Is Your Training Growth Stunted Like A Whiney 6 Year-Old?
I recently had the good fortune to be able to attend a five day seminar put on by Eben Pagan and Dr. Wyatt Woodsmall about the stages of human development. It was fascinating, insightful, and a severe mind-tweak all at the same time. The course was based on the Wilber/Graves model sometimes referred to as “Spiral Dynamics.”
The idea behind teaching this material is that as we go through these stages we’re unaware of them. We just naturally evolve through them as our life circumstances change and we need to adapt. Without much extra intention, we’ll all evolve up to the conventional level of society. By gaining awareness of the stages and why we go through them, one can then willfully take the wheel and seek to accelerate his personal growth if desired or needed.
HOW IN THE $#%^ DOES THIS RELATE TO PHYSICAL TRAINING?
Well I got to thinking about the evolution of someone who begins any sort of physical training. What if we could document the common stages of training so that one could accelerate his physical training maturity? If you’ve followed my blog at all, the most important thing to me is sustainability. Not everyone needs to be an athletic specimen depending on his personal life circumstances. (Although GutCheck training makes that possible with a pretty darn small time commitment.) But each of us CAN incorporate an organic routine that is compatible with our life.
The problem is that many who attempt to train are retarded in their inner game when it comes to training. Their maturity is very high when it comes to their professional life or family life, but their physical training life models the world of a whiney 6 year old:
It’s all about instant gratification.
So this is obscenely unscientific but that is where I need you. If you identify with these stages outlined below, or you can identify another, help your fellow man by commenting. If enough insight comes through this, I can post a refined growth model:
1. Self-Pity:
You join the gym or commit to some routine, any old routine because any extra thought put toward this primal side of life is thought take away from more “important” matters — like polishing up that report with pretty graphs and tables due at the end of the week.
So you pound away on the treadmill hating every minute and then if you have time, try a few moves on the nautilus machines. This goes on for a few weeks if you’re one of the persistent ones.
Outlook Traits of this Stage:
- You resent that you even have to workout. You have too many other responsibilities and worries to be bothered with the physical world. This is the information age and it bugs you that you have to waste time doing this for your health. Any time for you not using or developing your mind, earning a living, or caring for your family is a waste.
- You feel that you have a genetic disposition toward being fat and that it is not fair how some of your friends seemingly eat what they want and still stay trim. For you, it seems that every pastry shows itself in the girth of your boiler, every burger adds points to your cholesterol and raises your blood pressure. You just have no margin of error like “everyone” else.
- You’re delusional about your true calorie needs and your actual intake. If you eat it while standing over the sink it doesn’t count. By breathing hard and breaking a sweat in your workout earlier in the day you feel you’ve earned an extra serving at dinner and especially your favorite dessert.
2. Structure:
If you’re persistent enough to get to this stage, you’ve started to realize that since you’re going to be devoting time to your fitness, you might as well learn a little bit and maybe even model some of those that seem like they know what they are doing. So you either hire a trainer or get someone to show you a good routine that hits your major muscles on alternating days.
Outlook Traits of this Stage:
- You still sort of resent your training but see it as a necessary evil like your mortgage.
- You’re pretty dogmatic about the little knowledge you have. You’ve started to invest some time and pain into the routine you have and this builds a little partisanship. You see training as black and white and believe your general path is superior to most others.
- Through experience you’ve reached the unsavory conclusion that you can’t outwork a doughnut. As a result you’ve cut desserts back to 2-3 times a week and you’ve started to look a bit at your portions, trying to resist the second serving at dinner.
- You still think you’re genetically cursed and find yourself feeling out of your element and wishing there was a pill you could take to just solve this whole health burden without all of the sweat and wasted time.
- All progress is measured externally: scale weight, body fat composition, waist size and health markers.
3. Physical Actualization:
You see the parallels in your training development to all other areas of life you care about. While the process can be tough, you start to realize that the process is something worthwhile, just like the path to any other milestone you’ve achieved in life.
Your training progression becomes a metaphor for your overall potential. You see that the hurdles you face and overcome in your physical training mirror the internal battles you’ve fought on other fronts.
