PDXStrength News

Blog 48, huh? The week of Inauguration Day? A real creative genius would have found a way to really wrap that together in a nice little package. I suppose I could have skipped more blogs to make this 46 OR even written more blogs to match the number of inaugurations (59), but alas, you get 48… Or maybe it’s 47 continued… I’m trying to get there. 

Regardless of my creative shortcomings, we’re on to the next topic… Or maybe the same topic in different parts… Industry Malarkey, also known as topics that may hold some value but are bastardized by an endless need of capitalization (though you’ll be relieved to know I’ll save you from any political rant here). I ended the last blog teasing a conversation surrounding food and dieting. So here it goes. 

We’re about halfway through January (⅔ for those that need more accuracy in their lives), and you may have noticed something missing from our little corner of the fitness world – a Nutrition Challenge. There are many reasons that we choose not to partake in this, #1 being that “diet culture” is about the biggest load of shit that the fitness industry perpetuates; causing far more harm to participants that good. (To be very clear before we go any farther. I am not here to ostracize anyone for their own choices nor am I standing on any sort of pillar of perfection. I have perpetuated the bullshit as a participant and a trainer.)

But, what is this “diet culture,” I speak of? According to Christy Harrison, MPH, RD, CDN, and her article, “What is Diet Culture?” (Link below):

Diet culture is a system of beliefs that:

• Worships thinness and equates it to health and moral virtue, which means you can spend your whole life thinking you’re irreparably broken just because you don’t look like the impossibly thin “ideal.”

• Promotes weight loss as a means of attaining higher status, which means you feel compelled to spend a massive amount of time, energy, and money trying to shrink your body, even though the research is very clear that almost no one can sustain intentional weight loss for more than a few years.

• Demonizes certain ways of eating while elevating others, which means you’re forced to be hyper-vigilant about your eating, ashamed of making certain food choices, and distracted from your pleasure, your purpose, and your power.

• Oppresses people who don’t match up with its supposed picture of “health,” which disproportionately harms women, femmes, trans folks, people in larger bodies, people of color, and people with disabilities, damaging both their mental and physical health.

Again not here to prosthelytize (I’ll leave my rotation of Rage Against the Machine on the radio to do my subliminal messaging.), but the list of varying ways this appears in the gym is seemingly endless and all harmful. And to circle back to the original take on industry malarkey, the food industry knows this which is why it evolves its language to gaslight people into perpetuating their spending within their industry. For example, just a few years ago 4% large curd, cottage cheese was about the fattiest cottage cheese on the market… Enter Keto… Enter 6% “keto” cottage cheese… (It’s delicious, btw.) 

This is not new, it’s just the modern evolution of the industry. It’s similar to Baby Boomers’ love for TV dinners, Hamburger Helper, and fast food. Yes, some are absolutely delicious, but it was also the first generation that raised children (in mass) with adults out of the home. We live in a generation that has bastardized conversations around overall health, and have a food industry to match. Industries will always exist to convince you to spend your money in the easiest way possible. And speaking from experience, it’s far easier to lose weight and receive external/social reward than it is to accept myself for who I am in a world that tells me not to be something else at every turn. 

Put very simply, PDX Strength chooses to be a facility that strives for body and ability acceptance and self-actualization through exercise and NOT a facility that sells bullshit, controls your body, or perpetuates harm. 

I won’t “to be continued” here, but as I’m sure you know by now, there’s always more. 

D

https://christyharrison.com/blog/what-is-diet-culture

Blog 47 – Industry Malarkey

So I learned a new term the other day, while doing some light reading regarding performance, More specifically on the biomechanics of rotation as it relates to throwing or swinging an object and maximal force production when I came across some whacky videos regarding BIOTENSEGRITY. And if you’re anything like me, you immediately thought, “There’s no way that’s a real thing… Doctor of what? Making shit up?” But at the same time, I was also intrigued enough to spend the next bit looking into this new, fancy medical/performance term, including asking our neighborhood friendly physical therapist, Dr. Paul. For those interested the definition of biotensegrity according to Wikipedia is “the application of tensegrity principles to biological structures. Biological structures such as muscles, bones, fascia, ligaments and tendons, or rigid and elastic cell membranes, are made strong by the unison of tensioned and compressed parts.” To be fair, not all that fancy of a concept and something that we have regular practice at with global, compound movements like a squat and deadlift, and even more apparent in a more dynamic move like the clean and snatch. Taking the squat for example, if we are loose or weaker in the upper body then it doesn’t matter how strong our legs are. In a rotational or throwing example, if we have slack in the lower body/trunk then we won’t be able to throw said object “over those mountains.”

On the surface, it’s a basic concept that we all have experienced or understand in some way. But there’s also a fundamental issue here. Like many flavors of snake oil, we are often skeptical of things in order to keep ourselves safe(oooo from biotensegrity to cognitive behavior, so smart right now). So in order to sell an idea, folks pander to the familiar. And before you know it, we’ve become a disciple in search of confirming information or, in the fitness world, confirming GAINZ – didn’t think I’d forget to slip that in, did you? And before you know it an entire market exists for the sole purpose of influencing purchasing behavior, while we are still convinced that we’ve struck gold so we buy into it more and more. 

This arrives in so many ways in the health and fitness industry. The easiest example would be the barbell squat. While the barbell squat is a great skill to acquire, it’s just that – a skill. You could absolutely build HUGE legs without a barbell, but we’ve all been convinced that it is THE only way and all other squats just build capacity or are an accessory for the back squat. While this actually isn’t all that bad, back squats are great, relatively safe, and do absolutely facilitate getting HUGE, there are examples that are far more detrimental to your health, fitness, and well being. 

