When Do We Physically Peak? (Physical Peaking Part 1)
Peaking in your career and peaking physically are usually going to be different, especially for weightlifters. While many professional athletes retire from competing in their 20s, it is not always because they have physically peaked. Social factors have a huge impact on both career peaks and physical peaks. High level athletes need time, money, and other resources in order to train at the level required to be competitive. A career usually comes to an end or doesn’t meet its full potential because of one or more of these resources is scarce or withheld from an individual.
Why Is The Self-Improvement Industry So Full Of Scammers?
Often, the most popular “self help” books and theories are too general and vague to be really meaningful besides getting people to feel good about themselves. This is done on purpose - the more general the advice is, the more people can buy the product. The fitness industry is incorporated into a lot of the self-improvement industry because people assume that people who “look good” are happy. It’s especially easy for influencers on social media to have people believe their success because we only see pictures and snippets they want us to see, not the full story. Success and improvement at anything is a time consuming, high effort challenge that can’t be conquered with a book, set of supplements, or any single thing.
99% Of Fitness Content Is Garbage
There’s a finite amount of information that can be shared about fitness and a limited number of ways to say it. Only a small portion of the fitness industry is doing research into actually new ideas and methods. Those who aren’t doing that either produce - at best - fluff content or - at worst - misleading or unverified information.
How Important Is A Daily Step Count?
The 10,000 step goal is an arbitrary number created to sell more pedometers. It’s difficult for average people to hit 10,000 steps in a day, every day, even if they are active. Studies have shown that a range of 5,000 - 7,500 steps in a day is enough to reap the metabolic and cardiac benefits of walking during the day. The best bet is to not stay in any one position too long and take frequent breaks to move around and stretch. The focus should be on moving more in general, not worrying about a number to reach.
It Feels Silly to Write About Fitness
It’s difficult to write about things like fitness when there are more serious and urgent issues that need to be addressed, like the state of the environment and climate change. Many systems in our society directly contribute to a feedback loop that adds carbon to Earth’s atmosphere. The changes caused by this have been growing more extreme. As part of these systems, individuals do have responsibility to do their best to live environmentally cleaner lives. There are actions we can all take to minimize our impact while acknowledging that as a society we do rely on things like cars, cheap power, and package delivery. No matter how much individuals reduce their carbon footprint, what matters the most is legislation which disincentivizes wasteful emissions.