Integrity in Sports

We can play a sport or we can watch - spectate- at a sporting event. We can participate in or watch solo sports such as running or team sports. Many of us have participated in youth sports.  At the highest most elite level most of us are spectators

So why do we watch and why do we participate? It is so easy to watch now that there is TV and other electronic means. We watch to be entertained, we watch to observe seemingly giant egos, very successful people. We watch at a family gathering. We watch to relax and take our mind off of ourselves for awhile.  It is a diversion. 

But that can't be quite all. After all why that particular form of diversion? Athletic competition is an ancient occupation. Why all the training, why all the sacrifice for an entertainment, a diversion? There are many other forms of diversion, a sitcom for instance. When we ask these questions it begins to be obvious that there is something unique about sports. It is in fact the constant training, the mental and physical focus, the goal orientation, the wholeheartedness that is demanded that is at the heart of the meaning of sport. It is not only a diversion it is a vicarious or participatory experience of what it takes to be champion.

The word athlete originally had the meaning of striving for a prize. When a team  wins a prize there is a trophy awarded. When a runner wins a race he/she stands on a podium and in some cases is given a gold medal. As it has always been winning represents, dedication, sacrifice, determination, teamwork, practice,  learning and skill development. But going back thousands of years writers have called our attention to two kinds of winning, that which fades and that which lives on and two types of awards, the perishable and the imperishable. There are really two types of rewards as Vince Lombardi is quoted as saying "All of the noise and all of the glamour all of the color all of the excitement all of the rings and all of the money. These are the things that linger only in the memory. But the spirit, the will to excel, the will to win, these are the things that endure." And as the apostle Paul stated "Now everyone who competes exercises self-control in everything. They do it to receive a perishable crown, but we an imperishable crown." The real value of sport is as a metaphor for life. A clear illustration of principles that can be carried over into all areas of like. This is why love to see athletes overcome great adversity, it inspires us as to what could be. This is why we love to the beauty of movement or skill that is mastered.  

There is a goal to win, perhaps to win at all costs.There is another goal to excel, to persevere to practice to learn to master. Cheating is rampant in sports. Anything in any form to give an edge to help assure a win. We can be disappointed when sports heroes turn out to have very little of the character that we might admire. We become cynical when it is all about money.  But that doesn't change the fact that much can be learned from the discipline, dedication and practice that produce great victories.

The word integrity has as one of its definitions adherence to a moral code and it originates from integer or intact. It is also related to the word integrate which is to blend into a unified whole. The idea of value to us is that a true athlete, a true human most of all integrates, blends into a whole the goal of winning with the commitment to and love of the process. The true athlete /human is the same on the inside as the outside, he/she is seeking the enduring prizes, the lasting rewards.

Don't we want our children to learn values from sport and yet don't some youth coaches go all out to win with little regard to lasting life lessons other than the score? Don't some parents want their children above all to be on a winning team and accrue all the possible benefits of winning? How many times do each of us pursue only an outward goal with little regard for what we might be learning along the way. Is it not  time that society develops a different paradigm, a different way of defining fitness and success, a more integrated one?

Five Tips For Clarifying Your Purpose In Life

1. Ask questions such as:

What would you do if money was no issue?What do you enjoy doing?What is stopping you from doing what you want?What comes naturally to you?What are your values?What things have you done in the past that demonstrated gift or leadership, that perhaps created enjoyment, encouragement understanding, comfort, or inspiration for others?What do you find yourself doing with your spare time?What do you really hate doing and why?Is there anything you feel compelled to do or be to make the world a better place – hint don’t look for only big things or think only of the whole world, think of the deep things inside you, they may be small and delicate as well as big and fierce. 

2. Make time for mindfulness

In today's busy world with most of us spending 40+ hours/ week at work, 8 hr/day sleeping, and several hours eating, commuting, preparing for work, and then coming home and paying attention to family an entire week can go by quickly and with no real downtime. Try to build a little time into each day to focus on your inward needs instead of only the external concerns we all have. Time in nature, running, hiking, camping or simply sitting on a bench to eat lunch in the glorious sunshine can have a healthy restorative effect. Take a quiet vacation even a short one occasionally. Nothing dulls our awareness of our own spirit more than habitual constant business.

