Imagine if you will two things. First your dream car. It can be any car you want but be precise. What kind of car is it? Make, model, year, color? Finally how much does it cost?
Second, visualize the body of someone whose physique you may covet. It can be an athlete or actor/actress or even a neighbor but once again be specific. What kind of arms and legs does that person have? Are they skinny, strong, ripped or curvy? What do their abs look like: taught, toned or washboard?
Good, now hold onto those images and we will get back to them in a moment.
One may not formally learn math until they begin school but the ability to equate often precedes even preschool. This food equals this taste, that behavior elicits that response. Needless to say by the time we reach adulthood we are prolific "equaters. " Though advertising specializes in the practice of equating, (think connecting a certain kind of toothpaste with a certain smile) the problem is that not everything can be equated so simply. Not everyone that uses said toothpaste will achieve the same glowing smile. Results do in fact vary. So let's get back to the car of our dreams and the coveted physique. The car is easy. If you want it, and you can afford it, than you can have it. Why? They probably made more than one and they are probably all made exactly the same way. Simple. The same however is not true for people and certainly not physiques be it admirable or loathsome. This is because even though genetically we are all so remarkably similar, how those genes express themselves is wondrously varied. Though it may be tempting to simply equate the exercise routine and diet of the person whose physique you admire with the achievement of their admired assets, this is not an accurate equation. Once again, results may vary.
Let's say you were imagining someone with only 10 percent body fat, that often is the percentage for men when a "six pack"may be evident (for women 10 percent is well below the essential fat barrier, below the minimum amount of fat needed to sustain health). Even if you were to have that exact same body fat percentage, you would look different. Why? Well because we are all different. Just because the percentage may be the same it doesn't mean that the amount of fat is the same unless you are exactly the same weight. Even if you were exactly the same weight and body fat percentage surely you would still have to take into account the difference in height and yes even if the percentage, weight and height were the same you will still have to contend with the difference in skeletal weight and body frame as well as limb length; not to mention the fact that even if you were to have the same amount of fat it certainly doesn't mean you are going to put that fat in the same places.
I began working out innocently but ignorantly thinking that the math was so simple. If you did the workouts and ate the diets of bodybuilders than you too, in time, would look the same way. The sad truth is that even if I were to have taken the same steroids as those body builders, I would not have looked as they did. This does not always equal that.
And yet we are still inundated with books, articles and videos (and yes blogs to) outlining the exercise programs that work for (often already physically appealing) celebrities and the routines of already genetically gifted athletes. There are no secret exercises or foods that work for everybody. Worse yet all these false equations keep us from asking the harder question which is, what would work for me?
It is okay of course if you don't know what works for you, most people don't, even the people that think they know, don't really know. Trust me in my line of work I see a whole lot of people trying to cram their square peg bodies into round holes. No one ever tells us what sports we are going to excel at and what sports we will struggle with. It is unlikely someone will ever tell us what exercises are going to bring us towards our goals the quickest and which ones may create a heightened risk of injury based solely on the physical make-up of our uniquely designed bodies. As a result whenever there is an article that advertises the proponents of High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) for example, we are susceptible to the notion that HIIT is where it is at and all we need is an interval timer and some burpees and six pack here we come. Well yes there are many proponents to HIIT, it is probably the best way to boost metabolism and yes increasing one's metabolism can be a helpful aid to reducing body fat but that certainly does not mean that everybody interested in losing fat should be doing HIIT. Let me give you an example. If one were to speed up their metabolism though HIIT or other means but not increase the frequency of their eating to accommodate said increased metabolism that could actually result in an increase in body fat. I will write more on matching eating to your workouts in another post. Another example would be beginners doing high intensity anything. This could also result in a gain in body fat if one is not not properly recovering or worse it could certainly lead to injury and perhaps some embarrassment.
I urge you, the reader, and everyone to remember that exercise and nutrition advice can be like a shirt labeled "one size fits all" though most do in fact "fit" in it there probably aren't too many of those people that look or even feel good in it.
Finally I understand it is human to admire the bodies of others and from time to time want them for ourselves but before we go hankering for hugeness or wishing our waist away please don't forget what you looked like at your healthiest. Look back on what your own achievements have been, think about your own muscles and fat and allow that to be your context for self improvement because trying to attain the unattainable will not make you happy and if you're not happy than you're not healthy. Good luck.
