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A rant about fitness
Oct. 27th, 2013 10:31 amI love the physical things that I do. Physical movement, physical development and progress, these bring me a lot of joy. I love getting more flexible or more strong; I love gaining a new skill or just learning more about the human body. There's immense joy in being able to do something I once couldn't do, joy in making a motion that feels just right, joy in using capabilities that were hard-won and in pushing the limits a bit at the end of a workout (one... more... set). I feel better all day when I exercise.
There are LOTS of reasons to eat well and exercise: for well being, for self-esteem, for better brain function, to stay functional as you age, for one more realm in which to acquire skill and feel visceral joy.
And still, I wonder sometimes why anyone new would ever join a gym or start a workout program. WAY too much of the mainstream message about fitness is fucked up. It focuses on appearance mostly: do this, look better (often true enough, but it takes months for that to happen). When it's not directly about appearance it's about losing weight (stupid, stupid, muscle weighs more than fat), and when it's neither of those things it focuses on the badassery of training dangerously, unthinkingly hard. It's nasty. If I didn't already work out, I would think I had a choice between spending many tens of hours for shallow reasons or doing it because I was a self-destructive maniac who was into manaical self-destruction and did not want help.
The above situation leads to backlash posts like this:
http://reembody.me/2013/09/10/the-6-most-shockingly-irresponsible-fitspiration-photos/
Which show pictures like this:
and comment, correctly, things like: Getting mad at your own limbs sounds less like the behavior of an Olympian and more like the crazy-eyed hobo who lives behind my building’s dumpster.
Also,
(I can’t believe I have to write this next sentence but, here goes: crawling on the floor weeping while you puke all over yourself is not healthy.)
Ha! Sing it, brother! But I have an enormous problem with this article too. In the midst of the hilarity and thoughtful backlash, my least favorite sentence: Skinny women aren't strong. Because seriously? Yes, some of them ARE, goddamnit.
Edited to add: the article linked to has been edited!! It doesn't say that anymore! Now it says "Now, before I get bombarded with angry comments from skinny people, I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with being skinny. I’m also not suggesting that being skinny and strong are mutually exclusive. I’m only pointing out that strength only sells when it’s sexy—and, make no mistake, advertisers want very badly to make you feel like you are currently failing at both." Scoooooooooore. I think he already got bombarded with angry comments. But, since he said it the first time around, my rant now continues:
I'm really tired of being told that thinness and strength are incompatible. I'm tired of hearing that being thin or skinny is "unrealistic" when I'm quite real (and so are many, many other people, some both thinner and stronger than I am). I don't have body image issues, but if I listen too hard to this shit I'll sure start to. And I'm REALLY fucking tired of the whole "real women" thing; you know, real women have curves, why don't they have pictures of real women, etc. News for those who didn't know: models are people too. The images are altered but the women are real, thanks.
And, to some extent, I'm just as tired of the "accept yourself at whatever fitness level" message. I'm not in favor of physical self-neglect, and I am in favor of people fixing things that bother them. If someone has, say, a belly that bothers them a lot (for whatever reason, but let's assume that it is their own reason and not just looking at too many unreal women), it seems quite reasonable to me that they should try to do the work to fix it. Then they get to respect themselves for trying. Maybe the belly changes in a way they like; or maybe it doesn't, but they can honestly say "okay, 15 hours of training a week and this isn't changing after a few months; I can accept now that it is permanent." The above process would give me a deeper sense of acceptance, ultimately (and, in fact, it has, only it's my ass I happen to be talking about and not my belly). But advising this kind of process is considered blasphemy by the body-acceptance crowd.
There's a little bit of sanity out there. You can, for example, read this lovely post by a massage therapist in Portland to regain your sense of appreciation for the human body. And the original Crossfit definition of fitness includes a wide range of desirable factors on page 4 that go well beyond the usual: cardio, stamina, strength, flexibility, power, speed, coordination, agility, balance, accuracy. It's nice to remember how wide the field of "fitness" really is.
And in the words of![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
harm_city_heart,
One of my coworkers commented that the above ties in well with trans ideas of beauty. Yeah, now that I think of it, of course it does. And it should tie in with cis ideas of beauty too, because few things are as beautiful as someone who's living the life they want to live, and enjoys being in their body, and are mostly free from restriction and pain* when doing the things they want to do.