3. Embody Strength. Find out what it is like to live with a neutral balance posture that carries over into a balanced life.

Dr. Feldenkrais, a pioneer in neuroplasticity defined good posture as a posture that allows you to move in any direction and any time without prior preparation. Unlike the common idea of good posture as a static rigid vertically, Feldenkrais saw a vertical standing achieved through good use of, that is good balance on the bones of the skeleton so that posture could involve minimal use of the muscles and thus minimal effort as a starting place for human movement.  From this poised, relaxed position a person could move, up, down, left, right, forward, or backward or combinations of these with ease. In fact due to the unique human high center of gravity in standing and narrow base of support on only two legs humans can initiate movement in any direction just by allowing their center of mass located just above the pelvis to move in any direction. Try standing and allowing the ankles to bend just barely enough to feel that you must move forward. That was very easy wasn’t it? Just to slightest hint of allowing the center of gravity to move forward, just a little thought and you are walking.

Actors know that how we hold are bodies is indicative of emotional states. They will hang their heads to express a difficult emotion or they may stand taller to express something like confidence. By deliberately and constantly using an easy standing that relies on a tall torso balanced over the bones you have a powerful tool that can be used to create a more balanced inner life, one not totally distracted by external concerns. Experiment with this way of standing and moving through a day or read some of Dr Feldenkrais’ books to go deeper.

4, Don’t go to far afield in your search

When we begin to think in terms of purpose and personal destiny we are sometimes looking for something big and outside ourselves, something that we can’t quite grasp, something that needs to be revealed to us. While it is true that most of us use only 5 or 10% of our true potential and there are so many things available for us to learn in life and the amount of personal expansion that we can do is unlimited, there is another thing to consider when you begin. The reason you were put here has never been so far away. The things that you have always wanted to do, the things that you were always naturally inclined to do have been with you since you were a child. We often negate our gifts, and inclinations because society says that we can’t make money doing that or that is not of much value. So we look elsewhere and we find nothing. Look close to home. I remember stories I could tell about being what I enjoyed as a child. I remember going to my grandmother’s house for a day or two and I would have to take a sketch pad and perhaps a book. In all the years. Through all my years of making a living I have always wanted to come back to my love of visual art and through it the expression of certain ideas. I have come back to that and now make time for painting. I could look back to my childhood for examples of leadership, the foundations of ability to teach and a love of nature among other things.

I will leave you with one other example. Mark Allen, six time world Ironman champion may have been looked down on by some because of the amount of time he devoted to the very new sport of triathlon. Who could make a living doing that?  Years after winning all of his titles Mark Allen has made a career of inspiring and coaching others. He is still at the top of a profession that might not have existed except for athletes like himself who chose to dedicate themselves to it. Mark Allen’s love of endurance sports has been with him all his life. Don’t look too far afield when you begin to explore your purpose it has been right in front of you in the little details all your life,

5. Life is a process

There is a certain simplicity in finding your purpose. There are two real factors that make if complicated. The first is that we are taught from and early age so many things that will fit us into society but will dull us to the knowledge of ourselves. It is a difficult thing to remove by stages the mask that society has placed on us. The second is that life is a process. We don’t know all of life’s twists and turns until we get there. Life itself is complicated. Please don’t think that you can fully and ultimately know the fullness of your purpose without a lifetime of exploration.

I leave you with a final word, keeping digging, keep learning, keep listening, keep asking, keep expanding.
 
 

Fitness: A Primal Concept and It is Not Optional

What is fitness? When you turn to the dictionary for a definition of the term you get two ideas. The first is very general, fitness means being suitable for something. The right tool for the job is fit for the job. Fitness then is context specific. When someone wants to be fit you have to ask what they want to be fit for. The second idea takes us further. Fitness is the ability to adapt to the environment you find yourself in. The most primitive single celled organism must be able to respond to the conditions that its environment presents. It must be able to adapt to heat and cold, atmospheric conditions, and a host of other conditions present around it, or it does not survive. If it does not survive it cannot be considered fit. Likewise, with the most complex life forms, and even with the human animal fitness is evident in the ability to survive in whatever environmental circumstances they are faced with. 

