As you all know, this past week I completed our first boot camp. By any measure, it was an outstanding success (according to the participants) and a great time for everyone, including me. Everyone worked very hard, and I think we all learned some things along the way. (I'll be posting some of the comments on this site in the next couple of weeks) Moreover, it cemented that running these boot camps is something I want to pursue in the future.
I was fortunate this week to meet up with Zack Sandor Kerr, a friend of mine and PR specialist who took time to sit down with me and help me set a vision for this new enterprise. Zack gave me tons to absorb and think about, and so you'll be seeing some changes to this site over the next few weeks, along with a new site specifically reserved for the boot camps. Even for someone who is relatively tuned in to the tech world and social media, when you talk to a professional, it's quite startling to realize how little you actually know.
The same is true of the fitness world. When I first started training a few years ago, I spent the majority of my first six months playing catch-up. At least, that's how it felt. Despite two decades in the gym and years of coaching and working as a strength consultant for various teams, there was a seemingly endless amount of information to process. These days, I feel relatively caught up, and it helps to have married someone who knows more than I do about fitness and nutrition.
The purpose of a boot camp is not only to kickstart your drive towards being fit, but also help you 'catch-up' in a field that is much deeper than it appears. In many ways, it's like taking a course, albeit a fun one. (Gotta be fun!) A number of people at the last boot camp were amazed at what they were able to learn, sometimes simple things that really helped put other things in perspective. I think is especially helpful in a culture where we are overwhelmed with information.
Fitness and Sexuality
For those of you who visit my regular website, you've already seen some of the firestorm my article caused this past week. It was an article aimed at finding Mr./Mrs. Right, in which I admonished singles who refused to put in the hard work to be fit that they shouldn't complain when other people found them unattractive. A great deal of the complaints came from married women with children, who were not the target of the article. Obviously, life demands change when we have kids. Perhaps the real problem is the tie between fitness and sexuality. People were upset, I think, because the article felt like I was rudely suggesting that a women needs to be "hot" to be loved. And when she has children and is no longer hot, perhaps does not need to be loved?! I know how it sounds, but that wasn't the point at all. So let me be blunt.
I'm tired of people, specfically women, being put so low on their own priority list that they can't find time to work out or go for a walk or a bike ride because everyone else comes first. Self-care is a must for everyone. If your wife/girlfriend/partner/mom has no time for herself, make an effort to give her some time. This is especially true with mothers, who are so giving with their time, they tend not to take the time they need. Can we all agree to honour their commitment by helping lift some of their burdens so they can have time for themselves.
I'm tired of people making excuses for our obese society. Obesity is not only a killer, it's a life changer. Especially for children. We're too caught up in being politically correct (so we don't say anything), or we're just too rude (and we make fun of others), to simply be honest, without inflection or condemnation.
Fitness is not about looking like the skinny girls on the cover of magazines. They aren't fit. Fitness is a healthy, whole, balanced lifestyle that requires neither arrogance or wealth. Not everyone can afford to buy organic food (we don't), but we can all slow down a bit, turn the TV off, and do some stairs.
Fitness is about you. Ultimately, it's about taking care of what God's given you. It's learning to have a good time and being honest with ourselves about how we look and some of our habits. It's not about changing overnight, but working towards a healthier journey.
I wrote a follow up to the first article about Finding Mr./Mrs. Right, and imaginatively named it Part II. Mostly it's about fitness and sexuality. If you're interested, you can find it here.
Thanks, everyone. I'll keep you up to date on the boot camp developments.
-Steve
No comments:
Post a Comment