Outlook Traits of this Stage:
- You realize physical development supports and facilitates the other areas of your life instead of seeing it as a detractor or competitor.
- Your workouts are now “practices” for honing your physical and mental skills.
- Overall, you look forward to training and the adrenal rush it provides. Some workouts are still a chore but you bang them out anyway because you understand that success in any area of life means doing some things that you’d rather not at the time they need to be done.
- You’re open to all methods of training, fascinated by the possibilities and curious about the pros and cons of each. You realize that activity is the key and that each person’s life circumstances will dictate the style, type, frequency, intensity, and overall time invested.
- You want to help others tap into this electricity and seek to meet others where they are at in their stage, helping pull them up to the next level.
- You experience “peak” experiences of gratitude, spiritual in nature, thankful that you’ve integrated regular training into your life.
- You use goals and milestones to help your progress but the process is everything to you. Your lean exterior is simply a physical manifestation of the many internal victories you’ve had for years prior, a wonderful by-product of a deeper path. It’s gravy, but truth be told, you’d probably still engage on this path without the cosmetic benefits.
- You no longer view yourself at a genetic disadvantage. You realize that years of being sedentary were to blame for your crawling metabolism. It was you who created the hormonal imbalance and optimal fat storing physiology. It happened over years and took time to rectify. Now that you’ve healed your body you find that you can “cheat” as much or more than you’re “skinny” friends.
I think this is a useful start. Do you identify with any of these stages or recognize them from your past? I see plenty of room for refinement here and recognize the gaps. This could be stretched to 5 or 6 stages but that would be an ebook, not a blog post. I also recognize the bias that I cannot write about a level beyond my current stage without finding an example and studying him. So naturally the “actualization” phase largely describes my own breakthroughs and outlook. It could very well be that 10 years from now I’ll look back at this stage as being the infancy of my physical training “inner game.”
I’d love your input to flesh this out a bit better…
Dec 26, 2009
Yusuf,
I think you’re doing something great here. This is a conversation that definitely needs to be had, and I commend you for putting your thoughts out here, even though you may not have a “complete map” of the developmental stages, as you’ve called them. It’s having the balls to put something preliminary and rough out there that lays the groundwork for continual refining. As you said, in a few years, this may be rudimentary or infantile to you. Being able to admit that is a true sign of someone committed to their personal evolution and growth.
I personally have found my training in the last year to evolve toward the third stage that you have described here. And it’s been very exciting! A lot of that I have to credit to Jeet Kune Do and gymnastics. When I was weight-lifting and regularly going to the gym, I had a hard time getting excited about it. All I had to look forward to was putting another weight on the rack, or adding a few more pounds to my lift. The atmosphere of the gym is also highly ego-driven in many cases (this may not be the same everywhere, but it’s certainly been my experience). Most of the people there go because they “must” or because it’s a “necessary evil.” They don’t do it to be fit, they do it to *not die.*
It’s a more “away-from” type motivation. That motivation is what I have consciously moved away from in my practice over the past year.
Through bodyweight training, my attitude has nearly made a full circle. I look forward to training. I’m excited about not just getting fitter, but gaining new skills, and becoming more and more functional in my strength. The practice has opened my mind to see the parallels between my training and the other areas of my life: career, relationships, spiritual practice and more. Like you, I think I’m still developing a picture of what that looks like, and how they are all integrated. I also still have some residual “mental sludge” that creeps up every now and then. Even though the seeds of level three are growing strong, and the weeds from one and two have been pulled, a few stubborn ones pop up every now and then.
Like you, I’m excited to see where this path leads. I think this is an important conversation, I look forward to continuing it with you here, and walking the path together.
Jonathan
Dec 26, 2009
Jonathan – At the cost of sounding like a suck-up, let me just say it’s freakin WAY cool that you not only visited the site but dropped a full blog post as a comment. You know that I follow your work closely and draw inspiration from it. Secondly, the level of depth here confirms that my thoughts on this aren’t way out in la la land, which is comforting – thanks. At least one other soul out there sees it close to how I do.
Your vivid description of this internal evolution closely depicts my experience as well. I know one day we’ll meet somewhere so I can witness a jit kun do flurry first hand. Peace.
