Fitness(2) and Sport

What do these terms mean to the regular worker-outer? Are the seriously considered?

Dictionary.com
Fitness: Health

Sport: physical prowess in a particular, or several activites: swimming, running, football, baseball, fishing, hunting, etc.

Fitness (2): reproductive representation in subsequent generations (offspring, kin's offspring, offspring's offspring, etc). (i.e. Darwinian Fitness)

Do these terms mean anything to you with respect to (WRT) your exercise regimen? I will try to provide some ideas, examples, and such.

Clearly most people workout to be healthy, or to have fitness, right? Ummmm, I don't think so. Unfortunately, I think most people workout for reasons of vanity: I wanna have a 6 pack, big arms, sexy butt, etc. So why do we care, or do we care at all about Fitness=health. Turns out that this is directly related to the two other terms listed above: Sport and Fitness (or Darwinian Fitness). Here goes. Sport is essentially demonstrating or gaining or practicing to be the best at some activity or activities (see examples listed). There is no end for sporting abilities to stop growing; that is, you can alway improve and get better, faster, bigger, stronger (if you're doing it right). However, sport as we know is a recent evolutionary phenom. There is no good archeaological evidence that our distant ancestors (australopithicines, ardipithicus, etc) engaged in competitive sport. Much to the chagrin of many English blokes they do not stem from a long (evolutionary) history of footballers. Sorry mates! Not "playing" sport is one thing, but they were certainly engaged in a sport. The sport of survival. For our ancestors every turn of a new day (think sands through the hourglass LOL) was a new game. They had to hunt, gather, fight, mate, fend off predators, etc. That is we were sporting animals from the start: we had to be else we would not have survived. So sport begets fitness. We do not engage in fitness to be sporting types, we were made to be sporting types and that is how we get our fitness.

Furthermore, if you can accept (sort of) the rationale that we sport to get fitness (health) then check this out. Health, or being healthy is sexy. Or, put in other terms, what we find sexy is healthy. Let me provide a few examples. On average men prefer women with a 0.7 waist-to-hip ratio (WHR). This is pretty much a cross-cultural thing, with few exceptions being discovered. So, what's special about .7, or optimal WHR? A freaking lot! First off, optimal WHR predicts whether a woman is going to have complications getting pregnant, during pregnancy, and childbirth. Optimal design lessens the risk in all occasions. Optimal WHR also predicts a woman likelihood of developing physiological (coronary) and psychiatric illnesses; again optimality lessens the chances of developing both. Lastly, optimal WHR predicts the IQ potential of her offspring. So you might ask: Why do men find curvaceous female bodies sexy? No, it's not because the media say so, because what the media throws at us is a complete misrepresentation of what MEN want and like. Rather, it's because finding those shapes sexy in our evolutionary history often led to mating attempts. All other things being equal (which they aren't, I know that) mating with an optimally designed female led to better chances of passing on your genes (Darwinian Fitness). And here's the kicker, when you select a shape to mate with , you pass on the psychological and neurological characteristics that led you to select that shape. Pretty simple and neat, eh? There are several other examples: women find men with more money and resources sexy, but they also prefer masculinized sporty looking males. Specifically they pay attention to the Shoulder-to-hip ratio (SHR); or what we know as the V-shaped male. Well, you should not be surprised to learn that SHR predicts health (mental and physical) and reproductive viability in males. So women like men "see" what is sexy because it is healthy and it is healthy because of sport.

So without belaboring another point, ask your self this the next time you walk into your gym to do a workout: Why am I really here?

Opposites don't attract and make you fat!

I really believe this one when it comes to fitness, friends, and well in my case, marriage!

In my experience there are two types of women (people for that matter) in the world: 1) Those who appreciate the benefits of exercise and thus engage in it and 2) those that recognize the benefits of exercise, but who do not engage in it. Now, within the former group there are subtypes of people - those who really like to exercise; who like it when their body is in motion; who love to play sports and engage in rigorous exercise routines, and who probably would so even if the benefits were not there. Then there are the other subtypes, those that do it because "you are supposed to", because "its good for you", etc, and loathe every stinking minute of it. I find myself, quite happily in the former subtype. Of the latter main type - those that do not engage in fitness - well it is hard work and tiresome and takes time and effort and planning and distracts from your personal life so I understand, but this post isn't about those lazy bastards. 