* Kinky things aside, of course.
There are LOTS of reasons to eat well and exercise: for well being, for self-esteem, for better brain function, to stay functional as you age, for one more realm in which to acquire skill and feel visceral joy.
And still, I wonder sometimes why anyone new would ever join a gym or start a workout program. WAY too much of the mainstream message about fitness is fucked up. It focuses on appearance mostly: do this, look better (often true enough, but it takes months for that to happen). When it's not directly about appearance it's about losing weight (stupid, stupid, muscle weighs more than fat), and when it's neither of those things it focuses on the badassery of training dangerously, unthinkingly hard. It's nasty. If I didn't already work out, I would think I had a choice between spending many tens of hours for shallow reasons or doing it because I was a self-destructive maniac who was into manaical self-destruction and did not want help.
The above situation leads to backlash posts like this:
http://reembody.me/2013/09/10/the-6-most-shockingly-irresponsible-fitspiration-photos/
Which show pictures like this:
and comment, correctly, things like: Getting mad at your own limbs sounds less like the behavior of an Olympian and more like the crazy-eyed hobo who lives behind my building’s dumpster.
Also,
(I can’t believe I have to write this next sentence but, here goes: crawling on the floor weeping while you puke all over yourself is not healthy.)
Ha! Sing it, brother! But I have an enormous problem with this article too. In the midst of the hilarity and thoughtful backlash, my least favorite sentence: Skinny women aren't strong. Because seriously? Yes, some of them ARE, goddamnit.
Edited to add: the article linked to has been edited!! It doesn't say that anymore! Now it says "Now, before I get bombarded with angry comments from skinny people, I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with being skinny. I’m also not suggesting that being skinny and strong are mutually exclusive. I’m only pointing out that strength only sells when it’s sexy—and, make no mistake, advertisers want very badly to make you feel like you are currently failing at both." Scoooooooooore. I think he already got bombarded with angry comments. But, since he said it the first time around, my rant now continues:
I'm really tired of being told that thinness and strength are incompatible. I'm tired of hearing that being thin or skinny is "unrealistic" when I'm quite real (and so are many, many other people, some both thinner and stronger than I am). I don't have body image issues, but if I listen too hard to this shit I'll sure start to. And I'm REALLY fucking tired of the whole "real women" thing; you know, real women have curves, why don't they have pictures of real women, etc. News for those who didn't know: models are people too. The images are altered but the women are real, thanks.
And, to some extent, I'm just as tired of the "accept yourself at whatever fitness level" message. I'm not in favor of physical self-neglect, and I am in favor of people fixing things that bother them. If someone has, say, a belly that bothers them a lot (for whatever reason, but let's assume that it is their own reason and not just looking at too many unreal women), it seems quite reasonable to me that they should try to do the work to fix it. Then they get to respect themselves for trying. Maybe the belly changes in a way they like; or maybe it doesn't, but they can honestly say "okay, 15 hours of training a week and this isn't changing after a few months; I can accept now that it is permanent." The above process would give me a deeper sense of acceptance, ultimately (and, in fact, it has, only it's my ass I happen to be talking about and not my belly). But advising this kind of process is considered blasphemy by the body-acceptance crowd.
There's a little bit of sanity out there. You can, for example, read this lovely post by a massage therapist in Portland to regain your sense of appreciation for the human body. And the original Crossfit definition of fitness includes a wide range of desirable factors on page 4 that go well beyond the usual: cardio, stamina, strength, flexibility, power, speed, coordination, agility, balance, accuracy. It's nice to remember how wide the field of "fitness" really is.
And in the words of
harm_city_heart, fitness and health don't have to be measured by how you look or EVEN if you can lift the most weight/do the most pullups/hold the longest handstand, but rather by how well you're able to live the life you want to live and how much you enjoy being in your body, and how little pain or restriction you have, all of which will be totally different for everyone.
One of my coworkers commented that the above ties in well with trans ideas of beauty. Yeah, now that I think of it, of course it does. And it should tie in with cis ideas of beauty too, because few things are as beautiful as someone who's living the life they want to live, and enjoys being in their body, and are mostly free from restriction and pain* when doing the things they want to do.
* Kinky things aside, of course.