Dec 26, 2009
These stages are an excellent example of some approaches to physical fitness.
Self pity and image pressure are painful starting steps to the road of physical fitness – regardless of what type of exercise that takes. However, I don’t believe they are necessary on a path to physical actualization.
Discovering a personal interest in a physical activity often leads to appreciating and delving deeper into the broader arena of physical activity. Whether that interest is dance (in my case as an adult), martial arts (as in Jonathan’s case and my own as a child), cycling, yoga, pilates, rock climbing, lifting, gymnastics, and the list goes on and on. Finding an initial personal pursuit for physical achievement is a healthier approach to fitness than subjecting yourself to a mode of self-pity as the first step on a path.
The first step should rather be to find a personal expression in physical activity.
Once that personal expression is discovered, it is easier to lead oneself on a deeper path of physicality. Therefore skipping the step of self-pity.
I think I would change the name of your 3rd stage to physical realization, and a fourth stage of actualization (if you want to use those nomenclatures).
Realization is a coming to awareness.
Actualization is a coming to being.
I think one must come to a level of awareness before one achieves a sense of being. Having been a dancer for over 8 years in addition to near 12 years of martial arts experience, plus yoga and pilates training – the awareness is that stage of professing, while being is the stage of living.
Dec 26, 2009
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Dec 26, 2009
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Dec 26, 2009
Hi Yusuf,
I think you’ve nailed it here. Both with the early stages and with your stage three. This may sound a little weird but I personally didn’t really have much of a concept of stages 1 and 2 before I began to help a friend who was overweight. What you’ve described is exactly what he has progressed through.
I think that maybe because I never lost contact with my super active childhood for more than a short period of time that I’ve never had to go through stages 1 and 2.
I have a long history of training. I remember lifting weights and participating in neighborhood triathlons well before I was a teenager. I played every sport that was available in school and here in Australia there are many. When I was a teenager I had a misguided strength focus influenced by bodybuilding but I learned a lot regarding how the body works and different ideas about nutrition.
When I was 20 I started a very traditional style of kung fu and ended up training to be an instructor as well as demonstrating a weapons form in Hong Kong among many other things. Then I turned my hand to boxing and submission wrestling. After that came kettlebells and a year later Power to the People. I like to bend steel, tear phone books and close grippers. Now I’m working on gymnastic strength such as the straddle planche and front leaver, a 2 x bodyweight Zercher squat and pressing my bodyweight overhead.
I say all this because I honestly don’t know where it goes after the stage 3 you’ve enunciated. Perhaps your points simply become further refined. Some workouts are still a chore at times (big and boring often = best results) but going and doing them anyway is certainly an exercise in self-discipline. The funny thing is knowing this often makes them easier.
I enjoy thinking about a goal (the anticipation of new things), coming up with a plan, executing the plan and achieving (or at least coming close to) the goal. I remember 10 months of Power to the People cycles one after the other just so I could make one single 400lb deadlift. It was a good thing I enjoyed the journey
In the end doing what I do makes me happy. A sense of progress when another plate goes on the bar and the bar goes up. Or the thrill of slipping a hard fast punch and returning one of your own right on the chin. To me it’s the stuff life is made of.
Stephen
Dec 26, 2009
That’s deep Carl. I could feel that the jump between stage two and three was too drastic. I think you’ve helped me flesh this out a bit better with your awesome contribution. I also like that you’ve pointed out the fact that these stages are a bit artificial because the model I was exporting from defines its stages as a fact, that one must go through sequentially. In this case, if one were guided at an early age to appreciate some form of physical expression, he or she would never have to experience stage one and maybe not stage two.
However, many of my clients had physical passions as teenagers and even in college but as they felt the need to become “responsible providers” they put their passions on the back burner and started trading money for health and vitality because they felt they had to. So they end up going through these phases because they became disconnected from their physicality, forgetting how to move naturally and integrate activity into life like we did as kids.
