Welcome to ‘The Art of Movement’ - my weekly newsletter!
This newsletter is not just an opportunity for me to touch base with my dear patrons and show my gratitude for your monthly support, but also to offer you a 5 minute, easily-digestible read around the world of health, fitness and exercise. Here I will troubleshoot many common difficulties my clients experience, offer practical, actionable solutions for you to put to work in your life immediately, and of course provide my weekly motivation in the form of a favourite quote, and a takeaway lesson from it.
Please send me your feedback, questions and curiosity regarding the newsletter via the messaging tool on my Patreon page!
Week 18 - Don’t Believe the Hype
The purpose of this week's article is just to provide that gentle reminder that we are all going to need on a regular basis in this modern world. That one that you always have to give yourself after scrolling through endless facebook and instagram posts, which give you that snapshot into the golden, glamorous, fun, sexy lifestyles of those we keep around us (or rather barely even know).
The reminder is not to believe the hype - whether that be the workout routine that is somehow working perfectly for that friend who has only just bothered to step into the gym for the first time. Or the ridiculously fast 10k times of your well-trained work colleague who effortlessly motivates themselves to run 3 times per week and cruise to the finish line in style. Or even that weird fitness guy, with his Patreon videos, and his weekly newsletters, and his training ‘advice’ from a higher power (I hate that guy).
Nothing is ever as it seems. And nothing you do is comparable to anybody else.
You are on your own journey!
The reality is that however that glamorous snapshot looks when we scroll past it, there is a person’s entire history on this planet behind it. From their upbringing, to everything they ever ate, every weight they ever picked up (or didn’t), their job, their lifestyle, school sports teams, injury history, personality traits, training experience, financial security.
It is also true that the illusion of happiness, achievement or expertise reflected in the images we see is seldom reality. By now we should know all too well that people who appear happy and ‘complete’ on our timelines are unfortunately rarely that. We should know that success, stagnation and failure can come and go throughout our lives in ebbs and flows, and we will all have ‘our time’ at different moments. We should also be aware that the expertise of ‘guru’s’ is not always what it is cracked up to be either.
“Comparison is the thief of joy”
― Anonymous
Although we may see a pristine influencer with a luxurious backdrop behind them, bouncing around doing endless burpees, this does not mean they necessarily know what they are doing, and you should never feel inferior because of it (hopefully you don’t anyway). Despite my years of endeavour and countless hours of study I am still acutely aware every day of how little I actually know, and just how far the big fish in my field really go every day in order to deepen our knowledge of human performance.
My point in mentioning this is that there will always be somebody out there doing better, worse or the same as you. There will ALWAYS be somebody smarter, or fitter, always somebody enjoying an activity we can envy - but what good will it do us to believe the hype of others? You may not realise it, but as an individual you have experience, knowledge, capabilities and incredible qualities that most others in this world can only dream of having - and for that you should beat your chest in pride, and scroll through the hype with a proud knowledge that you’re still here doing your best.
Movement of the Week: Lateral Step Up
3 x 6 each leg
Use a chair or a step for this brilliant exercise which focuses on creating stability around the knee by sitting the hips back, keeping the knee behind the line of the toes, loading through the heels and pushing up onto the step in a sideways movement, before lowering back to the floor as slowly as possible (eccentrically). The slower you are able to return to the floor, the more activation taking place in the hamstrings and the better you are able to train your knee joint to decelerate effectively and help prevent injury.
That’s all for this week! Please spread the word about my Patreon channel so more people can enjoy the videos and newsletters!
Thank you,
Gabriel