I am fortunate to also be in the category of having married a woman who is like me. We both exercise, a lot, and we both enjoy it. OK, not every workout is like a day in Mr Rogers neighborhood, but generally we like the feeling of working out and being fit. I truly believe that when it comes to selection of a long term romantic partner fitness is a huge factor. I was married once before. My ex-wife was, well, one my say, a lazy turd. Not only did she loathe exercise of just about any sort, but she ultimately developed an allergy to her own sweat! I am serious! So even a brisk walk was out of the question. This, as you might imagine, created quite a rift between us. I woke up every morning and hit the gym (I prefer morning workouts when Testosterone is high). By the time I got home from my workout she had left for work. So we spent a lot of time apart, which at the time was find by me. That was not the major issue that my fitness program created. Rather it was more social. For example, on a night out I would make plans to hit the gym with a workout partner the next morning. Now this is particularly easy for me because I don't experience the phenomenon related to ingesting large quantities of alcohol generally known as a "hang over." Never have had one, hope I never do because they appear to be a really big pain in the ass. So Saturday morning I'd be up, as normal, bright and early off to pump some iron. Grunt groan and schlep those weights!  I would often receive comments from her about my fitness regime. I was "too serious about working out" (coming from someone who never did a shred of exercise nor played a sport). I was "wasting money on a gym membership." I was "getting to musclely." Then when some of our friends started noticing me lose weight and get fit and commenting on it, well things got even worse. Sublt things that it took me a while to come to - like baking batches of cookies (I am about the biggest sucker for a batch of cookies that you will find and cannot stop at 1 cookie, rather I eat about 2 dozen in a sitting, seriously!) Then on several occasions a girlfriend would comment, "steve, your arms are getting really big." It was not a flirt, but you know you get if someone makes that kind of comment about your partner. First time, it is ok and you interpret it as it was probably meant - nice that they notice, and that they are right. Then, as it happens more and more often there is a tendency to develop a paranoia about it. Hm, I wonder if s/he wants to get it on with my wo/man? Bitch! Dick! Asshole! etc. Obviously, we were completely different. I loved to workout and would always take the opportunity to do so - whether it be to jet off to a touch football game on saturday or to just hit the gym regularly. Well that situation did not work out. 

My new wife, on the other hand, is the best thing that has ever happened to my fitness and I! She, Austen, loves to workout! She is an addict like myself and we compliment each others addiction perfectly right down to the low cal high protein post-workout snacks!  we are truly birds of a feather and we workout together :-)

Austen and I sometimes even workout together. For example, we are doing another (5K) run in two weeks. We will sometimes spot each other or show each other new exercises that we (think we) created. Then we push each other - come on baby, one more rep, you can do it, dont quit on me now!!! In the gym we have very similar attitudes about fitness and about the consequences of not maintaining our fitness. I love that about her. However, this similarity is just the icing on the cake. The cake is loaded with characteristics that are wonderful.  I have notice for a long time, that inside and outside the gym she is supportive of me, and I of her. In just about any situation we can turn to our best friend and ask advice, emote, or simply vent! It is not judged, it is not devalued, it is just information exchange that is taken for what it's worth. If advice is asked, because we are similar, the advice tends to be that you might expect of someone who has known you for your entire life (past and present, if there is a past life... LOL!) But all this support, love and compatibility became abundantly clear to me while we were working out. She put a premium on finding time to workout. One weekend in a New Jersey Winter we were snowed in. Worried about whether we'd get to dirty our workout clothes we started up the 4X4 truck and took a try at getting to the gym. I think the first day we didn't make it because the roads were a mess, but rest assured we made a little home circuit to compensate. The second day we were snowed in, we were able to get out and get to the gym, which to our surprise was open. Yeah they were open - it's like a drug dealer going on vacation - it doesn't happen! They had to be open to feed our, and others addictions. And feed they did. We had a great workout, if I recall correctly, and went home and snuggled in the snowed in house, which was not "really" snowed in. 