Dec 26, 2009
Hey Stephen,
I’ve followed your posts and believe you document the “inner game” of physical training as well as anyone I’ve come across. Your accomplishments remind me how far I have to go and to keep pushing. Tearing a phone book must be a freaking rush! But as you said, the journey is the real prize so I am trying to soak that up as I grow. Since I’ve gone through stages 1 and 2 recently, I am trying to leverage that to relate to my clients and serve people that normally wouldn’t be attracted to physical culture. Continued success.
Dec 26, 2009
Yusuf,
I would like to commend you for the excellent piece. It points to a meta-learning approach to physical training i.e. one who thinks about what one is doing; goals, motivation, processes etc.
Any long term commitment puts one on a “S” curve. The “S” is the profile of mastery/expertise with respect to time. See here for more details on the “S” curve: http://itotd.com/articles/318/the-s-curve/.
I was also reminded of a little book I read many years ago called “Mastery” by George Leonard. If you have not, please take a look at it. Recent research has shown that it takes 10 years of deliberate practice to attain mastery in any field. See for example “The Talent Code” or “Talent Is Overrated”.
Nevertheless, my own experience has been that one does not realize which stage one is in until one stops to think. Then, depending on the confidence, one usually rates oneself in the highest stage until one meets someone who one feels inferior but upstages them. Then the paradigm shifts and this is where I have gotten my biggest insights about my level of expertise as well as my attitude and how it has been a barrier to my learning. Needless to say that it is humbling.
Enough said, now I need to get back to my workout! Just kidding!
Dec 27, 2009
Jalaal,
Thanks for the kind words and the info on S Curve. I’m aware of the mastery research and have avoided it since I believe life is too short to worry about mastery. It will come for someone who is diligent and passionate about what they do. But it is a bit irrelevant since the markets don’t insist on mastery. It takes a master to know one so by definition, very few will insist on mastery from their teachers or even benefit from it. One just needs to get to the steep climb in the S Curve.
Your reflection rings true with me as well. Although I think you may be mixing the concept of expertise/mastery with wisdom/perspective. Each can be achieved independent from the other although you’d be one miserable person if you reached the stage of mastery without having an evolved perspective.
Dec 27, 2009
Yusuf,
Very thoughtful post on developing the mind-set to achieve physical transformation. Many of my clients go through these 3 parts of the process. One of the reasons why people should try to have fun as they physically challenge themselves is that they tend to forget about feeling sorry for them self if they are having fun or feel like they are playing. If we as training pros can help create that environment then success will come IMHO.
Train with purpose,
Sandy Sommer RKC
Dec 27, 2009
Yusuf,
I’ll let you know someday if the later stages resonate with me. In terms the dogmatic stage, I’ve never hit that. I’ve always been open to whatever works. Racquetball & Cycling used to work for me. Now, no time.
I think you’re missing the “I ate the whole freaking box of donuts” stage. This is the “return to start” phase many of us hit. We’re doing alright for a while, but it doesn’t stay a habit. We get frustrated and just chuck it all. We eat a pint of ice cream, a dozen donuts, or the like.
Peace,
Matthew
Dec 28, 2009
the self-pity stage is 100% accurate for me. now what to do about it…
though its now getting to the point where i can physically feeeel unhealthy and thats not good. only issue for me is making sure i dont make the same mistakes i did every other time i “started working out again”
Dec 28, 2009
Hey Yusef,
This is great stuff. There is so much inner game with working out, and a lot has to do with delayed gratification. Crossfit (crossfit.com) even has a saying: “I don’t like Crossfitting. I like having Crossfitted.” Those people are like cultists, and they still have to fight. Even if the feeling of gain comes after the very same workout, you have to get through the workout first.
I was already thinking of a comment for stage 1 before reading Jonathan’s comment, but now I have more to say:
1. Paradoxically, I was actually going to say that if you go with weight training for certain types of people, stage one can be immensely more gratifying for beginners than cardio is because you’ll see gains FAST in the amount of weight you can lift. This is because there’s a period of neural adaptation that has to occur before you can even gain strength at all, and only beginners have to blast through it, yielding the phenomenon known as “beginner gains.” In other words, even if your muscles are capable of bench pressing 100 pounds right out of the gate, it’ll take weeks for your arms and chest muscles to figure out what the f#@% they’re doing. They don’t know the movement patterns. So you’ll truly only get 50 that first day, and then 60 the next, and so on. Compare that to advanced trainees who struggle for months to add just 10 more pounds to a 500 pound deadlift.
