Hi, 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.
I’ve been thinking about this tweet a lot:
Alexander’s on to something, but I see it a bit differently. I don’t think more information makes us passive. It can freeze us. Info overload can make us feel that no exercise we’re doing is right, correct — or enough.
So we get stuck.
Exercise routines can feel like a compliance test. Too many fitness pros act like schoolmarms online, scolding people for not eating or working out “the right way” (their way).
The problem with trying to “follow the science” today is that there is a study to support nearly any health and fitness position you care to take. Carnivore or vegetarian. Lifting once or five times a week. Sprint intervals or Zone 2 cardio.
Or this one: Oreos lower LDL cholesterol better than statins.
On and on it goes. Scott Adams often says all data is fake. Broadly speaking, this is a good attitude to take when it comes to fitness studies—to a point. We know exercise is much better than not exercising for vitality, disease prevention, and longevity, for example. Nothing fake about that.
But beyond that, I just don’t know that we really know that much.
All data can be manipulated. Cause-and-effect is difficult to isolate. That will annoy some readers, maybe even you, and that’s ok. We can disagree.
Regardless of whether you are science-skeptical, our first person experience, and a spirit of experimentation is paramount. Take in information, decide if you want to apply it to yourself, and experiment.
An attitude of curiosity and play will take you a long way. I am regimented with my fitness routines—probably overly so—yet also open to trying new stuff. It’s interesting to see what can happen.
“No one here gets out alive,” as Jim Morrison once said. There is no one pure fitness path to keep us here forever.
So yes, let’s be healthy and take care of ourselves while we are here. Let’s not freeze up. Let’s learn, and keep learning, what fitness means for each of us by doing.
And have some fun with it.
Thank you for reading.
Let’s keep the Steady Beats going. 💚
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One other thing to consider when it comes to "analysis paralysis" is it's more common when something is hard and not fun (I don't think exercise is fun, you may disagree). Very few people freeze when they gave to choose a candy bar at the store and there are A LOT of options. But doing squats, something anyone can do practically anytime? That requires research. And lots of it.
Completely resonate with this, Matt. I think a fair amount of harm has been done by the amount of information circulating especially when it comes to a doctor or PhD discussing complex topics to an audience with no science background. People understand enough to worry but not enough dissect more studies on the topic or really grasp the complexity of the mechanisms at play. While science supported protocols are a great place to start, they should be infused with some common sense and humanness, not just blindly followed.