Society, obesity, And why it is okay to be fat

As New Years approaches, we make the common type of resolution: Lose weight. Sure, we could lose a couple of pounds and knock off  several inches off our waistlines. We can impress our spouses some, or shed off the dreaded freshman 15 so we can get half-naked during spring break and not feel embarrassed about it. It is seen on television, in internet advertisment boasting “Learn one weird trick, to lose 28lbs!” or looking through a Victoria Secret catalog with all the beautiful and fit models flashing the newest trends in lingerie. And I want to stress the fit aspects of these models indefinitely.

These aren’t your typical ultra thin models.
http://www.modelinia.com/blog/taylor-swift-and-fallout-boy-to-rock-the-runway-at-the-2013-victorias-secret-fashion-show/56197#.UrSxMvRDuHQ

 

Society has been changing it’s message to the masses about what being fit is. It is transitioning from being beautiful and thin to being gorgeous and athletic. This can be seen through numerous mediums such as Victoria Secret and Cosmopolitan. But another such medium that seems to be setting the new standard is Crossfit. The trainers and entrepreneurs under that sphere of philosophy have been using their fit athletes and trainees as impressive displays of the new ideal physique. It creates that perfect image in our minds, that drives our superegos to achieve that is much stronger than what we see in magazines and The View.

As you can see, the view of beauty is changing from thin and petite to a athletic look.
http://if-fit.com/the-benefits-of-crossfit-for-girls/

http://gamentrain.com/crossfit-routine-wod-120506/#.UrStjfRDuHQ

But I am here to tell you that this has no effect on the population whatsoever and is inversely driving more people into obesity.

How? The transition from the view of thin being beautiful to the athletic look being beautiful doesn’t change the fact that overweight and obese individuals will not change their habits. That is because, the message is still forcing the idea of health and fitness on individuals. If anything, we as a society have driven overweight and obese individuals into their addictions of food. And the gallup.com statistics shows that obesity has risen by 1% which is huge. It is the largest jump in rates since 2009 (1) and this vicious cycle has a large part of it.

http://www.gallup.com/poll/165671/obesity-rate-climbing-2013.aspx

If you truly think that you are never going to look as good as the Victoria Secret models or as lean, strong, and athletic as Mark Wahlberg in The Fighter or even just lose enough pounds so you can bring your cholesterol in control then I would like you to try this before ever setting foot on a treadmill or a gym for that matter:

The recently famous author and entrepreneur Tim Ferris published a book called The Four Work Week, and elaborated on the importance of elimination. The exercise he demonstrates in that particular chapter is called a media fast. Here is how it works.

For one week, you will refrain from:

• Newspapers, magazines, audiobooks, or nonmusic radio
• News websites as well as social media
• Television but can watch one hour of pleasure viewing in the evening
• Web surfing unless it is for a task that is work related or has to be done now ( i.e. paying a bill online, answering work email, etc.)
• Reading books except for one hour of fiction before bedtime

The exercise described in the book stresses the importance of selective ignorance, or focusing on media that matters to us. This fast was modified to completely block out society’s relentless messaging and influence so we can decide if we truly want to commit to losing weight. If you ever decide to take this fast, the further you go with this, the more clear and concise your reasoning behind your decision to lose weight.

Which brings up another point that many will find unusual and that is… it is okay to be fat.

Being fat,  regardless of the factors you have or don’t have much control over,  is still a choice. Metabolic diseases can be controlled, genetic factors only have so much sway, and there is a million modification exercises for the morbidly obese.  But when the haters are silenced, the glimpses of bikini clad super models, and movie stars with rock hard abs strolling around on Venice Beach are faded into a blackness void you are left with what makes you happy. Why should we let others dictate how we live our lives?

If there is more to love and you have important people in your life that admire who you are regardless, then be happy. No one should tell you otherwise, even the ones you love.

But if the complications and inconveniences of being overweight and obese is making you UNHAPPY, then if you are a sane human being you would go after something that will make you happy and that would be putting the effort into the losing the weight.

Before you make your new years resolution, I would do what is consider wrong and not do what the rest of society is doing by making a resolution at all. Instead, celebrate New Years Eve and forget about everything you read on this article. Then when the good cheer of the holidays wears off, you will start the media fast during the weeks of January. That way when you make the decision, the constant bombardment of media trying to convince you to get fit and follow uniform will be at a all time low.

