolutions, just not so much the kind that we automatically make for the new year.  I believe we can start fresh every single day.  There is nothing magic about January 1, or Monday, or a birthday that ends with a zero.

 

However, if we are going to make some resolutions, I have some suggestions.

 

First, be realistic.  Sure, we’re dreaming about how fabulous we are all going to be in 2021, but nothing is as discouraging as finding out that we really are not going to manage to fly, jump start our modeling career, make a gazillion bucks in two weeks, and lose 582 pounds by January 2.  A realistic weight loss goal for most people works out to a pound or two a week.  A realistic cardio goal, starting from the couch, is to work up to 30 minutes five days a week.  A realistic weight training goal is to do one session a week for a few months and then work up to two or three.

 

Second, be consistent.  We can’t do our entire fitness goal on the first day.  (This is unfortunate, but complaining about it does not help—I’ve tried.)  My examples of realistic goals above are all about consistency—doing something every week, every day.

 

Third, get help.  We are not going to lose weight if our dear partner bakes us delicious cookies every day, no matter how much we love both our partner and the cookies.  We need to enlist our family and friends to help us with our goals.  Some of them may not want to find another way to show their love other than cookies, which is educational, sad, frustrating, and, eventually, empowering.  We are, in fact, more powerful than cookies, but we might need to recruit some non-cookie members for our team.  Our families and friends can help us make good choices, can work out with us, can hold us accountable.  Note:  it is absolutely not fair to get mad at your accountability buddy for asking, very nicely, if you are sure that you really want to eat that third chocolate bar.  Our teams can be larger than our circle of friends and family.  We can get help from trainers, doctors, dieticians, nutritionists, and other health professionals.

 

Fourth, be kind.  Change is hard.  We are sometimes going to blow it.  When that happens, we do not need to be scolded.  We need to be encouraged and helped.

 

We can make 2021 awesome.

Getting Used to It

As I often do, I have two opposing thoughts in my mind at once.  And, as usual, I like them both.  We live in a nuanced, paradoxical world, so maybe we should get used to it?

 

Thought one:  it doesn’t matter how we’re feeling; we need to do the work.  This is the being a grownup part, where maybe we would rather lie in bed all day and figure out what that shape in the plaster really reminds us of, but instead we get up and work out because it is the right thing to do, it’s in line with our goals, and it will actually make us feel better.  The spin bike does not care if we are grumpy.  The weights do not get offended if we snarl at them.  When we work out in spite of our own resistance, we build grit and character as well as muscle.

 

Thought two:  it matters a lot how we approach what we do and how we feel about it.  I know and love a lot of folks who are in a bit of a freak-out about their pandemic bodies.  Freaking out does not burn calories.  It doesn’t help.  It leads us into a shame and self-hatred cycle.  If that kind of negativity worked, we would all be extra double thin.  We need to treat ourselves with love, approach our workouts in a spirit of calm, and allow ourselves to grow patiently, as if we were our own beloved child.

 

How do I resolve this?  I don’t.  I do both.  There are plenty of days when I do let the weights or the spin bike absorb my anger and bad moods.  I do, however, even in my worst moods, remember that I’m working out because it is good for me, because I will feel happier and be stronger for it, because I would encourage my bestie to do the same.

 

We don’t work out just to work out; we do it to feel good in the largest possible sense.  So take a deep breath and go play.

Monday Workout: Round!

We’re rounding out the year with a well-rounded workout!  It has cardio stuff, upper body stuff, lower body stuff, core stuff!   We do compound exercises!  We get sweaty!  Do three rounds, modifying as needed for YOUR body.

 

plyo/reg/mod jacks	30
bench press	20
reverse flies	10
woodchoppers	30
lunge to curl	20
lateral raise	10
suitcase swings	30
squats	20
pretty princesses	10

Basics to go with minimums

When we want to set minimums for ourselves (like I’ve been writing about this week), we can consider setting them in these basic areas:

 

1.     Cardio.  This is anything that gets the heart moving and the breathing heavy.  Walk, ski, skate, swim, run, dance, bike, whatever blows your metaphorical skirt up.

2.     Strength.  This is the stuff that builds muscle.  Typically, it involves lifting weights, but we can get a perfectly good workout using just our bodies—looking at you, squats and pushups!

3.     Core and balance.  This work helps keep us safe.  A strong core leads to good posture.  Good balance helps us avoid falls.  Both together contribute to our coordination.

4.     Flexibility.  Stretching, yoga, and Pilates help us maintain and extend our range of motion.  We decrease our likelihood of injury when we work on our flexibility.  And it feels good!

 

Go play.

Not even muscular Christianity

I’m pretty sure that St. Paul was not a personal trainer or even a fitness enthusiast, but he sums up the problem of all of us who want to be more fit and struggle in his letter to the Romans (chapter 7, verse 19, for those who want to look it up):  “For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing.”

 

I do not at all even a little bit endorse the idea of working out as virtue and not working out as sin.  Food is not a vice, but rather a necessity for life.  But we all know that there are times when we really should work out, not just to be healthier, but to feel better.  And we know we should choose foods that are better for us.  And somehow we don’t.

 

What to do?

 

One thing we can do is make it easy on ourselves.  We just do the minimum.  So, for example, I know that I get grumpy if I don’t do my cardio.  I tell myself that the goal is 30 minutes on the spin bike.  I don’t have to pedal fast.  I don’t have to pedal hard.  I just have to put my butt on the bike and move.  Almost always I do end up pedaling fast and hard.  I get to the end of my half hour and I’m sweaty and breathless and I feel so much happier.   But if I tell myself I need to go fast and hard, I won’t do it.  It sounds too difficult, when I’m tired and comfy and I’d really rather read some more or look at dog videos on Facebook.  I have to make it easy.

 

Minimums work for all kinds of things.  We can say that we have to eat at least one vegetable at some point during the day.  We can promise ourselves one set of squats, or one stretch.  We can commit to balancing on one foot while we brush our teeth to work on our core and balance.  We can even say that we have to go outside once a day.

 

If we just do our minimum, great!  Gold stars for us!  And if our problem was just getting started, we might find that we do more than the minimum, which is extra bonus points.  Beware, however, the fake minimum.  We have to mean it when we say that our minimum is enough.  We can’t say we’re cool with one stretch and then beat ourselves up for not doing a whole yoga session.

 

Count the small victories.  They add up.