Make Believe 2 or Why Performance Is Reality

Don't always take what you are seeing with your eyes as reality! The images in those magazine covers and articles boasting "easy flat abs, toned arms and a tighter butt" are showing results that even with the strictest diet and workout routine would be nearly impossible to accomplish. 

I hope you watch that video more than once because it's hard to absorb all the changes in the first 1:11 viewing.  This information is not new; in fact the video is 4 years old, and the message still keeps coming back. But, I'm not into bashing the media for twisting our idea of beauty.  Instead, I want to use this issue to offer a different way to get what you want with your body. 

It's Olympic season right now.  One of my favorite parts of the Olympics is hearing the backstory from all the athletes, and there is always a common theme....overcoming obstacles, challenges, difficult personal crisis, or financial trouble and determining that no matter what, they are not quitting on themselves.  Why can't we be like that?  Guess what...we can.

There are so many things that I love about athletics; the competition, the teamwork, the wins, the workouts, the coaching, the life lessons.  What is there in that list that we can't appreciate?  It's also one of the elements that is apparent in the ESPN Magazine Body Issue.  It's not nakedness.  They are evidence of amazing art.  It's a beautiful display of bodies in motion. What's even more remarkable is that none of the athletes talk about how their workouts sculpted their body.  Or that they've been working on fitting into a smaller size clothing.  They don't explain their eating plans as an easy weight loss solution or a flat belly miracle.  They work out to perform.  They workout a lot, with each other, being coached to fulfill a single goal.  The obvious side effect of all the exercise is a figure that is functional and specifically strong, and for many people, aesthetically pleasing.  If you watched any of the US women's beach volleyball matches in the Olympics, you've surely gained an appreciation for physical benefits of jumping, agility, strength, power and speed.

“You may be thinking...if I got paid to compete, I would be in great shape, too...if I had someone cooking great food for me, I would eat healthy...if I could I would but I don’t so I won’t...
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There are some truths to that kind of thinking.  It is slightly easier to do something you're paid to do...like your job, right?  Would you volunteer for your "real" job just because you value it so much that the sacrifice is worth it?  Some of us may, but eventually, we gotta eat, so we find work that pays.  What if your innate talent was directly related to your job?  Would you still have a choice of whether to pursue it or not?  Absolutely!  The world is full of athletes who never played a second, who chose not to compete, who didn't have the opportunity and who decided to go after something else.  Professional athletes still choose, just like we do, whether they are going to take care of their bodies and their professional goals.  No one moves for them.  They have to drag their tired, sore bodies out of bed before dawn and after dusk and push hard into their job.  Just because they are talented doesn't mean it's not a grind.  So, let's hang up the excuses about why we aren't more fit just because we have a "real" job.

What competitive athletes do that is different from exercisers like the rest of us, is that their goals are not based on clothing size, waist circumferences, aesthetic body fat percentage or magazine comparisons.  Their goals are performance driven.  They train for a purpose beyond changing their shape.  While they are working on increasing their vertical jump, they are not also thinking about what shape their glutes are becoming.  Their energy is focused on how they can win and how their body is the machine that will take them to victory.

We can also train for the purpose of moving, practically everyday.  Not to win a race or game or tournament or set, but to win at life.  We can move in ways that challenge us physically and mentally because our lives are also a testament of survival and fortitude and physical expression...not just Olympians.  

Let's change our physical goals away from trying to look like the photoshopped image above that can barely be called a photo, toward how an athlete thinks.  Instead of weighing ourselves, count how many workouts you've had in a week.  Have a purpose in your moving that is beyond what your body looks like and focus on how it functions.  Don't exercise to punish yourself for eating something.  Exercise because you have muscles attached to a skeleton that are designed for beautiful movement.  Instead of restricting nutrition for the sake of calories, eat as nutritionally rich as you can.  Avoid empty, processed foods, not because you're on a diet, but because your body needs antioxidants and phytonutrients in order to survive.  Be patient with your body as you sculpt it into a machine worthy of your life.  Rest when you're tired.  Ask for help when you need it.  Pay for a trainer.  Get some good shoes.  Share your goals with your people so they can support your best efforts.  

Here's an example of how to change your physical goals toward performance rather than aesthetics.  These are the minimal standards for a healthy life, not Olympic competition, so don't think it's too much.  If you're already doing all of this, then great!  Is there something bigger than you can work towards but haven't?  Spend some time thinking about it.  Be curious about how well you can live your life and move in that direction.

• Move enough to elevate the heart rate above feeling comfortable, where it's hard to sing or say many words together, for at least 30 minutes on a majority of days every week.
• Resistance train at least twice each week (in addition to the cardio goal) with body weight, suspension, or external load.
• Eat fresh food that is minimally processed, with produce covering the majority of the plate.
• Drink body weight in kg of water EVERY DAY, and more with exercise.
• Sleep no less than 6 hours every night, working toward 8.
• Spend 30 minutes everyday reading, journalling, listening and thinking, quietly, alone.
• Stay connected to your "team"; people that you don't want to live without, on a daily or weekly basis.

The miniscule odds of any of us ever getting paid to play a sport should not dissuade us from working like an athlete.  If you can let go of the make believe so that you win at the game of life, your performance will become your true reality.

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