Anyhow, in all this there is a message - opposites don't attract and they (might) make you fat. I think many of us have been subject to starting the new dating relationship and forgoing a number of things - working out is almost always one of them. Like when the economy goes bust (as if that would ever happen) extras go, and the gym for many people is extra! Finding someone who shares your enthusiasm and dedication to fitness and exercise is paramount for a healthy (figuratively and literally) relationship. Now go find yourself a gym rat girl! ;-)

Don't forget to train your cortex!

Many, well let's face it all of the posts I have recently been writing deal with physical fitness training. However, I thought I would digress from that excursion to discuss Cortical training; i.e. brain training. This has actually become very popular lately with the advent of Nintendo's Brain Training DS game. But is this worth anything? Yes, actually, it could get you laid. (Yes we are back to the good old posts about how fitness gets you laid!)

A recent paper outlines how this works and I summarize here. OK, here goes. The English language (as just one example) has about 20,000 plus/minus words. The average human, however, only uses about 6,000-7,000 on average. In fact, only about 6,000-7,000 words are actually necessary in order to communicate with another human. So why so many words? And, how does your vocab get you laid?

Well we know that use of infrequent words and extended vocabulary is a good indicator of intellectual function (i.e. your general IQ). We also know that intellectual function is attractive to females; i.e. females prefer males with indicators of higher intelligence (e.g. educational status, lots of money, etc). Why, you might ask? Well, mating with a guy who has greater intelligence increases the probability that your offspring will inherit that greater intelligence. This serves two functions: 1) individuals with greater intelligence do better in life - they are better equipped to deal with the world, adapt, be flexible and generally attain greater social and economic statuses and 2) Individuals with greater intelligence are chosen as mates more often then individuals with lesser intelligence. It might be that, by choosing to mate with smart males, females may actually be manipulating future generations attractiveness and mate-ability (note the intellectual ability to combine and make new words... ;-)  This recent study, which was published in Evolutionary Psychology , shows that males actually employ use of lower frequency words (i.e. odd words that are not used in normal everyday language, or the words that make you sound smart!) when asked to imagine they were in a romantic situation with a picture of a young female. That is they spoke "smarter" when imaging that they were going to get lucky with the young chick. The same effect was not seen when the same males were asked to repeat the task imaging that they were in a romantic situation with an older female. Additionally, females actually decreased their use of low frequency (i.e. "smart" vocab) when asked to imagine a romantic situation with a younger male, but not with an older male. 

These findings, I think, support the idea of sex differences in behavior associated with parental certainty and the costs associated with reproduction. See, for males there are few costs. Essentially, the expenditure of sperm (say 15 minutes of fame!) For females the costs= bearing the result of impregnation. That is 10 months of gestation, child birth, rearing the offspring, oh and yes stretch marks (thanks Charlotte). So females put a premium on high quality males (i.e. intelligent males, males who use "smart" words) because they have a lot to lose. Mating with a loser, aside from the fact that you just banged a loser, may actually have longer term, potentially devastating effects - you might give birth to a loser! Then what you have is a new loser to enter teh reproductive workforce and in good conscious, could you really do that? :-)

Some food for thought? While running on the treadmill, tossing your kettle ball, or holding that handstand, don't forget to train your brain. You can do this easily by subscribing to a word-a-day feature in your email. Then while running make up as many sentences as you can using that new word. Use it in all its differing forms - noun, verb, adjective, and get creative. Try to describe your workout buddy using that term. Or trry to describe events happening at the gym using the word. It could be amusing. For example, my most recent word:



isthmus (noun): 1. A narrow strip of land with water on each side, joining two larger land masses, for example, the Isthmus of Panama. 2. A narrow strip of tissue joining two large organs or cavities.  



