Perfection?
Lost in translation of numbers
2 times per week resistance training
1.6 g protein/per kg body body weight/per day
8 to 9 hours sleeping
150 to 300 minutes cardiorespiratory fitness
Zone 2- heart rate
30 g fibrer
O negative thoughts
…
Intro
We are constantly surrounded by numbers and recommendations - how often to exercise, how much protein to eat, how long to sleep, or what heart rate zone to target. While these guidelines sometimes are rooted in research and many times be helpful, it’s easy to become overly focused on the details and lose sight of the bigger picture.
With today’s smartphone technology and other gadgets, we can monitor a wide range of numbers. Instead of simply noticing if you feel stressed or had a bad night’s sleep, you can now verify it with a score. However, the validity and reliability of these numbers and scores are often questionable.
Obsession of optimisation
Sometimes, in our pursuit of precision - and the industry's obsession with health optimisation and self-improvement - we forget that health is more than just hitting specific numbers. It’s about building helpful habits and adapting to life’s realities. For most people living life is a bumpy road.
Protocols and recommendations from good research, are valuable for helping us understand how to quantify health-related factors. Some of these measurements have a wide normal range, while others are more narrowly defined. These can serve as excellent recommendations to try to implement. The problem is often the implementation.
We are human, and many things are constantly happening both inside us and around us. Life can be quite messy. We try to control everything and set up perfect conditions, but we can’t. Uncertainty surrounds us - even prominent life coaching gurus tell us, “You are what you think” and “You are the master of your own life.” Yet, depression, global warming and war still exist, and if manifestation or prayers truly worked, these problems would probably be gone.
When I browse social media, there appears to be a massive movement aimed at bulletproofing you against all sorts of potential problems, but very few actually know whether these methods can truly protect you. Claims like “These five exercises will keep your spine pain-free,” “bulletproof your shoulder,” “drink celery juice to eliminate all cancer cells”, or “soul powerful morning intentions” everywhere. The arguments keep coming, and to summarize: it’s an enormous business profiting from people’s lack of self-esteem.
Misconceptions about our bodies
There are so many misconceptions about how our bodies work, what we should do, and even what is considered off-limits. Many of these so - called "truths" are actually wrong, outdated, or simply not accurate.
If I could time-travel back to my start in the fitness world at DIWO in Växjö in 1993, I would find that some things are still valid and unchanged, but many "truths and beliefs" about the body have since been updated. If you still prefer to wear a thong as part of your workout attire, that’s a fashion choice (=statement). However, believing that your spine must always remain neutral, that you should avoid all flexion, or that you must never let your knees go below 90 degrees when squatting is like living in denial—similar to still believing the earth is flat instead of round.
Longevity or looking good?
When the buzzword "longevity" comes up in conversations, it's tempting to get hooked - after all, who wouldn't want to live a long life with superhero energy? But often, it's more of a cover story for the never-ending project of looking good for one's age and fighting external signs of aging - whether that's promoting a questionable supplement or offering self-made advice from a 35-year-old claiming to know how to live to 125 with supple joints and no dementia. Once again, the industry - both companies and influencers - creates ideas about how we should live our lives, often based on misinformation, personal anecdotes, or wishful thinking.
It's very easy to be misled.
Robust structure
We are not that fragile. We can have a few nights of poor sleep, and that’s okay. You don’t need to be perfectly hydrated all the time and will survive a day without an electrolytes supplement, nor do you need to reach the maximum recommended protein intake at every meal. It’s normal to have uneven hips or different leg lengths. Feet can collapse into pronation, and knees can cave in. We can miss a couple of days of exercise and not eating perfect. The body won’t fall apart and become unhealthy and unfit. We have reserves and are robust.
In a world where we strive for perfection, we often lose sight of the true capabilities of our bodies and minds - the remarkable ability to adapt and cope.
We can be exposed to injury and pain even if we do everything right. Even with perfect exercise habits, good sleep, eating collagen and a healthy social life, it is still possible to develop disease. While we know that a healthy lifestyle can help a lot, sometimes things go wrong for reasons we do not understand.
The illusion - and hope - of a perfectly balanced life almost doesn’t exist. Ebb and flow are inevitable, and we need to learn to ride with them.
Local vs systematic
I completed my master's thesis on resistance training and osteoarthritis and discovered many interesting findings. There are many different ways we can exercise. I initially thought I would find the single best exercise protocol, but it turned out there were many options. Exercise adherence - in terms of monitoring pain, quality of life, and function - does not require perfection or exercising several times per week. Ease off the pressure and simply start again if you fall out of your routine. Exercises do not have to be highly specific to be effective. We can improve a painful joint with a more general exercise program or by focusing on other parts of the body. For example, if your knee hurts, you can move your upper body instead. There are probably hundreds of other exercises you can explore.
My point, based on arguments from osteoarthritis (OA) research, is that it’s tempting to believe that one specific solution will fix the problem. However, the evidence suggests that support and improvement can come from a wide range of modalities.
Set-up with flexibility
I love numbers and recommendations from evidence-based reports. At the same time, life is always happening, and you need to navigate it. Building flexibility into your framework allows for some slack, while still being supported by a solid foundation. Let the base of your platform be the main focus.
If you didn’t eat, move, or think "the best" for one day, there are still many days ahead of you. On those following days, you don’t need to make up for what you consider "bad" choices or try to "pay back." Punishing yourself or beating yourself up for not sticking to your plan isn’t necessary - especially if your original expectations weren’t realistic in the first place.
It’s straightforward, but not necessarily simple!
Summary:
Keep moving forward, even through difficult times in life.
Update your knowledge and question whether your beliefs about your body are true.
Move your body every day. If you make it none-negotiable it’s gonna be easier to get it done.
Sleep at night, wake during the day, and surround yourself with interests, friends, and meaningful activities.
When dealing with pain, injury, or disease, remember there are many things you can do.
The body is amazing, and you can continue to explore both yourself and the world around you.
//Magnus Ringberg