2. If you’re an analytical type of person who likes to see quantitative improvement, weights are good. Improvement on a treadmill is qualitative, hard to measure. Skill-based activities like gymnastics (I do that too, Jonathan!) are somewhere in between.
3. It’s very important during stage 1 to do whatever you can to have fun. If literally NOTHING in the gym is fun, then yes, it’ll be hard to get in there. But what if you have a good book that you only allow yourself to read while riding a stationary bike?
Or, for me, I hate running. Even among the weights, I hate unilateral leg movements like lunges. I hate high-rep sets. If I were new and only did those things, I’d hate the whole thing and probably quit. But I love deadlifting and squatting. I like just about anything where I’m using maximal weights. If I’m having an off day and don’t want to be at the gym, I do what I like to do, even if it’s not optimal for my training plan. Because I don’t want to hate being there.
I could go on…
Dec 28, 2009
@Matthew- Important observations sir. Awareness may not seem like much but most would agree it is the first part of moving forward. You may need to get a little structure. In fact, by following my blog you’ll get a little bias and partisan. I’d encourage to take what you know about fitness and talk shop with others when you get the opportunity, have a little dialogue and debate about the “right” way to workout. Taking a little ownership of your fitness knowledge is an important step. For binging, don’t worry about it now. Guilt is a very useful emotion if you can use it to immediately move back up to your standards. But if you find that you are beating yourself up, just let go of that guilt. You can give yourself permission not to feel guilty about the binging just by virtue of the new steps you are taking. It is a process and for many, activity comes before stopping the binging. Props to you for at least admitting it. Who hasn’t taken down a full pint of ice cream in a single sitting? As you progress, a time will come where you just value the hard work you’re doing too much to waste it on binging. So pain and pleasure are still in effect, just linked to different actions.
@ibnabeeomar – Think back to where the breakdown was in your past attempts and plan for it in your new attempt. This time, think about a one year plan where your first one or two months arent about losing body fat. You’re goal now should be FREQUENCY, the first part of F.I.T. So just get moving 6 days a week doing anything. Roll out of bed into your running shoes and do fast walking every morning for 15-30 minutes with an audio book. Just do something everyday, maybe some days you only get 10-15 minutes, others you get 90 minutes. Sometimes it will be in one shot, other times it will be broken up throughout your day. Let it flow like water where every chance you get you squeeze in some activity. Don’t worry about showers if time is a factor, just keep deodorant handy and wash off your face. I would schedule 3 workouts a week for at least 30 minutes and then let the rest flow like water. Just be active everyday and try to use this as time for yourself to grow. Mix in some body weight work as well after 2-3 weeks of being active again. Email me for a routine if you’d like. If you can spring for a trainer or group classes, it is a great way to get accountability and get leverage against yourself but putting up your own cash.
@JohnnyB – dude, you hit it out of the park. Very helpful points here that I hope readers pay attention to if they are starting out. The idea of getting some feedback is so critical for continued motivation. Maybe it is by measuring bodyfat, comparing a photo that your wife takes with your shirt off every two weeks, tracking the increase in weight you can lift, or improving performance in a skill you love: martial arts, gymnastics, tennis, basketball, golf, what have you. A lot of people I work with just don’t like the gym, including me. The vibe is just not for me. When I say gym, I am not including some of the (functional strength studios that are popping up.) So if that describes you, it is important to honor it and not work against the grain. Find an environment you can be active in and get stronger in that aligns with your values, who you are, and what you like. Otherwise you’ll be fighting yourself the whole time which means you’re trying to survive on sheer will power, just not sustainable.
The neural point you made is fantastic. One of our instructors, RKC Jason Agrella points out that this continues to be a part of strength gains even for the trained athlete. Sure the percentages of leakage are lower, but apparently we continue to improve our mind-body connections as we grow. If you’re stagnating in your deadlift, connect with Stephen Cox of Balance Existence. His deadlift gains have been INCREDIBLE.
