In fitness as in life, there are no absolutes.
However, according to the so-called fitness influencers on social media or broadcast media you must do A, B, C to get X, Y and Z. Because if it works for them, and not for you, you’ve failed.
Because they’ve got the body to prove it and you don’t.
Now you’re (probably) thinking you’ve tried everything and it’s time to face facts that you’ll never get (insert exercise wish here) and the tub of ice cream in the fridge is looking mighty tempting. And don’t forget the chocolate topping, yummy.
Sorry, I got off track.
You see there’s this little thing called genetics that’s passed down from your parents and their parents before that. Besides environmental factors, it determines your height, growth, appetite, muscle mass, activity level, sex among many other things.
Obviously, genetics is not an excuse to give up and be lazy because you’re born a certain way. All it means is you need to make the most of what you’ve got.
Because we’ve all been given different gifts and it’s up to you to find and use them to the best of your ability.
Unfortunately, I wasn’t born 6 ft 6 with a vertical leap to die for, combined with blazing foot speed. I’m so slow a tortoise could beat me, and I can barely touch the basketball net. I’ve been given limitations, as have you.
However, the person trying to sell you on his (or her) marvelous six-pack solution, golden glutes or huge arms in a hurry program doesn’t want you know any of this. That’s because they’ve cracked the code and it’s all yours for $49.99.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not against people trying to make a buck. I’m against shady marketing practices and making the buyer feel like failure IF it doesn’t work.
Because the human body is an extremely complex unit that varies from person to person. We’re all made of the same parts (except for obvious differences between male and female) but we are all put together differently.
For example, the way the femur and hip socket is shaped can vary from person to person, which will make the way you squat different. How different? That’s a whole other article, so take my word for it.
Furthermore, there are over 600 variations of the shoulder blade and size and shape of the notch on the top of the shoulder blade is quite variable, and nerve impingement is more likely to happen if you’ve got the wrong type of notch. (1)
This makes certain upper body exercises great for some but not great for others.
On top of all these differences, we have different personalities, thoughts, feeling, emotions and values. Therefore, a one size fits all approach doesn’t work for life or fitness.
However, you know what does work? Doing you.
But to find out, you need to experiment. Not the mad hatter kind of experiment where you blow stuff up but doing your own ‘research’ to see what works (or what doesn’t) and to find out what you can do consistently and not once in a blue moon.
However, don’t be afraid to fail in your quest because this is the point.
Because the key to making changes (to your body) is to find out what you can do consistently. It’s been able to enjoy it and being able to fit it in within the constraints of your life.
For me it’s lifting weights. For you it could be yoga, Zumba, jogging, swimming or cycling. It really doesn’t matter because all movement is good movement.
When it comes to exercise, it’s all about you.
Email-shanemcleantraining@gmail.com
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