The Unspoken Benefits of Fitness.
There is a reason why super successful folk, the world over, post their gym selfies on Instagram, even though their career has nothing to do with fitness. Granted some are successful without much in the way of physical activity, but those people seem to discover a love for fitness sooner or later. Gary Vee and Jeff Bezos being examples. I think on some level of consciousness, we make associations between accomplishing health and fitness goals with whatever one’s definition is, of “making it”.
Fitness was not something I had a natural affinity for growing up. I spent most of my childhood and adolescence overweight and struggled with asthma. Thankfully my asthma subsided with age, and I lost the weight through sheer determination, though misinformed. What followed were years of being too thin, from under-eating. What I didn’t realize at the time was that I was searching for an anchor. Something that would be a consistent way of living, where the lessons learned, could be used in other areas of my life.
Mental Health
My mental health and quality of life continue to improve, the fitter I get. I’m just much more stable. Not a lot bothers me like it used to. In a previous post, I discussed the relationship between behavior and mindset, where sometimes changing behavior first, can prompt mindset changes over time, creating a positive feedback loop. This has certainly been my experience ever since making fitness a priority. At times, I don’t even recognize who I was five years ago, and I mean internally, not by my reflection in the mirror.
Now I’m under no illusion that correlation necessarily means causation, but there is more and more emerging research looking at the impacts of exercise on one’s mental health. (Too lazy to cite, look it up).
Lifting, tracking calories, and pushing for progress gives people routine and purpose. This can be extremely helpful for folks who lack direction in other areas of their life and actually give some much-needed clarity in those areas, while actively concentrating on something else. I literally have no option to descend back into old habits and ways of thinking because I have to go to the gym tomorrow. No option, it is as much a routine as brushing my teeth.
Attitude to Adversity
In my youth when I struggled with my weight, it was easy to explain away others’ fitness and rationalize my own laziness. “Yeah that friend of mine is in great shape, but I bet he’s not that smart”. Turns out that the friend in question is so smart, that he understood the benefits of fitness and physique at a very early age. I got a nice kick up the ass and reality-check when I started hitting the gym. Though I was book-smart growing up, the gym humbled my ass in a positive way. That trickled into other areas of life.
Then a few years back I developed an illness that had me bed-bound for a few months, with chronic fatigue and body-wide pain, with some lingering symptoms to this day. I suspect it to be an undiagnosed infection, which was later confirmed by an infectious disease expert. This would make sense given the similar symptoms being reported by post-COVID patients.
I digress, but getting back in the gym was the most difficult and impactful routine as part of recovering some sense of normality. (Though if you find yourself in a similar situation, consult your health professional). As painful and challenging as it was to train, it built a form of mental resilience that I never lost, and I’ll never view any future adversity in my life through the lens of a victim.
Letting Go of That Which I Cannot Control
I struggle with gaining muscle mass, but I am not going to complain or stress about that fact. I simply compensate for it. Over the past three years, I have been investing my time in building muscle to the best of my abilities. That is something I have direct control over, but I have zero control over my genetics. I am more suited to long-distance running, but I prefer quasi-bodybuilding. No matter your starting point, you too can build muscle, lose fat, get fitter, etc. to the best of your abilities. Not anyone else’s.
Now, where can the lessons learned from fitness be applied to other areas? Career, finances, personal goals, mental health, etc. Consistent investment of time and effort will yield results. The results may not be as good as someone else’s, but you will make improvements by taking action. Thus it is pointless comparing yourself to anyone else but yourself. Focusing on others’ achievements will lead to resentment and self-sabotage. Learning from others and comparing yourself to who you were yesterday, is the true path to sustained progress and avoiding unnecessary stress along the way.
Discipline
There are days where every rep is a struggle, and I just don’t want to be in the gym. Those days honestly make up 50% of my workouts. I don’t want to imagine the progress I’d have left on the table by only training when I feel like it.
I have plenty of other projects on the go outside of my day job, and sometimes I really don’t want to touch them. If fitness has taught me anything, it’s that showing up when the circumstances aren’t perfect, is the difference between results and half-results. This year I want to apply this same discipline to other areas of my life. Thus far, I have been more dependent on motivation, rather than habit, for those areas, but I’m learning.
Flexibility
Discipline does not necessarily need to come at the expense of having a flexible life, where you account for real-life circumstances. Rather than a rigid routine of training at 9 am, breakfast at 11 am, etc. I prefer to have a setlist of objectives to hit in a day and make sure I hit them, rather than stressing about the order, or time of day. Once I hit my desired calorie range and protein intake in a day, I stop thinking about them. Once I get in at least four workouts in a given week, I forget about them.
When applied to other areas of life:
Christmas coming up? Spend more money in December, less in January. Stick to your overall financial budget.
Do you run a business where your routine is unpredictable? Ditch the rigid routine, just focus on getting shit done in a given day before you call it a day.
To me, flexibility determines the longevity of a disciplined approach. Rigid routines and perfectionism are a liability to me.
Children
Not a parent myself, but I have heard it said in academia (and anecdotally), that children often pick up on the behaviors of their parents and mimic them. If you are a parent who is committed to yourself and your health, you are leading by example and hopefully, your children follow suit.
I hope this article provided some much-needed clarity as to why we see fitness content doing the rounds on social media. It’s not always about showing off one’s body. It is a lifestyle that provides a solid foundation for other areas of one’s life.