[SB 218] Aaron's achilles, energy variation, simple exercise
I’m Matt, and welcome to Steady Beats. If you like to walk for a better life, and also like Dire Straits’ “Walk of Life,” you just might like this newsletter.
Three things I think this week.
A few rapid-fire observations and oscillations.
Aaron’s Aching Achilles
Thirty-nine-year-old Aaron Rodgers, the New York Jets quarterback who tore his achilles tendon on the second play of his first season in New York, is trying to do the near-impossible: return from the devastating injury this season.
has the story:
tearing your Achilles was once considered a death sentence in pro sports.
That’s because you essentially have to learn how to walk again, and many athletes, especially in highly athletic sports, worry their explosiveness will never be the same.
But Aaron Rodgers didn’t undergo your standard Achilles tendon repair. Instead, Rodgers underwent a new, innovative procedure from Dr. ElAttrache that has become more standard in recent years called a “speed bridge.”
Rodgers turned heads last week when he showed up to play catch, walking in regular shoes. He has a long way to go, but this new speed bridge technique may eventually be a speed boost for recovering athletes at all levels of sport.
Energy has 31 flavors (or more).
My energy, as I reach the cusp of 50 years old, feels ... rigorous. Robust.
But not in a bound-into-a-room-and-take-it-over sort of way.
In a show up, through rain or sleet or lack of sleep, and just keep grinding sort of way.
A steady, resilliant energy. Not a dynamic one.
We need more words to describe human energy. When we say someone is “low-energy,” we take liberties with what the word means. To some people, energy means dynamism. To others, consistency.
Our energy is as unique as we are, and we should appreciate its different forms.
And, of course, nurture your energy. With sleep and exercise and protein.
Simple exercise is just as effective
I’ve spent many hours this summer and fall perched atop a second-floor elliptical at my local gym, peering down on the exercisers below. It’s a fascinating vantage point for thinking about how people work out, and why they do what they do.
A friendly reminder: complex exercise does not equal more effective exercise.
Some classes have you doing all kinds of crazy stuff in round-robin fashion, from box jumps to punching bag jabs to pushing sleds in a sweaty whirlwind.
If you thrive on that kind of variety, do it. Do the exercise you’ll keep doing.
Some programs layer in complexity so people feel they are buying expertise.
Walking, push-ups, and bodyweight squats can be super-effective, also.
Do the exercises you’ll keep doing. Complexity is optional.
Thank you for reading.
Let’s keep the Steady Beats going. 💚
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That's s really good point regarding different different words for energy. I suspect some genre of writing - I'm thinking sports writing, particularly - likely get (or should get) fairly creative around describing, say, the vigor of an athlete. Maybe I'll read some classic boxing articles to see if it's true.
I also appreciate the note about different types of energy. I have run into this often myself in writing, that there aren't enough synonyms or alternatives to describe all its nuances. It's like how Eskimos have like 400 words for snow. We should have at least 31 for energy.