EXERCISE DON’T EXORCISE
"I smashed myself"
"That was such an awesome beatdown"
"18.2 crushed me"
For something we're supposed to enjoy, we sure do like talking about exercise in a negative way huh?
I'm writing this with some pretty sore legs, after an Open workout that my quads were not ready for......
This feeling is so rare however.
Yet many chase it daily, otherwise they don't feel like the workout was tough enough.
Maybe it's science's fault..... unintentionally....
Most of us know that hard exercise breaks down (or damages) our muscles.... right? That's true isn't it??
Well yes, technically.
But it's not like we're literally taking a sledgehammer to the concrete blocks of our muscle fibres.
Breakdown and synthesis of cells is a constantly occurring, natural process, in our muscles, our bones, our connective tissues etc.
Depending on the inputs our body gets from the environment, the rate of one will exceed the other, and we'll get hypertrophy (growth) or atrophy (reduction).
If you literally TORE your muscle down every time you lifted weights, you would just be a human hunk of scar tissue.......
All we're trying to do is create a healthy environment IN your body (optimal hormone balance, blood glucose and insulin control, metabolic flexibility ie enhanced fat burning), by creating a healthy environment AROUND your body (weight lifting, interval training, steady state aerobic base work, gymnastics etc).
Most people into fitness, have no problem working hard. And I'd be the last to deny, there is nothing quite like a workout that threatens to take your soul, and then you emerge victorious from the other side.
But if we're going to stick with the above analogy, the task of creating a high level of fitness AND health requires a paint brush, not a sledgehammer.
"You'll be perpetually confused, over-critical, and probably ineffective if you think the primary purpose of all workouts is to break down muscle (for growth) and/or burn calories (for fat loss).
Human movement doesn't ALWAYS require rigid, objective outcomes.
It's totally fine to exercise because it's fun, to learn/improve a skill, competition, play in the sun, blow off some steam, burn some energy, hang with friends, increase blood flow, think better, procrastinate from work, learn your body, and 10000 other reasons."
- Dr. Andy Galpin