What makes a good system for your health?
According to the CDC (in 2018), about 23 percent of all U.S. adults get the recommended amount of exercise per week. That’s 150 minutes of moderate intensity aerobic exercise, plus two bouts of muscle-strengthening exercise.
Basically, if you are exercising for 45 minutes, 3-4X per week, you are already in the top quarter of “exercisers.”
This is a statistic of comparison to the U.S. general population, which you may know is still facing an obesity and overweight crisis. In 2020, 83 percent of men and 72 percent of women will be overweight or obese.
So while being in that 23% of overlapping people doing “the work” may seem exceptional, the cohort for comparison is… an overall high-risk group.
The absence of obesity or overweight is… a bare minimum correlation of health. “Congrats, you are not in the high risk groups.”
What makes a good system for strength?
If you train or have ever trained with a barbell, even inconsistently, I bet you are probably one of the strongest people in your family and close friends network. Is that strength?
The point is: we need better definitions, data, and systems. Showing up is the first step, and doing it consistently is the next, but if our end goal is health, how do we measure that systematically?
What makes a good system for education?
If you’ve ever had the privilege of having a good teacher or class, try to think about what made it good. In my experience, teachers that brought the subject matter to life, and blended the subject’s rigor with their own emotion and humor were my favorite. “Divide by zero you go to hell!” Thanks Professor Hafez, I won’t forget that one.
Lecture. Questions and answers. Hand on activities and collaboration. Homework. Office hours. Feedback. Reflection. Quizzes and Testing. More reflection. More of everything. Graduation! Promotion! Demotion! Start again…
These were all facets of my own (imperfect) higher education experience that I try to bring to my clients’ training experience and planning.
Is it a higher bar than just showing up for 45 minutes 3-4X per week? You bet. Is it worth it? I think so, but I guess it depends.
I like being systematic, but that might just be who I am. You might like it too, or prefer to just feel free to do whatever catches your interest today. But if you are in pain, or have a specific problem you are trying to solve, like Obesity or Diabetes, I think you will see more value in being systematic. It will take you the same 45 minutes to just move versus move with intention.
We have systems for developing strength that are more precise than “two bouts of muscle-strengthening exercise.” Same for conditioning, flexibility, nutrition, sleep, stress management, recovery, and for connecting them all. Leave a comment if you’re looking for specific examples, the rabbit hole goes way down! But you have to be willing to engage with them on a deeper levels to see the benefit. Not by taking on more work, just by working smarter, in the same ways you apply to your education and career.
One truth that I’ve experienced is this: the best in the world, in science and athletics, are all highly systematic people. They plan, they show up on time prepared, and they work hard.. but I wouldn’t say much harder than everyone else in the moment. You can only scribble notes and pay attention so much.
But they also take measurements of their progress, reflect on it, make mistakes and humbly admit to them, ask for constructive feedback from trusted mentors, make strategic investments, and self-improve their systems constantly. Constantly.
How many do that with their health and fitness goals?
And the other truth that connects it: All of these are behaviors that are accessible to you right now! They’re not based on having a certain skill level or background. They’re right there.
But if I didn’t have those models of success shown to me relatively early in my life, I might still be doing whatever too. Sometimes I still do. The beauty of being systematic is that when it’s a good system, it works so well that you don’t have to do it perfectly, or even give 100% all the time. You don’t have to guess — the regular measurements of progress you take will inform whether you are doing enough.
Most people have pretty modest health and fitness goals anyway. I don’t think anyone reading this is trying to compete at exercising anymore :).
If your progress has been inconsistent, or dragged on for so long you even forget where it began, you probably are missing key systematic pieces, and will only break that cycle when… you get in a better system, and perhaps have someone show you one.
Coach Mauricio