OK this one is kind of hard to use, however, not impossible. For example, in my new gym there is an isthmus (granted no bodies of water) connecting the ab/stretch region to the water fountain, that allows people to literally sturt their stuff in front of everyone using the cardio machines. Another example: Last tuesday at the gym, during TaiChi class, I notice that one of the older ladies had an isthmus of clothing covering her privates, ew! 



You can also keep your brain alert by counting backwards by 7, 11, 13, 3, 4, 5 etc from 100 or up the ante and start at 1000. Make it really hard and start at some god awful number like 13, 486! Changing the number and the pattern each time will help keep your brain working hard.  You can also sign-up for one of the several websites that aim to reproduce the Nintendo DS brain training rage.  Anyhow you do it, don't forget to use it, else you might lose it. And I don't mean lose your brain - chances are without neurosurgery you will always have a brain, rather I mean lose the mating race, the attractiveness game, and your potential reproductive prowess! Eeeeeeeck! (My poor wife!)

Photo credit(s): 1,

V-sit progression

Well today was a grande day at the old gym. First of all, that fella who made me feel all self-conscious yesterday actually started chatting with me again. Turns out, he was not trying to be the biggest douche bag in the world, but rather he was actually interested in how I maintain muscle mass by doing primarily body weight exercise routines. That was kind of nice. We then had a neat conversation about psychological/neuroscience research... this is my life... sorry. 

Second, I made an astonishing (well, to me only) discovery. Over the past two days, I have actually, unconsciously made progress toward the V-sit position (see pic, but I am not even close to that!). 

Yesterday, while doing my L-seat to planche progression, I worked hard on getting the legs higher and reached about 80, maybe 75 degrees inclination of the legs (up from 90 degrees). Then today my wife was training her hanging L-sit variation. I was starting to show her the move and realized I could easily get up into a full hanging V. It must be the work I have been doing on the front level, but i almost felt easy, and this was at the end of my workout. 

I was very pleased, to say the least. Not to mention props to Aussy - she has been training with Cassandra, probably one of the best personal trainers we've ever seen, for about 4 weeks (1 day / week). Today she got remeasured and lost 2.5% body fat. 2.5% body fat in about 1 month! That's fucking awesome! She is my idol!

Strong Handshake

Ever shake someone's hand (especially a male's) and feel it was a little wimpy. If you are like me then you immediately think twice about the person. Why do they have such a light touched handshake? Are they afraid of getting in there and giving it a good squeeze? You might make up mental excuses (especially if you respect that individual). For example, you might assume they have broken their hand and hence, cannot squeeze that hard. You might fear they have OCD and they are worried about the amount of germ transfer in a good shake. Well, chances are you'd be wrong. The handshake, and grip strength in particular, is an evolutionary fitness cue to other important characteristics associated with being male. Hand grip strength is associated with circulating testosterone levels and how chicks rate you on physical attractiveness. It's also been associated with the number of sexual partners you have had (that is stronger grip, for tail!)

What's the link? Well, turns out that evolution is crafty. Evolution favors traits that help individuals reproduce and then in some cases provides the opposite sex with a bunch of cues to detect differences among individuals: say he looks more masculine he probably is stronger. And that is absolutely correct, most of the time (statistics!) So what can you do about it? Well your genetics is your genetics and that being said, sorry if you got a bum wrap! You could feign your grip strength by purposefully delivering stronger, hand crunching hand shakes. This would be the equivalent of, say, breast implants on females, but a lot less painful. That is unless your shakee has a grip to crush all grips and brakes your hand (and it would probably still be less painful).

So train up your grip best you can.

Does fitness lead to better sex? Or does sex lead to better fitness?

