Great article. This is why, when it comes to fitness, I’ve made it my goal to be a healthy 85 year old instead of attain a particular aesthetic. The aesthetic has come and gone through my life, but at least I can train so I don’t have to go through unnecessary suffering when I’m older.
My favorite is gymnastics, a childhood tradition of watching the competitions every year, back when Romania was at the top in this sport. This year I watched and read a lot about Simone Biles, an opportunity to learn more about her life and career. Cool stuff as always, Gunnar!
Yeah, I guess that's where the fascination to watch it comes from, it seems impossible but it's real. I also read about the 'twisties' from Simone's experience, the nausea and impossibility to land properly after those triple flips... scary and fascinating at once!
Re: footnotes 5 and 9: Hey, Gunnar's self-esteem! Leave him alone! He's doing a good job!
Also, re: those footnotes and athletics being inspiring and intimidating: I don't get to watch much of the Olympics except for clips on YouTube because of internet and copyright restrictions where I live (and, honestly, not caring enough to find a pirate source to watch.) I do get to watch and participate in athletic events on our tiny island. And what's really striking to me is how amazing humans in general are in using their bodies, and how little difference there is between elite athletes and people who are just in ok shape.
So, for instance, the world's record for men's squat is 1052 pounds. But the champion for men's squat on our tiny island of fewer than 2000 people is ~500 pounds, which, sure, is less than half of the world record but not that far off. There's a 6 K, 3 K of elevation gain trail run here every year. The world record holder for that kind of event can complete it in about 45 minutes. Our fastest runner completes it in about 48 minutes. And I, a 5'2", overweight, 50 year old woman who never even went to the gym until about 10 years ago can complete it in just under 2 hours. Which is actually pretty close, when you think about it.
Of course watching Simone Biles do flips like she's an anime character is stunning, and of course normal folks won't ever be able to achieve those heights. But the fact that normal people can still do flips at all is pretty amazing. I think that people would be happier if they didn't compare their abilities to those of elite athletes in terms of what the normal people can't do, but in terms of what we can. Because all humans have a lot of really remarkable capabilities that we shouldn't let go unrecognized just because they're not as super-remarkable as someone on TV.
I was excited to see this one come through! As a gymnast-turned-volleyballer (true story), I know this lesson all too well (and thanks for the shoutout!). I’ve also seen and heard (and experienced) my fair share of dysmorphia, and while they did used to teach us about this at a once-a-year talk with the university dietitian (and it was introduced to us as part of the female athlete triad, a medical condition female athletes can run into that includes eating disorders, amenorrhea, and osteoporosis), there wasn’t a ton of emphasis on actually helping us remain healthy in that way because the system definitely incentivizes physical optimization over long-term physical and mental health. That said, I think athletes at these top levels have really helped to shift the conversation more towards long-term health in recent years.
But also, I heard once and didn’t follow up to look into whether it was true (I just chose to believe it because confirmation bias!) that bodies that experienced consistent strength training during the earlier years of life tend to retain that ability for muscle mass throughout the entirety of their life (like, it’s forever easier to get back into shape once they fall out of it). Do you know anything about this? I wonder what the mechanism would be if that was true.
- Kind of shocking how long the female athlete triad was seen as 'part of the deal'.
- You're right; there are a few very high-profile athletes in the past few years who have explicitly addressed the mental health challenges, which is great - and I think the ripple effect of that can be very beneficial.
- Not an expert, but until last year or so, that muscle 'rebound' was thought to be through learned motor patterns, but a few studies in mice suggest that trained muscle recruits new nuclei *and* don't lose those. As a result formerly trained muscle may have more nuclei, and so remains more primed for protein production. All speculative, but very coole.
! However, let's talk about the most interesting thing: gymnast-to-volleyballer?! That's not a common trajectory.
Great article. This is why, when it comes to fitness, I’ve made it my goal to be a healthy 85 year old instead of attain a particular aesthetic. The aesthetic has come and gone through my life, but at least I can train so I don’t have to go through unnecessary suffering when I’m older.
Thanks, Stephen! That's an admirable goal (and a great long-term vision).
My favorite is gymnastics, a childhood tradition of watching the competitions every year, back when Romania was at the top in this sport. This year I watched and read a lot about Simone Biles, an opportunity to learn more about her life and career. Cool stuff as always, Gunnar!
