Maybe this is the time.

What a challenge we have been faced with. Collectively.

It goes without saying but, the Coronavirus pandemic has been such a (swear words) tough event to deal with. Not only has it upended our lives, routines, and forced us to stay at home; many other more important things have happened. Many people have died around the globe. Hundreds of thousands in the US. Our healthcare system has been threatened and our front line workers have been in unrelenting overdrive, fighting this thing. Folks have lost their jobs, threatened to question how they will feed their family. The economy is crippled and the stock market plummeted. People are scared and in a constant state of stress and fear. Our social habits and body language have changed. The US population is begging for a pause on the negative media coverage and political game of this pandemic - however that is yet to come. We need to see leadership that is representative of the proud nation that we are and fight this thing. Lend a helping hand to our neighbor. Evolve. Be united instead of divided about trivial issues.

People want all of this to end. And I think we all want and are hoping for a resolution.

Alternatively and as a forward sort of thinker, a shitload of other more positive things have happened. Globally, we’ve been asked to work together in new and innovative ways to defeat this thing for the good of humanity - and find ways to continue with our lives. From the fitness side of the equation we have been forced to exercise at home, get into nature, take walks, and be with our families. Making time for health because we “don’t have time” is not as big as an excuse anymore. It may still be a barrier, considering the new burden that parents of young kids are facing; helping teach their own children remotely and working within the new schedule demands of the schools. However, many people may also be experiencing new flexibility in their schedule that is allowing them to make fitness happen. So, it’s really what you make of it, and many of our members at the gym are doing amazingly well, considering.

As the months have dragged on, we have learned how obesity plays a pivotal role in predicting outcomes for COVID19, as well as heart disease, smoking, diabetes, and other lifestyle related illnesses. We’ve learned that we need to take precautions in order to move on with our lives, or at least have some semblance of normalcy. Regardless, the science is clear at this point that managing your health proactively can only help you fight the disease, should you have to face it. 

Gyms should no longer be thought of as places of spread, but as places to fight the pandemic. The data is clear. Multiple studies over the course of the pandemic have shown us the ridiculously low rate of transmission, due to the cleanliness and controllability of variables. A US study by MXM tracked over 49.4 million visits, and yielded an occurrence rate of COVID19 at 0.002%. That means if you went to the gym 1000 times (which would take 3-4 years), over the course of those visits 2 people had COVID19 inside the gym. It’s not likely to ever be 0.000% percent; just like it isn’t likely with the flu or the common cold, or someone not re-racking the weights properly. Read more data here.

Positive news of a vaccine beginning to be distributed around the country is great - but remember that there is still a possibility that this will only decrease the odds that you can contract the virus. Again it’s not a 100 percent thing, we are playing the odds game. So, please continue to do the things that make you the strongest human you can be. Wash your hands, wear a mask, and be careful of the situations that you put yourself in.

I hope now, more than ever, we realize how important our preventative health measures are. When you exercise and eat well, you nourish yourself and your brain. Maybe now is the time for us to take our health seriously in this country - to emphasize less instead of more. To not waste our time, our energy, and resources on the things that don’t matter. We’ll pay less attention to the negativity on TV and the internet, and focus our efforts on taking care of ourselves and one another.

Maybe this whole thing is a call to action. 

I hope it is. And that it gives you hope in the idea that if we take care of ourselves, we can take care of each other. 

Fitness isn’t always just about you. It’s about serving the people around you with the best person you can be, and inspiring them to do the same. 

Maybe this time we can get it right. 

Self Comparison Syndrome: What you can learn from Post Malone

Post Malone is a weird cat.

He’s weird on another level. He has arbitrary face tattoos and wears some of the weirdest clothes. We can’t really define his music; hip-hop, rap, folk, pop… somewhere in there. I have no idea where to start. He recently did a hilarious interview with Jimmy Fallon, and from here you get a taste of what I mean.

Jimmy has never tried the Olive Garden before, so Post Malone takes him to experience his favorite restaurant the right way.

I will say that for some reason, I like a lot of his music. He has catchy lyrics and knows how to get people to sing along. I won’t even lie about that.

The point I’m making is that Post Malone does a lot of stuff that has you shaking your head, wondering, “What the hell?” But, he seemingly does not care and does not appear to look for validation from others; and in some ways, many people can learn from this lesson.

Follow me closely as I take you on this strange journey.

Many people suffer from the idea that they need to be “up to par” with the rest of society. For example, this ridiculous piece of media on the right, basically hooking people and telling them they need to lose weight to feel good about themselves. Most of these trash magazines should end up in the... trash. This of course means, that we are constantly sizing up ourselves against everyone else. I’m not sure if there is a scientific term for this, but in any case we could call it, “Self Comparison Syndrome.”

From a survival perspective, we do this subconsciously. If we see a bigger and stronger, dangerous looking person, we decide if we should strategize away from them. In the woods, if I see an animal that looks threatening (all snakes), I will avoid it all costs, including yelling and screaming like a 5 year old.

However, due to constant media attention from new products and technology, we are always faced with the comparison question: How do I stack up?

How are we remotely supposed to accept ourselves as living, breathing, conscious humans when this is expectation that we are faced with when we are buying our groceries?

Something that fascinates me about Post Malone is how he is able to continue making his music, be himself, and disregard others’ opinions. With fitness goals, much of this debate we have internally shows itself in external ways; our performance, interactions with other people, and self discipline. For example, if we don’t feel good about ourselves and accept who we are, we will always seek the approval of others to find a source of positivity. This can be one of the powerful benefits of having a coach, a mentor, or a supportive spouse. They can fact check your thinking, and provide you with what you need to hear.

When we constantly compare our own status to others, we never get a sense of true happiness about who we are. With that, we are telling ourselves that we are never good enough and we can never reach satisfactory levels of improvement. This is the game that social media plays on us, because we only see people doing awesome stuff. Rarely, we see people actually being real humans and dealing with everyday challenges; the internal conversations we have and why we want to be more.

Post Malone is interesting because, in a world where he may be outcast as a “weird” dude, he just does his thing and is happy to stay true to who is. Being fit is just as mental as it is physical. We can be in shape, but if we constantly feel the social pressure and weight of it; our goals are not intrinsically motivated and that doesn’t give us a sense of personal accomplishment. It’s no wonder it’s can be incredibly hard to make health changes, especially when the goal is outside of our own design.

I know that this concept is a little out there, but I hope it gives YOU some validation in that even though you may be striving for new fitness goals this year, you are good enough and you can still be yourself. Self improvement starts when we are able to discover what we want to change, while accepting who we are.

To wrap up…

Be true to who you are, even if it means making sacrifices along the way.

Don’t try to meet the goals of others and define your own set of expectations with fitness.

Work tirelessly on yourself; physically, mentally, and emotionally.

“Like waking up from a bad dream, when we can see our prison, we also see our potential.”

- Tara Brach

Cheers everyone and Happy New Year.

Ryan