 Fitness is first survival. Human fitness though has another aspect. Humans have a need to grow and learn, that is greater than all other species. Humans are the learning animal. To be considered truly fit humans must thrive. They must harness the power of abstract thinking and awareness to come up with solutions that elevate their place in the environment.

Our ubiquitous cultural definition of fitness as only physical fitness obviously falls short of the whole concept of being fit. The original definition of fitness referred to life fitness, to being fit for life.  Physical fitness while important is a small subset of the definition of the word. The single celled organism doesn’t exercise, it responds. The lion and the antelope don’t do regimented conscious exercises though they have an impressive physical presence. Our primitive ancestors did not exercise, they lived, learned and responded. Physical fitness or life fitness. There is big difference. The main mechanisms of physical fitness are 1. Repetition of certain movements and 2. Progression of physical challenge, more weight, more repetitions, more miles, faster times, more range of motion etc. Physical fitness is extremely important, and its advantages are many however it may does not address the whole person. The broader concept of life fitness does.

Three mechanisms of life fitness

Mind-body unity, learning, obstacles and resilience. 

1. It includes physical fitness, but it adds the mechanisms of Body-Mind unity.  If you are someone who enjoys exercise or sports or have physical goals you can achieve far more than you thought possible if you do not go about it mindlessly. The inner game is of utmost importance in everything you undertake. Body-Mind unity means embodying what you want, having it expressed thoroughly in your body and mind at the same time Body-Mind unity means you don’t emphasize one over the other, they are both integrated into all your actions.
2. It involves learning which is the primary human advantage over all other animals. Humans cannot fly unaided, they cannot tear a seal apart with their teeth and claws as a polar bear can, but they are capable of more and deeper learning. Learning involves the ability to change both themselves and their environment defines humanity. As in the parable when a seed falls into the ground and quietly dies it opens itself to becoming a giant oak tree so an entire human life can be seen as a magnificent growing and learning experience.
3. It is process oriented rather than goal oriented which means that there are no quick fixes. Mastery requires time.  
4.  It involves progressive challenge in all areas of life not just in those that effect physical appearance or physical stamina. All obstacles can be seen as learning experiences and there is not an obstacle, challenge or struggle that individual humans have not been able to turn into a positive if sometimes painful experience. 

Advantages of Life Fitness

It means you are not missing the whole point of fitness, you can adapt. 

  Human life is said to have originated on the plains of Africa. Imagine the position our primitive ancestors were in when they were faced with predators like the lion. Humans were first a victim. A bare-handed human is no match for a lion. Lions have been known to eat people. Humans learned to make spears and then learned to improve them over time. The tables turned, and we humans were no longer only prey. From victim to a greater mastery of our environment. In the Masai tradition the lion hunt was a right of passage, a symbol of personal bravery and high achievement. One spear is sufficient to kill a lion, yet it took courage, commitment and skill to hunt the lion and the possibility always existed even for a skilled hunter that the lion might win.

Most of us will never hunt a lion with a spear yet the possibility of elevating your place in the environment through skill and commitment remains a good definition of the broader meaning of fitness - life fitness. Awareness of the current situation you are in is a prerequisite for correct response and use of skill. What do you fear and where could you apply more commitment and skill to change your life? In other words what situations are asking you to find a way to adapt, to change yourself or to change your environment. 

1.  You can learn, you can grow, you can change. You can deal with the inner environment as well as the outward one.

If you exercise consistently you may have stronger muscles, be able to run farther, change your VO2 Max, and you may even create other healthy conditions. You do this through carefully exposing yourself to physical challenges, progressive training. But this is not all there is to fitness. Stepping outside your comfort zone in the more metaphorical sense is necessary for deeper growth. Awareness and embodiment are two of your most powerful tools to deeper learning, transformation and accomplishment.

