The Death of ‘Functional’ Fitness
The trend of ‘functional’ fitness aims to train exercisers with movements that are supposedly more likely to carry over to practical everyday uses. However, in doing so, many ‘functional’ recommendations contradict long-standing, well-researched and evidence-based practices in fitness, to the detriment of their followers. Unfortunately, there is something that functional fitness is uniquely good at - gathering attention on social media via highly viral, unusual movements likely to attract attention because of their novelty.
Simplicity Is King, and Muscle Confusion Is Garbage
In general, you’ll get better results from following a simpler routine more consistently, rather than constantly varying and changing your routine. Fad workout routines based around “muscle confusion” can work, but will generally provide you inferior results to simpler and more consistent routines. Serious lifting athletes rely on ideal the routines and strategies which have been developed over the years, and focus on practicing a small number of movements repeatedly, rather than constantly varying movements.
There's No Magic Bullet: The Truth About Getting in Shape
There are no magic bullets to success in getting in shape. Crash diets, 30 day fitness challenges, and new supplements generally make strong promises and completely fail to deliver. If there’s anything close to a magic bullet, it’s seeking out a support system and learning to think long term, buckling down for the sustainable process of habit change.
How Lifting Made Me Smarter
Often, physical activity improves more of our lives than just our bodies, it helps our brains, too. Regular exercise can help with undertanding organization, practice, goal setting, and finding meaning in what you’re learning. When the things you learn personally mean something to you, it’s more likely you’ll retain that knowledge. Some of the physical benefits of lifting - energy regulation, improved sleep, and mood stabilization - helps us be more attentive and energetic, aiding in the learning process.
Understanding Survivorship Bias
Survivorship bias happens when we only see the successes (survivors) individuals and businesses have, which can lead to a warped perception of success rates.
Social media creates constant survivorship bias because people only share the good and successful parts of their lives in order to make themselves look better and trustworthy, naturally hiding the parts they don’t want us to see.
Most of the time, success takes a lot of effort and failure, but people on the outside don’t see behind the scenes. Don’t be fooled - continue to put in the work if you want to improve!