As a personal trainer, I deal very often with dispelling myths in the fitness industry. In the process, I have become very interested in why we believe what we believe about fitness. One of the threads I have followed is the scientific and philosophical movement known as reductionism.Reductionism is a philosophical term referring to the idea of breaking down structures and systems into their component parts. Once accomplished, the system or structure can be manipulated and a certain outcome achieved. Think of breaking things down into elements, such as water into hydrogen and oxygen, and manipulating those elements to make new substances. An example of a reductionist approach to training would be to look at the upper arm as a collection of several muscles (biceps, triceps, brachialis, etc.) and to train each of those muscles individually with the goal of making the whole arm larger. If you google the words ‘fitness’ and ‘reductionism’ you will find a few good articles that talk about the role that reductionism plays in fitness, such as this one by Jason Weber (article). These articles, however, generally focus on what reductionism looks like with regards to specific exercise modalities. What I am more interested in is how the reductionist philosophy has influenced our culture and how that in turn influences our attitudes about fitness.
The debate between the systems and reductionist approaches is an old one. Going as far back as ancient Greece, Ionian Philosphers sought a single, universal substance to explain the world. Other ancient philosophers disagreed, choosing to follow a more holistic approach. In terms of health, the man whose view carried the day was Hippocrates. He believed in humorism, which espoused that the body was comprised of a delicate balance of fluids and when the balance was disrupted, illness occured. To restore health it was important to bring the system back into balance by understanding the patient’s environment, eating habits, exercise habits, sleeping habits, and so on.
Medicine heavily followed the humorist model for nearly 2,000 years. Then, in the 17th century, philosophers such as René Descartes and John Locke began formulating the philosophical groundwork for a new, mechanized worldview – a view of the natural world as a giant machine, whose pieces and parts formed the whole. Over the following centuries science caught up to what these philosophers were thinking. Isaac Newton came along and gave us a way to understand the physical world with his famous laws. Justus von Liebig helped to bring chemistry into its own and taught legions of students about laboratory chemistry and experimentation. The microscope was invented, showing finally what was behind many of our most deadly infections. Science, in a word, conquered human beings approach to understanding theirselves and their environment. As these developments matured, humans began to find ways to change their world to their likings. Physics allowed us to fly and send rockets to space. Chemistry and biology gave us vaccines and anti-biotics. The world, reduced to its component parts, became controllable.
We are children of this historical outcome. This is the background that we bring with us when we enter the gym and it accounts for a huge degree of misguided beliefs within fitness. We believe in science and rely on it to bring us solutions that make our lives better. One strong example is nutrition, which is a multi-billion dollar industry. Supplements and vitamins are marketed as ways to directly improve upon the body. Vitamin C, for example, is widely accepted to improve the immune system. Fish oils purportedly aid with cardiovascular and joint health. Branch-chain amino acids are consumed for muscle growth. The list goes on. Each of these claims is based on the idea that, having scientifically researched the inner workings of these areas of the human body we have isolated the important pieces and can now successfully manipulate them as required. And indeed, our society is ready to accept such claims. All that is left to do is manufacture the necessary products for public consumption.
Fitness methodologies follow suit. An overwhelming amount of common strength training exercises are designed as isloation exercises. They are employed to target specific muscles in the body and are often divided into split routines, allowing the exerciser to work on individual areas to ‘bring up’ deficits and work on ‘trouble spots.’ Sit ups and abdominal crunches are a ready example of two exercises belonging to this group that simply will not go away. Cardiovascular training is similarly broken down into various forms such as interval training, endurance training, so-called ‘metabolic training’, and hosts of other specialized modalities that supposidly have been scientifically shown to address specific health and fitness issues. In this article, I do not wish to dwell upon the specifics of why each of these beliefs and assumptions are misguided. It should suffice to say that many of these ideas are continually being reassessed and challenged. Over the last several years in particular questioning of the efficacy of vitamins and supplements has grown. Spot reduction has long been established as a myth and even the role of such cornerstones as cardiovascular training have been re-evaluated.
I believe that all of this background provides some insight into some troubling characterstics of health and fitness. It should be easy to explain to someone that no matter how many crunches they do they will not have a six pack and, considering how damaging those exercises can be, they ought to focus on more effective ways to improve their health. It should also be easy to make someone understand that running will not necesarilly prevent them from being overweight. And my personal favorite, it should be easy to let someone know that if they wish to avoid serious health issues such as heart attack, stroke, high blood pressure, or other life threatening events then one thing they should definitely do is sleep more and stress less. None of these conversations are easy though. It can take months and even years to persuade someone to look at these things differently, if it ever happens at all. After having experienced this barrier numerous times myself and observing it daily with countless others in the gym, I have come to realize that this is a deeply engrained cultural value. Dealing with a client or just an oridinary exercise enthusiast is not limited to just that individual, but rather to the whole cultural system in which they exist.
The truly damaging effect that all of this has on our society is that it leads us to believe that we can control natural processes and therefore absolve ourselves of playing by the rules of nature. We are unable to make peace with the fact that we cannot trick our bodies into staying fit in spite of poor dietary and lifestyle choices.* We prefer to believe that the next breakthrough in science will provide the solution, that the next supplement or workout ‘method’ will erase the cost of our habits. On a larger scale, this kind of thinking is mirrored in our approach to societal issues. We hope that science will find a way around the increasing pressure of climate change, resource depletion, and growing unrest throughout the globe. The statistics on American health, the state of our health care system, and the changes we are seeing in weather patterns alone should be enough to stir questions about how successful this kind of thinking really is.
On the positive side, these alarming developments are beginning to spur a major comeback in systems thinking. Especially in energy and agriculture we are exploring ways to integrate ourselves more seemlessly with the ecosystems that we occupy. This new approach is providing some very exciting new thoughts on how to solve our most pressing problems in the world. I think we health professionals are uniquely positioned to jump on that wagon. I challenge health professionals and health enthusiasts to start by looking at the most micro-level – their own body – and then to begin thinking about what it might have to tell us about such topics at the macro-level. For example, eliminating processed food is the most significant way to lose weight. On a micro-level, those who step up and make the change are amazed at the success that they see, even after years of fad diets and exercise routines. On a macro-level, these health changes have the potential to impact the community and the environment. Visiting a local farmer’s market or joining a CSA rather than visiting the standard grocery store can reduce one’s own carbon foot print while also bolstering the local economy, adding value to the community. That’s a true win-win.
There are too many examples to cover in just one post, and this one has already become lengthy, so let me finish with this thought. Exercise is an attempt at sustainability in which we hope to stave of the cumulative effects of aging and of certain lifestyle habits. The best solutions to these issues are not necessarily easy or quick. They require reevaluating the approaches that we have become so used to over such a long period of our history. The time is coming though to recognize that we may need to adapt new methods if we hope to achieve long term success. If we begin to seek out and to better understand some of the basic things that are crucial to our health as individuals, we will be taking an important step down the road to a healthier, more sustainable future not just for ourselves, but for everyone on all levels.
* It is important to note here that not everyone who seeks to improve their health or their appearance is guilty of making poor lifestyle choices. In fact, many individuals make responsible decisions and nonetheless seek to make changes, some necessary, and others perhaps not so necessary. This is another topic that I intend to address.