Your center of gravity when you are standing is located just below the navel and in front of the spine. Your most powerful muscles are located toward the center of your body, ready and available to move your center. The gluteus maximus (butt) is usually the thickest muscle in cross section in the body. It is powerful and relatively fatigue resistant. There are many exercises that you might do to strengthen this large and important muscle. But instead of exercise I would like to direct you to some movements that will increase your awareness of this muscle and how it functions and allow you to move more powerfully.

Lie down on the floor and squeeze your glutes powerfully many times.  Pay attention! What direction do your knees tend to move when you do this? How does your pelvis move? Pause briefly. Now squeeze only the right glute many times. What direction does your pelvis move now? Does it roll to the left? Squeeze only the left glute many times. What is this movement like?

Come to a kneeling position. Squeeze both glutes powerfully a number of times. How does the pelvis move now? Does the pelvis tilt forward? 

While still on your knees place the left knee out in front on the right leg with the knee bent at 90 degrees. Squeeze your glutes and notice that you can only squeeze your left glute powerfully. What does your pelvis do? Does it rotate to the left? Switch the position of the legs with the right leg bent out in front of the left leg. Squeeze the glutes again. How is this movement different?

 All these questions are increasing your awareness of how you use this mighty area of yourself. Stand up and squeeze your glutes, keep squeezing them many times. Does your pelvis tilt more than is necessary for proper standing? While still standing, pause and rest for a few moments. Now Squeeze only the left glute a few times powerfully. Stop, pause and squeeze only the right glute a few times. Squeeze both glutes and notice which way the knees turn. Can you feel them turning to the outside? Can you feel your weight shift a bit to the outsides of your feet? Intentionally shift some weight to the outsides of your feet and curl your big toe under toward your heel just a bit so that your arch increase slightly. Do this every time you contract both glutes. Pause. Stand and notice how your standing is now.

Walk around the room and see what you can notice. Does your walking feel more powerful? Run a few yards just to notice. What do you sense? Do you feel more powerful or different? What if you climbed a few stairs now? You have not done any real exercise, you have not done these movements day after day, week after week, yet you have increased your power through awareness, by taking the time to notice.

Now dig deeper. Think in broader terms. What is your center? What are you like inwardly in the center of your being, what are your gifts your unique strengths? Think, notice, sense, feel and see how you use those strengths. Feel the power that is unique to you, maybe you can’t put it all into words, but you can feel the areas in which you potentially move into life in easy and fulfilling ways. Turn a quiet but powerful focus onto the strengths that were there since the day you were born. Feel the difference this makes in the way you stand and move about. Return repeatedly to a sense of your own balance and ability to move in any direction to do what you most deeply want in life. Keep digging deeper, keep exploring, keep asking questions, keep noticing where your strengths lie and how to use them.

2.  You can thrive, you can fully use your own strengths, you can find self-satisfaction, you can contribute your uniqueness to society.

By now you should see that there is more to fitness than exercise. Nothing very  profound can be accomplished without awareness. It is said that most human beings use only a very small percentage of their potential, perhaps 5 or 10 %.  In the pyramid above we see a process-oriented approach to fitness. By slowing down, noticing and esteeming the process more highly than a quickly achieved external goal we have the opportunity to achieve at a very much higher level, to get to a higher level of personal satisfaction and value to and service to others. Remember that time is irrelevant if you are doing what you, want. When you are doing what you enjoy you will not mind spending time on it. In this pyramid there is no failure only continued experimentation, trial and error and improvement.

 There are a couple of secrets to this pyramid, the first is the proper use of effort. Effort for efforts sake is of little value, but effort toward the development of greater skill is a secret to success. Next it is not trying harder that matters but the sorting out of conflicting desires and interests. High intrinsic achievement, a life lived fully requires focus on the most important things. It requires not more effort as such but the laying aside of distractions, hindrances. You don’t need to do it perfectly but increase your focus when you are accomplishing a high priority by being willing to let go of distractions, deepen your commitment, unify your will, take your time.  Dig deeply enjoy your gifts, become more aware, go through the process of learning and experimenting and achieve greatly. You will!

