"My Body Is Killing Me"
Only about 5% of any population sample is well-designed and suited for any particular activity -- whether that be running, gymnastics, weightlifting, bodybuilding, yoga, swimming, etc., and usually what pain or great difficulty tells one, is that they may not be ideally suited for that activity, and should consider others.
What is always amusing to hear is the number of people who take up some kind of exercise activity to cure a back problem, or improve a glaring weakness, and then after two years -- somebody asks them if they've ever considered entering the Mr/Miss Universe contest, because they hadn't realized how extraordinarily well their bodies had responded to their modest efforts for improvement.
The 5% rule is pretty universal and reliable at detecting talent in any activity -- and will cause a lot of frustration, depression and waste of time and energy for those who are not gifted, or in many cases, even well disposed for that particular activity.
This is most often the case of people being advised that running is the best activity for humans -- while the human body is not well-designed for running at all, or we'd have four legs, and hooves instead of feet. Most people learn quickly that gymnastics are not as easy as a few people can make it look -- and while they're invariably muscular and well proportioned, they are no competition against monkeys and apes.
The parts of the body that is problematical for exercisers, are the weakness of the human body, which more assault on, will not render it stronger but actually speed its degeneration and even destruction -- and are encouraged to do so by people who subscribe to a belief that what doesn't kill them, may make them stronger, but in the majority of the cases, will kill them or cripple them for life.
But that is not necessarily the problem with every activity, and also, one can design movements to strengthen and optimize one's own strengths and weaknesses, without the generalization that running is good for everybody -- or bad for everybody.
What is always amusing to hear is the number of people who take up some kind of exercise activity to cure a back problem, or improve a glaring weakness, and then after two years -- somebody asks them if they've ever considered entering the Mr/Miss Universe contest, because they hadn't realized how extraordinarily well their bodies had responded to their modest efforts for improvement.
The 5% rule is pretty universal and reliable at detecting talent in any activity -- and will cause a lot of frustration, depression and waste of time and energy for those who are not gifted, or in many cases, even well disposed for that particular activity.
This is most often the case of people being advised that running is the best activity for humans -- while the human body is not well-designed for running at all, or we'd have four legs, and hooves instead of feet. Most people learn quickly that gymnastics are not as easy as a few people can make it look -- and while they're invariably muscular and well proportioned, they are no competition against monkeys and apes.
The parts of the body that is problematical for exercisers, are the weakness of the human body, which more assault on, will not render it stronger but actually speed its degeneration and even destruction -- and are encouraged to do so by people who subscribe to a belief that what doesn't kill them, may make them stronger, but in the majority of the cases, will kill them or cripple them for life.
But that is not necessarily the problem with every activity, and also, one can design movements to strengthen and optimize one's own strengths and weaknesses, without the generalization that running is good for everybody -- or bad for everybody.
posted by Mike Hu @ 11:55 AM
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