Rather than view the intricacies of health and fitness as if they are reserved only for the PhDs and subject matter experts of the world, let’s see if I can convince you with logic that you’re more of a master at this stuff than you think. Let’s start with a very basic idea. Technically, it’s THEE most basic idea of human nature. We are hardwired, like everything else on Earth, to survive and to keep our species alive. Losing the game of evolution is death. Winning is life.
You may think that you’re a student or an investment banker or whatever it is that you have for a career. But, I’ve got news for you. You’re one job is to keep living. Every decision you make, on a very basic level, ought to support this.
Guess what? You aren’t supposed to have a heart attack. Cancer shouldn’t be coming your way. And, for the love of God, obesity doesn’t run in your family.
Look! We fit our new normal-sized-toys in this tiny truck.
We’re designed to live. It’s why we all want to have sex and it’s why we get hungry. We experience fear and pain to help survival, too. Considering this evolutionary approach, I’d like to suggest that our environment, by nature, shouldn’t kill us, either.
Agree?
Nourishing your body with nature’s available foods ought not to chip away at your health. Eating when you’re hungry to satiety shouldn’t take years of your life then either, right? Unless our DNA is all the sudden pulling a fast one on us to choose death over life for the first time in a few million years, we can use this assumption to understand some things.
Now, let’s think about all the areas that we’ve tried to ‘beat the game.’ Where have we cut corners? Making sugars available all year round regardless of the seasons is a new concept. It’s not going so well for us, but we’re trying it out. The use of artificial light and sleeping only six hours a night is a novel concept, too. Could there be some consequences here?
How normal is sitting in a cubical eight hours a day really? Considering that the last hundred years is a blade of grass on the football field-sized timeline of human history, sitting is nothing but a new fad. How many natural attractions does humanity have for prescription drugs? Zero. Pharmaceuticals are new, too, and by the looks of the latest attorney sponsored commercials we may be entitled to a claim, or an evolutionary slap in the face, for our perspiration drug use.
If you step back and trust human nature for a bit, things can become much more simple. I see masses of people counting their calories, taking their pills, and allowing their physical abilities to diminish as if they’re supposed to. Remove modern civilization from this type of behavior in an instant and the result is death.
You’re supposed to be strong, lean, and healthy. Not too long ago, you had to be. Just because there aren’t tigers to out run or life or death consequences for poor decision making doesn’t mean failures in these areas aren’t killing you, just more slowly. So, the moment ridiculous thoughts come to mind that justify your declining health, remember 1) that’s not how it’s supposed to go, and 2) if it weren’t 2013 you’d probably be dead already.
Logan Gelbrich
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Thursday’s Workout:
20 Min Inversion Practice
Complete 4 rounds for time of:
30 Goblet Squats (53/35)
20m Handstand Walk
400m Run