Dec 29, 2009
very good advice in this thread. i never considered looking at just establishing a routine without worrying about the results. its much less intimidating to say 30 minutes a day, 3 times a week and not worrying about the results immediately.
i also like the advice about doign whats fun – i often would just go play basketball but feel like i wasnt accomplishing much other than breaking a small sweat shooting around, but i realize now its important if for nothing else than to establish routine of going to the gym.
Dec 29, 2009
Ibnabeeomar,
Rooting for you sir. Email me after you have been active 6 days a week for 3-4 weeks. 3 scheduled and 3 wild cards wherever, whenever, and whatever. Just get the frequency up so that we can get your body primed for the next phase.
Jan 07, 2010
@Yusuf: Ok, that’s kind. Your program starts tomorrow for me. Today, I went full on crazy with eating sweets of all sorts. I’m guessing that part of training will be pulling back. One last shot before I know to feel bad about it.
I’m excited about starting a “stage 2″ program.
Also, I’m dreading the extreme early hour. 7am? Argh. Deep down inside, I kinda know that this is going to fundamentally change my life schedule.
Jan 07, 2010
Each of Yusuf’s stages seems to be about taking responsibility, and admitting that our decisions shape our lives (and our shapes ☺).
I know this is about people who are already training, (“Is your training growth stunted . . . “) but it would be more complete with a stage 0. I was talking to a friend recently who’s pre-stage 1, with the usual litany of desi health issues (overweight, high blood pressure, cholesterol) and he seemed embarrassed at the thought of taking care of himself, limiting his food and exercising.
For what it’s worth, I’m probably stage 2. There are physical activities I love, mainly hiking and backpacking, and my primary motivation is the hope that I’ll still be doing this with my family when I’m in my 60s or 70s. Twenty or thirty years from now, I want to be the old guy on the mountain, dancing up the slopes while all the young dudes are huffing and puffing way below me (I’ve been overtaken by 60 year olds back when I was in my thirties so it only seems fair that I should get to do the same thing
As JohnnyB said, I like having worked out wayyyy more than I enjoy working out. But I enjoy working out more than I enjoy getting off the couch. That first step’s the killer.
If I can go on a tangent for a moment: I also like having not eaten dessert but I don’t enjoy turning down a slice of cake. These days, I don’t even enjoy most of the foods I used to love, donuts and cake included. (I still love chocolate ☺) But I still want to eat a donut whenever there’s one nearby. Why is that? Is that from remembering that I used to enjoy them?
Jan 08, 2010
Nice insight Mujtaba. Maybe when one has done years of abuse to himself, reversing that trend is doubly difficult because it means admitting that he lived so many years destructively. He was hoping all along that his poor health habits wouldn’t make that much difference in the end, but now he sees they did. Deep down he knows what his error was, but fixing them now means really coming to terms with years of mistakes. At some level it must be easier to just continue on without facing the fact that things could have been different.
Regarding the donut, it combines all of the most potent flavor enhancers in one, sugar, salt, and fat, and does so in very pleasing way in terms of a fluffy light texture. So I would say it is normal to want them when offered. Those flavor enhancers affect the same part of the brain that drugs do. The chemical reaction is the same from what I understand. But at least you have the freedom. You are making that choice whereas many people could never pass up a free donut. That’s why if you have particular health goals you’re shooting for, it becomes important to set up your conditions for success, not being around those foods and letting those who might offer them to you know how serious you are about not being offered them.
They’ll test you at first but that is where you take a stand and let them know you mean business. They won’t do it again if you handle it right. But if you’re not in that situation too often and your health goals are moving along, whose to say you shouldnt enjoy a donut every so often? It comes downs to your goals and standards.
Feb 12, 2010
Yusuf,
Jonathan Mead mentioned your site to me with high regard and I have to say this is an awesome post!
Identification and honest understanding of one’s inner game is an insanely powerful step to moving toward the next level of being. I especially like how your analysis delves far deeper than the conventional “Why do you want six pack abs?” model and really aims at the root of the issue.
There are some really great comments here and I’d like to add a few points for thought.