The masses idea of beauty, health, and fitness will take on many forms but an individual will never change unless they make the commitment internally. Once someone comes up with the idea on their own, they are more than likely to get it and consistently workout longer than someone who just workouts because they feel obligated to do so by some external influence.

What are the reasons why you workout? Do you think that blocking out the majority of media long enough to make a decision to become healthier necessary? And if you ever tried doing this type of fasting, what are your thoughts after successfully performing this?

References

1.) Sharpe, Lindsey. “U.S. Obesity Rate Climbing in 2013.”Gallup Well-Being. N.p., 1 Nov 2013. Web. 20 Dec 2013. <http://www.gallup.com/poll/165671/obesity-rate-climbing-2013.asp&xgt;.

Static stretching isn’t as evil as you think

I’m kind of into genealogy and a few years ago I decided I would delve into my family’s past. After all, I was curious, what does it mean to be a Stockham? Sure, we had doctors and engineers, some lawyers and businessmen, and some unique family members. One had won a Medal of Honor and one had even been a part of creating the Compact Disk. Like many ancestries, we were held together mostly in name and had gone our separate ways left to be familiar with only our direct family members.

One thing stuck out to me, though, where were all of the flexible people? There weren’t any gymnasts, skaters, dancers, or cat burglars. Why? I took notice of my immediate family and myself and noticed one genetic difference: we all had problems with flexibility.

In fact, I am about as inflexible as a sheet of metal. You might think this is rather trivial problem, but consider that in my youth I experienced great back pain and had to seek the help of a physical therapist.

The therapy was quite simple, stretch the malign muscles using static stretching. And for you folks out there who don’t know what static stretching is, it is a form of stretching where the muscle is stretched to a certain length and held into position for a period of time. Opposite of that is dynamic stretching, where the joint is moved through out full range of motion. A good example would be swinging your arms in large circles clockwise and counterclockwise.

I would stretch them but I only did enough to keep the medical professionals happy so I could get back into training. And the only reason that I only did just the minimal was because I feared that static stretching for long periods of time would diminish my strength gains. In my line of thinking as long as I do the exercise throughout full range of motion, the flexibility will come to me eventually for that exercise and that would be enough. I was very convinced that static stretching was very evil and it would only hurt me if I kept doing them.

Even research studies shown that static stretching had its drawbacks as it decreased exercise performance if it is done before the session started as a warm-up. Not only is it believed that the joint becomes unstable (1) The mechanisms within the belly of the muscle act as protective measures when the muscle is sudden stretched to prevent injury of the muscle. The problem with this is when a individual stretches the muscle and holds it into position, it reinforces the muscle to contract to prevent it from being stretched too quickly. Essentially, you are tighter after doing a quick static stretch. Defeats the whole purpose of stretching in the first place.

So does this make stretching evil and destructive? Not entirely as I came to realize.

The issue is that we are looking at stretching at one particular angle. It isn’t so much that stretching is bad than it is counter productive when used improperly. Take for instances examining when static stretching is done relative to the workout as this team of researchers demonstrates that stretching on your off days, particularly resistance training, can actually increase your  gains significantly compared to individuals who do a higher workload with no stretching involved. Stretching was done in 40 minute sessions and the lower body was stretched extensively 2-3 times a week. This approach to training is great for beginners as they can accelerate their gains immediately during the early stages (2)

And the sessions do not have to be 40 minutes long either. They can be broken up throughout the day. Stretch the lower body for 10 minutes in the morning after getting up, the upper body during the workday for 15 minutes during your break, then the last 15 minutes with the whole body before bedtime.

After having this revelation, I became much more proactive about stretching during my off days. The pain associated with tight muscles located in my hips and legs have certainly subsided, though I am no Jean Claude Van Dam with leg splits on gymnastic rings. My best advice for everyone, is be to open minded about stretching and make it a frequent thing throughout your day. You don’t necessarily have to do the warrior pose in the middle of the office, but doing simple hamstring stretches at your chair while sitting in it can certainly enhance or augment your gains in the gym. And last but not least,  refrain from doing static stretching right before your workout as it decreases performance and increases chances of injury.

References

1.) Gregley, Jeffery. “Acute Effect of Passive Static Stretching on Lower-Body Strength in Moderately Trained Men.” Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research. 27.4 (2013): 973-977. Print.

2.) Kokkonen, Joke, Arnold Nelson, Tina Tarawhiti, and Paul Buckingham. “Early-Phase Resistance Training Strength Gains in Novice Lifters are Enhanced by Doing Static Stretching.” Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research. 24.2 (2010): 502-506. Print.