How Should We Exercise? Structure, Function and Form, Form Follows Function, Function Determines Form

Form follows function is most familiar to us an architectural principle of the 20th century. It is a basic idea about how a building should be designed. It is an interesting idea. Really all buildings have some kind of a structure and that structure must support the basic purpose or function of the building. There are lots of architectural interpretations of what this saying might mean though.

Form also follows function in biology. It means that for a certain function to be done, a biological structure will adapt a certain form. This occurs all the way from the cellular level up to the macro level. (ask.com) As humans we can apply this principle in a number of ways. First as a species, we had to evolve or develop certain structures to support human biology, for instance structures to support upright walking. But on the level of a single lifetime, we also have to develop structures to support the activities that constitute our individual life. It is daily activities, habits and personality that shape the structures that support our individual lives.

For instance we can use the example of Olympic athletes. Millions of people watch the Olympics every four years. We all get a chance to compare the physiques, the structures of athletes in different sports. These physiques are built up by years of training, usually constituting most of an athlete’s upbringing and adult life up to the point of Olympic competition. How immensely different are the bodies of the shot putter vs. the Olympic marathoner. Most of the earth’s people are not Olympic athletes. However, we can learn much from their example. The thickness of their bones, strength and size of their muscles, the speed and endurance they possess are all products of their training, which is in fact their lifestyle.

You will find that a high level athlete with a high skill level at his/her own sport, developed over thousands of hours of practice and training may have a low level of ability in other sports. A heavy muscular frame is not suited to setting a world record in the marathon. Each of these athletes has developed themselves into a specialist because that is what they wanted to be. Each of them now looks like the specialist they are. All of us have innate abilities, things that we want to do, and ways of expressing ourselves. Why should we subscribe to the idea that all of us should follow some standardized exercise procedure? When we talk about fitness, we have to ask, fit for what? As in the examples above, any training should only be something that takes us on a path towards what we want.

Here is an excerpt from a recent article

“There truly is only one reason to exercise: To increase your metabolism in order to burn more calories 24 hours a day, seven days a week. What is the only style of exercise that accomplishes that goal? Strength training. Increasing your metabolism through strength training is the key to successful, permanent weight loss.” (http://health.yahoo.net/experts/yahoo-spotlight/why-your-cardio-routine-making-you-fat)

Really? Really? That is the only reason to exercise? Are we just machines that have to be maintained as we would maintain our cars? Or are we human beings with individuality and purpose?

If we turn our attention back to the idea of architecture, we realize that all buildings are built with a purpose. They are built as an office building, a shopping mall, a residence, and they all reflect that purpose. Who are we? What is our purpose, and what do we want? Our purpose and function will in large measure determine our structure and form. There is a difference between fitness and health and the idea of training. “Movement is Life” and all of us must move and enjoy moving in some way. Training on the other hand is specificity, and is useful in forming and expressing our individuality. What is your purpose? Your purpose and the meaning of your life will determine how you build your structure. Here is an excerpt from a recent article in the NY TIMES

“In addition to activities like walking, jogging, cycling and swimming that promote endurance, cardiovascular health and weight control, there is a dire need for exercises that improve posture and increase strength, flexibility and balance. These exercises can greatly reduce the risk of injuries...”This is only an excerpt but it does suggest the typical exercise paradigm. Strength, aerobics, and flexibility, or stretching, all these are undoubtedly important but they are again a suggestion that we are merely mechanical beings. There is rarely a mention of skill, the power of the brain and nervous system to learn new things and movements that develop our true health and purpose, or the idea that we are a whole person and not just a collection of parts. There is almost never a mention of awareness as fundamental to our health and progress.

Awareness reveals our strengths and weakness. Most of us have developed weak links by the age of 40, according to Dr. Nicholas De Nubile. To age well we must have some knowledge of our own individual weak links as well as our strengths. Without knowledge of ourselves we are liable to cause injuries that could have been prevented. Awareness points us toward a lifetime of functional activity especially in the areas that are most important to us. It teaches us to do things moment by moment. That’s what keeps us strong and well aligned, instead of functioning by society’s ideas and repeating endlessly repetitive routines. Did you know that consistent attendance to repetitive exercise routines could itself be harmful at times? Why not design all your activity around your purpose. What is your passion? What are your goals? How do you want to express yourself? These are the pursuits that your fitness could serve. Directed, effective fitness requires continual learning.

