I must have worked out at a gym several thousand times in my life, but tonight something unexpected happened that I have never had happen before, nor seen. I was doing an exercise on a mat and felt something a bit strange on my right leg, like a breeze. I looked down and saw that a seam had opened up in my running pants. I turned to look at the other, and then before my eyes, it split too. I then changed my position slightly and both seems split apart and proceeded to run up my legs like a slow motion scene from Magic Mike (I assume) and a thought flashed before my eyes that in a moment, I would be standing there in a gym shirt, and socks.
While I wasn't going commando, thankfully the splits were halted in their tracks by a cross stitched panel just above the knee. So I rolled them up and tucked them away, looking like a person going swimming in the 1920s, and continued my workout. I have no idea why the pants have done this and they aren't old, but all I can really put it down to is that I am getting so swole, I am turning into the Hulk and when I flex, my clothing tear apart. Tonight, the stitching around my calves just couldn't take the pressure any longer.
Don't skip leg day.
I don't actually have a leg day. I don't have any body part day at the gym these days. Instead, I turn up, stretch for twenty minutes or so, and then potter around doing random things with no real goals in mind, other than to keep moving with as full range of motion as I am able. There are no exercises that are specifically for chest, or back, or biceps, and instead I am trying to get groups of muscles working in better coordination and balance. I am also doing some interval training on a Spin bike alternating between light resistance at speed and heavy going slow. I am past the days of getting ripped (I never have been) and a six pack is only within reach if I am kidnapped and held captive somewhere experiencing famine. I have far too much fat on me, but I am not obese. I am heavy - kind of like a cannonball.
Not quite as smart though as a cannonball though.
But I was thinking whether I should set some more tangible goals for my journey, rather than just "do something" randomly. A goal would bring the focus on "problem solving" for the outcome. Random action is undirected and while it is still beneficial, it doesn't inspire much reflection or preparation. When there is a goal though, it is possible to explore conditions and variations that can improve the process and give more chance of getting closer to the goals themselves. Having the goal isn't the focus, but having a goal can help us learn.
I am sure there are studies on these kinds of things where for instance, the effort put in for someone who goes out for a run for thirty minutes, or someone who goes out for a run for thirty minutes who is tracking how far they get. They both might do the same thing each day, but I would expect that the one tracking and often trying to beat their own distance would have an edge. Having that reference point, means having a gauge to beat. Beat the clock, up the weight, travel a little further, last a little longer.
We are being tracked for a reason.
The reason that our digital tracking data and any other information is so valuable, is that with that information it is possible to influence our behaviours. I don't agree with this, especially since it is only available to sum, making at a scarce resource, and it is impossible to avoid all of the APIs. However, the value of data to influence behaviour is a good indicator as to why we should be tracking our data, if we want to change our outcomes. Because changing outcomes intentionally and with direction will mean changing behaviours, and setting new habits. Knowing our starting point and where we want to go is far more effective than randomly doing things in the hope it will move the needle in the right direction.
We should influence ourselves to be better.
The digital data extracted from us is mostly used to make other people wealthy, but we should be taking a page out of the book and applying some of the pedagogical and behavioural psychology learnings and leveraging what we can to improve our own outcomes, and that of those we care about. I think if we did this effectively, we would likely be less influenced by the manipulations of advertisers, because we will be more informed, more engaged, and more knowledgeable about what we actually need, rather than being told by an algorithm what we should do.
We can learn a lot from understanding how we are manipulated so easily. But first we have to recognise that we are manipulated, and then pick away at the seams until the pants fall off and we can see what we are dealing with underneath.
Taraz
[ Gen1: Hive ]