Thanks, Monica. Gymnastics is crazy - how do human bodies even do that? Also, how do they not get seasick when doing a triple flip? So many mysteries!
Yeah, I guess that's where the fascination to watch it comes from, it seems impossible but it's real. I also read about the 'twisties' from Simone's experience, the nausea and impossibility to land properly after those triple flips... scary and fascinating at once!
Favourite Olympic event : all paralympic sports
Favourite athlete : Valerie Tarazi (Palestinian-American swimmer)
:)
Love it!
Re: footnotes 5 and 9: Hey, Gunnar's self-esteem! Leave him alone! He's doing a good job!
Also, re: those footnotes and athletics being inspiring and intimidating: I don't get to watch much of the Olympics except for clips on YouTube because of internet and copyright restrictions where I live (and, honestly, not caring enough to find a pirate source to watch.) I do get to watch and participate in athletic events on our tiny island. And what's really striking to me is how amazing humans in general are in using their bodies, and how little difference there is between elite athletes and people who are just in ok shape.
So, for instance, the world's record for men's squat is 1052 pounds. But the champion for men's squat on our tiny island of fewer than 2000 people is ~500 pounds, which, sure, is less than half of the world record but not that far off. There's a 6 K, 3 K of elevation gain trail run here every year. The world record holder for that kind of event can complete it in about 45 minutes. Our fastest runner completes it in about 48 minutes. And I, a 5'2", overweight, 50 year old woman who never even went to the gym until about 10 years ago can complete it in just under 2 hours. Which is actually pretty close, when you think about it.
Of course watching Simone Biles do flips like she's an anime character is stunning, and of course normal folks won't ever be able to achieve those heights. But the fact that normal people can still do flips at all is pretty amazing. I think that people would be happier if they didn't compare their abilities to those of elite athletes in terms of what the normal people can't do, but in terms of what we can. Because all humans have a lot of really remarkable capabilities that we shouldn't let go unrecognized just because they're not as super-remarkable as someone on TV.
Thank you; this means a lot.
"... what's really striking to me is how amazing humans in general are in using their bodies" This is *the* mindset we need!
I was excited to see this one come through! As a gymnast-turned-volleyballer (true story), I know this lesson all too well (and thanks for the shoutout!). I’ve also seen and heard (and experienced) my fair share of dysmorphia, and while they did used to teach us about this at a once-a-year talk with the university dietitian (and it was introduced to us as part of the female athlete triad, a medical condition female athletes can run into that includes eating disorders, amenorrhea, and osteoporosis), there wasn’t a ton of emphasis on actually helping us remain healthy in that way because the system definitely incentivizes physical optimization over long-term physical and mental health. That said, I think athletes at these top levels have really helped to shift the conversation more towards long-term health in recent years.
But also, I heard once and didn’t follow up to look into whether it was true (I just chose to believe it because confirmation bias!) that bodies that experienced consistent strength training during the earlier years of life tend to retain that ability for muscle mass throughout the entirety of their life (like, it’s forever easier to get back into shape once they fall out of it). Do you know anything about this? I wonder what the mechanism would be if that was true.
Great post!
Thanks, Danielle!
There are so many good points there.
- Kind of shocking how long the female athlete triad was seen as 'part of the deal'.
- You're right; there are a few very high-profile athletes in the past few years who have explicitly addressed the mental health challenges, which is great - and I think the ripple effect of that can be very beneficial.
- Not an expert, but until last year or so, that muscle 'rebound' was thought to be through learned motor patterns, but a few studies in mice suggest that trained muscle recruits new nuclei *and* don't lose those. As a result formerly trained muscle may have more nuclei, and so remains more primed for protein production. All speculative, but very coole.
! However, let's talk about the most interesting thing: gymnast-to-volleyballer?! That's not a common trajectory.
See, I think gymnast-to-volleyballer is a tired trope.
And I love that you know the muscle rebound thing! But what happened last year? Was there a new study or something?
Is gym-to-court a common transition? (Anecdotally, among male gymnasts it is quite unusual…)
Looks like I was waaay off on timing. I learned the myonuclei thing last year, but the idea has been floating around for a while (2010: https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.0913935107) and in humans, there may be epigenetic mechanisms at play too (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5789890/).