The easiest example here is food or in particular dieting. While perhaps more complex than a silly metal rod that we slap across our backs and go uppy-downy, the same pattern (not the uppy-downy part) repeats itself around food. We are all born with evolutionarily advanced hungry cues and have been told all our lives what proper nutrition (generally) looks like, and yet one of the largest industries in the world exists to completely strip you of the power to honor your body and it’s own hunger. And it’s so big in fact, that it has created its own smaller billions-of-dollars sub-industry that acts in concert to hold you into a perpetual state of spending (and many other behaviors and attitudes that are far more detrimental to you than a big grocery bill). Yes, we are talking about the diet industry and diet culture, which to circle back to the title of the blog is absolutely industry malarkey, and yet we’re still convinced that it’s a pathway to greater health and self-actualization…

But now I have simultaneously opened a wide door here and reached my blog’s general length limit. So I’ll end it here with a very suspenseful, to be continued…

D

Blog 46 – 2021… New Year, Same Chaos

Well folks, “guess who’s back, back again, (Dylan’s) back, tell a friend.” After a little break for the holidays your favorite weekly blog, or at least the weekly blog that regularly gets posted on your social media, IS BACK.

But we’re gonna hold back our excitement this blog to talk a little bit about something more soothing. MEDITATION. (And to be clear, if your first reaction included “PFFT” or “I don’t have time to meditate” or “It doesn’t work for me” or anything in between, you DEFINITELY need to meditate.)

This blog won’t be a lecture, though. Nor will it be the science of neuroplasticity (sorry, not my wheelhouse) or my rant about which form of meditation is the best or some soapbox about how meditating (or actively trying to change our neurological state) increases DEM GAINZ by aiding your bodies’ transition into recovery. I’d rather share my experience and give you a few resources to broaden your experience with said practice, after all this is only beneficial if it’s highly personal.

I’ve practiced some form of meditation for a number of years (as a recall to a previous thought in a blog I still wake up, and try to do absolutely nothing before my morning starts). Usually that meant waking up, making coffee, sitting on the patio in the summer or the couch when it’s cold, and waiting for Kimmy to finish working out so we could eat breakfast together. Recently, we’ve switched that routine up a bit. Now, I wake up and workout with her, SHE makes the coffee (such a treat), we feed the dogs, and then follow the Headspace and Netflix collaboration series called “Headspace Guide to Meditation.” (I’d link it here, but can’t directly share from app to blog.) It’s been a great little addition to our routine. For those new to meditation it’s a great resource.

Understanding that not all of us have Netflix, and like a little bit more tactile work/homework/journaling another resource I have used in the past is called Palouse Mindfulness (https://palousemindfulness.com/ – Disclaimer: the website is awful and hard to navigate.) This is a free resource that guides you through an 8-week workshop that covers a range of methods. (Pro-tip: If you are a Kaiser member, they often have an in-person, 8-week workshop that follows this program.)

And if you just aren’t into the learning part of this, there’s roughly a billion guided meditations available on YouTube – don’t forget your headphones. 

So while we can’t promise you a calmer, quieter, or kinder 2021, we CAN find new seats on the GAINZ TRAIN. 

D

https://www.instagram.com/p/CJb9xCRhTB9/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

Blog 45 – Getting What you Want for the Holidays

Well, we’re in the middle of the biggest holiday season of the year. 2020 is winding down (though as has been repeated millions of times this year, what is time even?). And we’ve all been conditioned throughout our lives to be a good person (or generally decent even) and wish as hard as you possibly can in order to get what you want. (For those folks that identify as on the naughty list, or even aspiring to be there, one could argue that in your universe or schema or relativity that what may be the Naughty List to me may actually be the Nice List to you effectively making you eligible for wishes in your own little world.)

Certainly prior to this year, checking the “be a good person” box was as routine as receiving the same off-the-wall gift from your Aunt every year. Or, to use a more apropos simile, like getting out of bed and going to work. All’s to say there is somewhat of regularity and routine in checking that box and making those wishes. Do they come true? Sometimes, most often not… YET! But that doesn’t prevent us from making our way through the year in hopes that THIS is the year that we finally get whatever toy, wish, gift, experience, et al. that we’ve been waiting for for whoever knows how long. 

With all that said, and you trying to figure out what the fuck I’m talking about all over again, it’s probably time to get to the point. The point being, that we often treat our health and fitness a lot like the be a good person -> wish really hard -> be grateful for what you get scenario. In the gym context we show up routinely, go through whatever workout is programmed, and end up with results that we are often grateful for, but maybe feel just a bit awkward or like our hopes and dreams were just lost in translation between you thinking them in to existence and the universe translating them back to your coaches (a la the game Telephone). Then something funny always seems to happen this time of year (I’ll save my fitness industry marketing rants here). We seem to get disappointed when the holiday season doesn’t bring us what we want, and we use the start of a new year as some sort of refresh. 

But I’m here to tell you that there’s a much easier way to get what you want. That’s to actually ask for what you want out of this whole fitness thing. I’ve mentioned before that Nigel’s total program is not designed for our individual goals. It’s simply a foundation (a very solid one) to build off of. All of our coaches are equipped and ready to help you individually, but we can only do that if you’re willing to ask for what you want. 

In what seems like a less than ideal scenario with the shut down and our work getting more general due to limits in space and equipment, all of the coaches are ready (and I would bet all are also excited) for the opportunity to talk you through some of the things on your wishlist. 

D