I've seen a lot in the last 10 years as a personal trainer, an
exercise science scholar and a professional athlete, from the money-back-guarantee
fitness regimes through to the miracle cure nutritional methods. I will be the
first to put my hand up and say that I have been guilty of dabbling in some of
these abhorrent practices (50% out of curiosity; 50% in responding to my human instinct
for a ‘quick fix’) with a mixture of results. The purpose of the topic of this week’s
blog is to make apparent the spins and roundabouts humanity constantly
encounter when it comes to bettering our quality of life.
That’s progress.
Human technology has been progressing exponentially ever since
the industrial revolution. We have seen advances
in pharmaceuticals, medicinal practises, and proliferation of food stocks
through improved farming practices, computer technologies and much much
more. Some of these advances can be
attributed to the overall greater good of humanity when it comes to increasing
life expectancy, advancement in surgery techniques and technologies and many
other progressions seen in medicine. However we seem to be a product of our own
magnificence and have lost the very way it is to be human.
The ever increasing influence of economics in our health
industry has clouded the way we are supposed to be eating, training and
supplementing when it comes to optimising our fitness and overall health
benefits. The overwhelming evidence of obesity and metabolic related diseases
is rife in our modern society; in Australia alone 65% of all adults and 54% of
all children are experiencing theses diseases at this very moment. It evident
now that antibiotics (the very foundation of the way humans fight infection and
arguably the most significant health related discovery of our generation) is
now at threat of becoming null in void due to the constant over prescription in
the last 20-30 years.
Previously mentioned, economics is a huge motivator when it
comes to the education we receive, because when there is money to be made
certain persuasions are enforced which influence popular opinion, and not
always for the better. Enter the low fat
high sugar era and the obsession with the reduction of cholesterol for heart
related illnesses; we will touch on this later.
If there is such a thing as being a result of ‘over-enhancement’
you will see it in our fitness industry where endurance based exercise is still
the basis of 70-80% of all methods when combating overweight and obesity
issues. It is apparent in the way we dress, modern footwear, complete with high
cushioning soles designed for peak performance seen in modern day runners, have
been attributed to weakening our feet and therefore increasing risks of
injuries from ankles, knee, hips and feet themselves.
So where does that leave us? I believe the best way to go
forward is to go back to where we came from and look at the way we were intended
to eat, move and function. However I don’t say this with complete disregard of
modern medicinal innovation, I am advocating a combination of both minimalistic
views and contemporary progression.
In regards to nutrition we (humans) have developed over
thousands of years on a diet of good wholesome organically grown, unprocessed,
unmanufactured food, ‘caveman’ eating so to speak. However I do not agree entirely with the
concept of going caveman as our ancestors didn’t necessarily achieve all of the
important nutritional requirements that we have identified today, due to inaccessibility
for geographical reasons. So I prefer the notion that if it doesn’t rot, don’t
eat it. With this concept green
cruciferous vegetables, organically fed and grown protein sources (different
meats, fish, steak, chicken, turkey etc) coupled with dark berries are the
mainstays of optimal nutritional integrity for all human functions. There is
more to this nutrition saga then simply that but that goes a long way to
explaining the essentials (I will explain this in later blogs).
Now for exercise, the advancement of ergonomic technologies has
made us more and more inactive, increasing the sedentary lifestyle of the male
and female. Coupled with this, the indoctrination of aerobic activity as the
only way to combat fat loss also plays a major contributing factor to the
obesity epidemic.
Functional strength training, NOT long aerobic activity, is
the key to increased physical enhancement. The perception of muscle clad body
builders as the only people who participate in such training is completely
false and borderline unintelligible. To achieve what most competition body
builders achieve takes a lifetime of training whilst using all of the tricks
and techniques of the trade from anabolic illegal aids to various training
methods (if doing a couple of weights
workouts increased muscle that proficiently we would all be Adonis’s). Moving on, the involvement of multi joint
exercises invoke imperative hormonal responses essential in adding muscle mass
which alternatively decrease fat mass, increases strength, metabolism and
numerous other benefits essential in regaining the way man and women are
supposed to move pre industrial revolution.
Major footwear companies are even adapting minimalistic
footwear with the introduction of individual nodes employed on the soles of
shoes mimicking the bare feet movement without actually being barefoot and
exposing feet to the outside dangers in the environment. Nike have the ‘frees’ range, new balance have
their versions, as do asics etc. Reebok
flex is a brand I am familiar with which also employs this technology to which
I can personally endorse from my own experience with them.
So its spins and roundabouts just like retro furniture; it has
taken 200 years of modern advancement to go back to what we have done for a
thousand of years prior. This seems to be the way humanity progresses and
hopefully it doesn’t take 200 years to reverse the errors we are currently
seeing now and we can find a harmonious balance between technology and minimalist
to further enhance the potential of what is the most amazing biological
advancement of all… ‘Human kind.’