There has been a lot of data showing that developing your physical fitness has beneficial side effects in the bedroom. In short, the most common male sexual dysfunctions are erectile dysfunction (ED) and premature ejaculation (PE). ED is fairly common ranging from 25/1000 - 50/1000 [e.g., 1]. It can be a result of poor circulation, which can be partially addressed with a  fitness regimen, especially aerobic training. Aerobic (cardiovascular) exercise can aid circulation [a, b, c]. In addition to fitness training a healthy diet full of anti-oxidants (e.g., blueberries, see also d, e) can also assist in circulatory function. Training also reduces stress and increases concentration and some even say heightens cognitive acuity/creativity.  Plus think of the kinds of diseases that are related to increased incidence of ED: obesity, cardiovascular disease, emphysema, etc. All diseases that in some, if not large, part are due to an unhealthy lifestyle. The latter (PE) is also common, affecting between 30-70% of all men at some point in their lifetime [e.g., 2]. A regiment of core training (short article here, see also f, and not for any particular scientific proof just nice to watch g, also see here) ought to increase a man's ability to control the pelvic muscles (kegel muscles, in particular) involved in inhibiting ejaculation and increase penile erectile rigidity. They even sell equipment designed to workout your 1st mate. Also, an increase in general fitness should increase a man's confidence in oneself so that PE related to self-esteem issues might also be quelled [3].  Most health professionals would recommend exercising about 3-5 times/week in order to reap the benefits for you and your member.

And, let's be honest, at the end of the day, looking good gets you laid [4].

OK, so being fit can increase your sex life, but is the opposite true? Can a good sex life increase your fitness? The discussion following will try to address this question empirically.

One of the earliest investigations of the role sex had on endogenous testosterone in humans was published under the name Anonymous [see 5] in the premier scientific journal Nature. The investigator measured the darkness of his "5 o'clock shadow" and weight of beard clippings on days after having had sex the previous night compared to nights when he was not so lucky. What he discovered was that his beard clippings were significantly heavier and his 5 o'clock shadow was significantly darker on days after he had gotten lucky the night before. This finding suggested that sex increased levels of circulating testosterone (& other sex steroids), which resulted in an increase in a secondary sexual characteristic - male typical facial hair.

Here's an experiment to try (and I would appreciate reports on your experiences if you choose to try it) systematically analyze the quality of your workout on a day after having had sex the night (or morning or afternoon, whichever you prefer or find a receptive female) before compared to a workout after a night when you were not so lucky (when comparing try to keep all other things equal; i.e. don't compare a night of binge drinking with sex to a night of TV watching without sex. If you drink and have sex, then compare next day workout to a prior night of drinking without sex). As a graduate student I did just this. I noticed that on nights after I went home with someone, I was significantly (5-10 lbs) stronger the next morning. Now this is far from scientific, but a similar effect can be noticed just by imaging sex (sexual body parts). Based on a number of findings that suggest that even fantasizing about sex can distract the mind, decrease perceptions of pain, etc., some of my colleagues at grad school and thought we'd take the technique to the gym. The "experiment" went something like this: for one week go about your normal workout. Then the next week during your heavy sets imagine your favorite sexual position or body part. We were to note whether the lift felt easier or if we were able to pump out a few more reps. Interestingly all 5 of us reported feeling an increase in strength and number of reps when imaging our favorite position or body part. As far as I know the effect has not been systematically studied and published, but it was pretty clear in our cases that something was going on. Were we simply distracted from the pain of the last rep? Were we tapping some primordial cave man instinct to show off (i.e. intra-sexual competition for access to mates)? Was our fantasizing during working out activating release of androgens in our blood stream? Well we never took it this far, but I am convinced that each of these may be the case.

With respect to pre-game banging, there are a few good studies that suggest the old age myth of no sex before the big game is just that: A myth (5, 6). 

So the moral of the story: Exercise 3-5 times/week in order to maintain a good sex life and I would recommend have sex 3-5 times/week to maintain a good fitness life!

--------For Females Only------

Other benefits of sex (for females only): The chemical composition of semen actually contains substances that produce antidepressant like effects in women. I am not, by any means, suggesting unprotected sex, but absorption of the chemicals in semen through the vaginal wall enters the bloodstream and produces biological effects in women. If you would like a copy of the paper demonstrating this effect please email me and you could also see the chapter dedicated to the chemical composition of semen in my book on female infidelity.