The Philosophy of Fitness

Some personal thoughts, and philosophical thoughts on fitness:

What is fitness?

First of all, when you talk about physical fitness, what do we really mean to say?

I think in a general sense, when people say that you’re fit, they mean to say that you have high muscle mass and low body fat.

Another way we could think about fitness is the overall sense of physiological well-being, and the amount of physiological energy and metabolism we have.

How does one become more “fit“?

Nobody will doubt that being more fit is better. But the question we must ask ourselves is this: how does one actually become fit? And what is the best or the most optimal way to do it?

There are a lot of different theories and fitness, and truth be told, I think most of them are all correct in their own way.

There are notions of “overtraining“, but there are also other people who say that over training is a myth. There are individuals who advocate for a more “one rep max“ style of powerlifting, less frequently, and then there are other individuals who prefer a more high rep, bodybuilder approach.

There are some individuals who encourage weight lifting, where as others prefer bodyweight exercises, and other people who advocate for both.

All of these approaches are legitimate. The philosophical question you must ask is this: what do I personally desire out of my own notion of fitness?

What is your end goal?

I think the most important thing to consider is what your end goal is. That is to say, what’s your personal and end desire is for your fitness.

From a superficial perspective, it seems that we all desire a more superior physique, and the more menacing body and body composition. This means higher muscle mass, and less body fat.

A more subtle one is the mental and Zen benefits of weightlifting, especially powerlifting. For example, for me I see the gym as my Zen dojo and temple. It is where I can tune out distractions, and focus. Also, power lifting for me was more about building courage, and being able to overcome and conquer my fears.

And also, powerlifting is good for happiness. Why is that? If you see your numbers go up, and your personal records go up, you get a sense of progress, and happiness. The reason why I did not like bodybuilding is that too much focus is on your bodily physique, and the number on the scale, rather than your peak physical strength. I actually think that building your one rep max strength is far more empirical and simple an approach: just try to add 5 pounds to your total one rep max every week, and just attempt it once a week. Super simple, yet requires a lot of focus and courage.

Changing desires

After the birth of Seneca, much has changed. I no longer go to the gym, and instead I just use a heavy kettle bell at home. For me, this has been an interesting innovation, as it saves me much time and resources. Why is that? Because I have less free time and flexibility in my daily schedule, so whenever I could sneak in a quick workout, I do.

For example, when I would powerlift at the gym, each workout would at least take me an hour and a half to two hours. Also on top of that, sometimes I would go to the gym and have to wait before A squat rack opened up. Before Seneca was born this was fine, because I essentially have an open day, being self-employed. But now that I spend more time with Seneca, I actually don’t have a super strong urge to go to the gym anymore. If I have the option between going to the gym and spending time with Seneca, I would prefer to spend time with Seneca.

So now what is the goal of my fitness? My new personal goal includes several different components: first, physiological energy. Being a new parent, the first year of child rearing is like trench warfare. Physiologically speaking, it is the most physical pain I have experienced in my life. I soon found out that rather than working out, if I was exhausted, the most effective thing was me to sleep and nap as much as humanly possible. Also I discovered that drinking more coffee was not wise when you were so exhausted. In fact, after having Seneca, through trial and error my coffee intake has slowly weaned, and now I make it a point not to drink coffee after noon.

Therefore, I’m starting to wonder about the notions of working out when it comes to physiological energy. I am not certain, but there are two theories on my mind: first of all, if you work out during the day, will it give you more physiological energy, or sap away your physiological energy?

In a pure mechanistic philosophy, working out should actually reduce and take away some of your physiological energy. But then again, after working out it does get your blood pumping, and your hormones flowing. Therefore, working out during the day might actually give you a boost of energy.

Also, a question on my mind is how often should you work out? Every day, but with a different exercise, or as infrequently as possible? Only one to three times a week?

The traditional notion is more is better — that if possible, working out is every day is best.

However, John Cena, who might now be one of the buffest guys of all time, remarks that he doesn’t work out more than three times a week. I find this very fascinating, irregardless of whether he uses steroids or other human growth hormones, etc. Because I prefer a more minimalist approach, perhaps working out less frequently, but what higher difficulty and intensity is better. For example, better to deadlift 475 pounds once a week, than work out every single day doing moderate weightlifting.

Physique

Personally speaking, I want to look like a demigod. Ideally ever growing muscle mass, while having a very low bodyfat percentage.

The good thing about body fat is this: it is 100% diet. That is, if you abstain from all sugars, starches, vegetables, fruits, greens, rice, etc., keeping a low body fat percentage is very easy. Also, intermittent fasting.

Therefore the first question is figuring out whether the food you eat and how you eat is related to fitness. Not necessarily, I consider fitness more of the physical activity side of things, what you eat and what your dietary approach something else. That is the philosophy of food.

In other words, do not work out to “lose weight“, and also do not work out to “lose fat”

What I desire to see in the mirror

I desire to see large and strong abdominal muscles, strong and stout arms, etc. I already know that I have buff legs, and thunder thighs.

It seems that in terms of building strong arms, doing strong and heavy kettle bell swings one armed is good. Also, lots of chin ups. For chest and triceps, heavy floor presses with my 105 pound kettle bell.

For abdominal muscles, doing chin ups with a neutral hand grip, with my legs up in an ”L” position, or doing Pamela Reif workouts with Cindy on YouTube.

When in doubt, don’t work out?

This is a new line of thinking I have: when in doubt, don’t work out. Just eat more meat, and let your body rest and recover more. I actually think that one should only work out if one has a massive amount of superfluous physiological energy. You have to work out in order to blow off your excess steam, rather than working out when you have no steam.

Also, not thinking of it like working out, but strength testing. Only working out when I think I could set a new personal record for a given movement or lift. Otherwise, eat more meat and rest more.

Also, for those of us who like working out, it actually takes more skill to force yourself not to work out, than to work out. Having the discipline not to do things is strengthening.

MUSCLE MOTIVATION

475 Pound Sumo Deadlift One Rep Max

Why build your body?

Your own body as a work of art!

In Praise of Building Your Body

My Muscle Philosophy:

Treat your body as sculpture.

This is not my body

The first thing:

I don’t see my body as belonging to me. I look at my body like it belongs to someone else.

When I look at the Lamborghini of someone else, I admire it. When I see the muscles and physiques of anyone else, I admire it. Then I had the epiphany:

Why not transform my own body into a Lambo, and admire my own body instead?

The logic

The great logic:

It is far cheaper to get buff than to buy a Lambo.
The human body is the apex beauty. This means your personal goal in life should be to beautify your own personal body to the maximum (without plastic surgery, steroids, etc).
Ultimate democratic approach: Genetics doesn’t matter. Sex doesn’t matter. Racial ethnicity doesn’t matter. Anyone can both add muscle mass and subtract fat.
It doesn’t cost much to get ripped. Just intermittent fast [no breakfast, no lunch], one big ass meal a day, and mostly a ‘ketogenic’ diet.
Your body is always with you. Why not beautify your body to inspire yourself?