The standard strength, stretch and cardio are not enough to keep you healthy and moving toward your potential if you ignore the learning component of fitness and health, the brain. We all think, but what is proper thought? Without proper thought we do not age well, nor do we fulfill our potential in any area. According to Dr. Feldenkrais, proper thought is thought that causes improved action. “It is not enough to know, you must act” (Bruce Lee). Add skill, self knowledge and learning to your conception of health and fitness and you will prosper. Don’t exercise the way the “experts” say to do it. Exercise the way your passion demands. But don’t “Just do it”. Do it first with purpose and passion, then skill and knowledge, then directed fitness and training.

How should we exercise? Exercise to fulfill your purpose on earth. Let the rest follow.

Scott Forrester is Student Awareness Through Movement Instructor, a 4th year Feldenkrais Student, PTA and CPT.

The New Fitness Pyramid: First Principles

What are the training principles that will take us where we want to go, to realizing more of our individual potential?  Let’s look at two ideas that will get us started.

First we need self knowledge. Who are we and what do we want?  I am training for a 50k run in April.  A friend is training for a half marathon.  My wife wants to improve her health, maintain enough endurance to enjoy short walks, and live with less pain. Another friend wanted to be able to continue to continue to play and practice the piano without succumbing to pain due to long hours of practice in where she held habitual positions at the keyboard.

There are no quick fixes. Better health and function are processes taking place over a lifetime.  This process always involves learning.  The more we know what we want and what we are currently doing, the more we can do what we want.  Questions to ask might include:

• ·         How old am I?

• ·          What is my current state of training/ health? 

• ·         What are my strengths/ weakness?

• ·         How do I approach training / life?

• ·         What is really involved in doing what I want?

• ·         Am I aware of the little things and their value?

• ·         Do we give our bodies/ minds the things they need to succeed?

• ·         Do we realize that it is as or more important how we do things as that we do them?

All these questions deserve a separate article. Books have been written about each of them.  In the long run, the process is as important as the goal.  It is all about particular kinds of learning.

The next principle is consistency. We can all recall the story of the tortoise and the hare.  It is a great parable. My dad had a number of sayings that he would use repeatedly and he liked to say “slow and easy does it”.  Slow and easy gets the job done.  I had difficulty taking that advice as a kid, preferring to bull my way through most things, yet the advice still echoes in my mind.  Millions of Americans have seen the Grand Canyon and marveled at how the Colorado River carved a mile deep gorge over eons of time.

 Persistence has no equal and yet we are accustomed to everything happening quickly in the 21^st century.  If we have to stand in line, we may just go somewhere else where we can get served more quickly.  We want the pizza delivered in 10 minutes, perfect body in 30-90 days. We want a faster race time achieved quickly through a generic training program. We come to physical therapy wanting to be “fixed” as quickly as possible, instead of persisting or leaning new habits.  It is simply the way of life in the modern world.

Legendary champion Mark Allen, winner of six ironman triathlon world titles trained smarter than most of his competition.  He took days off when needed. He acknowledged his age when going for his sixth ironman title at age 37 and modified his training and focused his training to provide an optimal environment with enough training challenges, sleep, and nutrition.  He was ahead of his time in using carbon fiber bicycles. Most of all he developed inner confidence.  It took many years of training his inner and outer self before he came to dominate the sport.  Mark Allen also failed to defeat Dave Scott six times before he finally succeeded in winning his first title in Hawaii.

Like Mark each of us can realize that we cannot do it all with determination and brute force. Life-long experiential learning is necessary.  Learn, persist, and be consistent.  Consistency trumps a single hard effort. A one days flood does not carve a very deep canyon.

For help with your training / goals, contact Scott Forrester at awareathletes@gmail.com

By Scott Forrester, LPTA, CPT, Running form coach, Feldenkrais student Awareness Through Movement Instructor