Everything You Know About Fitness is a Lie

You, like any sane person, hate the gym. Of course, you feel great when its done, but the getting there and your presence can be…tough. “The mindless repetitions on the weight machines, halfhearted crunches, daytime TV during the treadmill. Such a sad, unimaginative excuse for a life,” when you could be outside or at home, doing the things you love.

“Gym machines are boring, CrossFit is sadistic, and dieting sucks. Luckily, none of them is essential to being truly fit.” With a bit of trial and error, and simply thinking smart about what you do and put into your body, its possible to create real health.

Turns out the trick is: move a lot, and don’t hurt yourself. A lot of your health and fitness doesn’t come from tons of reps of this, and 50 of those, but from taking care of your body, allowing it to do what it needs, and avoiding injury. After all, that’s what ninjas do, and they could kick your butt.

Now, you know I’m no body builder, but I really do think that the intentional approach to living that I explore on ManMade does include an element of personal, physical wellness. So, this helpful article by Daniel Duane for Men’s Journal: 

The main thing…is just to get going. Who cares if you put on more muscle than you really want? Or if you suck during a few weekend soccer games because the squats are hammering your legs? You’ll be on a journey, at long last, learning how to own the gym, how to make your thrice-weekly health-club sessions into a confident, focused process invulnerable to bullshit. You’ll begin walking right past all the muscle-isolation weight machines, feeling a little sorry for all the guys who still think those are a good use of their time. You’ll start heading right back to the barbells instead, back in the gym’s darkest distant corner, and seeing them only as tools for your own ends, your own sports and goals. Once that happens, you’re on your way. You’ll certainly never need another article like this one.

Everything You Know About Fitness is a Lie [Men’s Journal]