Firstly, your model holds many parallels with Bruce Lee’s “three stages of cultivation” (which is actually a concept he borrowed/modified from various sources):
Partiality – the running to extreme
Fluidity -the two halves of one whole
Emptiness – the formless form
I’ve always found this extraordinarily helpful when helping students evolve or even when contemplating my own personal evolution.
Secondly, I noticed that your model suggests a relationship between the individual’s process and the people within his life without addressing it especially directly. This relationship plays a significant role within the psychology of the individual. As social animals, the individual’s physical/mental/spiritual development is directly tied to the people around him/her, an important factor within the realm of personal development.
Your philosophy obviously takes this into account considering the “Better world through strong dads” motto and I’d like to see more of that within the model you’ve described here. I’m not a dad yet, but I can imagine how the social (and very physical) elements embedded within the idea of the father figure play a critical role within a dad’s personal evolution and physical development.
Thanks again for sharing.
Feb 12, 2010
Sifu, what a tremendous contribution and honor to have you on here. I’ve never seen those stages outlined before and love how simple and comprehensive they are. Good point about the social aspect. So if I understand correctly, you’re saying that an evolved physical consciousness would include acute awareness of the impact his physicality has on his family and society? Thanks for the work you do as well. Your new site is a fantastic read. Stay in touch.
Feb 18, 2010
Yusuf,
Thanks, I appreciate the validation!
About the development of physical consciousness, there is absolutely an increase of awareness. As one’s physical development increases, connectivity, sensitivity and feedback with the world also increases.
In regards to your model of a person’s evolution in physical training, I meant to point out that there is also a very significant impact that family and society make on his physicality and approach to training.
For example, in the first stage, “Self-Pity”, the Outlooks and Traits mention how the self pity links to work and family. There is a very deep seated relationship between a man’s family and the surrounding community that directly influences that feeling of self pity and how it expresses itself in his physicality, eg. lack of energy, poor posture, stunted sexuality, etc.
Also, how would the whiney six year old feel with the social pressures of a dad? Would he give up? Or maybe even physically rebel and tantrum as in the “I ate the whole freaking box of donuts” scenario, as was mentioned in an earlier comment?
Anyway, just some thoughts.
You’re on to something really powerful here and I’m very interested in seeing your refined model.
Jun 30, 2010
Ok, I read this again. It’s fascinating. I have an entirely different perspective now. I also can add something more fitting than “Yummm,… donuts.”
As a small note, I’ve been a part of the GutCheck program for 6 mos now. I just made level 6 and am in better shape than I’ve been in for years.
I think I’m beginning to see phases beyond just exercise and diet. I’m starting to see flexibility and aging gracefully in this program. I’m looking a life in a longer fashion and thinking that if I make this a part of my identity, I may not live longer, but I’ll have a more fulfilling life. I don’t intend to die weak. Will I be the kind of grandfather who posts videos (or 3d holograms by that time) of myself, ripped, doing kettlebell training? I now think I will be.
Additionally, I think about my posture at work, my form while driving,… am I layering small problems into my structure or am I fighting the affects of aging actively. Am I stretching properly or am I turning into one of those inflexible old guys.
I look further out, and I want to be a better servant, father, husband, employee,… Some of these things are hard to do well. Some need practice or the actions that we do not enjoy. I now realize training and getting the mental discipline to adapt to things I don’t like and to work them to a point that I do is making me better. When I get the “gift” of feedback at work, it’s actually easier to see the sincere and real value in it compared to the past. The pain or discomfort of being criticized fold into the same place as the pain that occurs when one works out. It’s pain that is a part of building oneself. It’s “good pain.”
So, I look forward to the refinement of this model and adding in of other phases.
Thanks Yusuf!
Jun 30, 2010
It’s very interesting to have witnessed this shift in you. And I am EXTREMELY grateful for what you have said here. Can’t tell you how good it makes me feel! I know you’ll keep moving forward and if a low spot of motivation comes, just ride it out knowing you’ll rise again, understanding that seasons and rhythms are just part of being human. Great work on reaching Level 6 and piercing the elite rank of Tier 2: http://yusufclack.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/GutCheck%20Yourself.pdf