I have a confession to make. A few nights ago I realized I was the most out-of-shape fit person I know. I walk around at less than 8% body fat, I can move a lot of heavy weights, and I can gain muscle mass with incredible ease…. but I don’t think I could run two miles to save my life. Needless to say, I had a fun weekend testing this theory.
Two Assumption Shattering Experiences
It all started with the Warrior Diet experiment I’m doing. I had some strongly held beliefs about nutrition and diets for so long that my mind was almost closed to anything new that broke that mold. I’m glad I pushed myself outside my comfort zone to give this diet a fair trial, because it’s been absolutely amazing. My close minded assumption was shattered.
My next experience was very recent. Early last week, I was doing some shopping on Amazon, and a book came up recommended to me called Born To Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen. That kind of piqued my interest – Ancient tribes? Hidden marathons? World’s Never Seen? Interest was definitely piqued. I threw it in my cart, and it arrived with my other books late last week.
After dinner on Saturday, I had planned to relax and read for just a few minutes and then see what some friends were doing… but as I flipped the first few pages of this book, I got sucked in. Some long held beliefs about running were definitely being challenged.
I had always controlled my body fat through changing my diet, lifting heavy weights to keep my metabolism on fire, and doing low intensity cardio like walking on a treadmill. I had talked to many people, and they all said the same thing – Running destroys your joints over time, your ankles, knees and feet will take a beating. Many runners I knew were constantly plagued with injuries, everything from foot issues to sore knees.
And just like that, swayed by other people, I adopted that assumption. Fine with me, I didn’t like running anyways!
Back to Saturday night… I end up sitting there for 4 hours straight and read this 300-page book cover to cover. It was one of those books that just completely changed my world view. The author writes about his journey to go see the Tarahumara tribe, an ancient tribe in Mexico that runs up to 100 kilometers a day… for fun. He covers all sorts of crazy things, like when some dude brought some Tarahumara to the United States to put them in marathons and they kicked ass, but the guy coordinating it all ended up being a psychotic idiot and that was the last of that.
We all hold our assumptions and sometimes they go unquestioned. My assumption that running was bad for you was almost fully dispelled in this book. There’s a reason why 8 out of 10 typical runners in North America will get injured this year… and almost none of the Tarahumara. When I started to piece together the data as I read through the book, it all started to make sense to me.
It Had To Happen
Sunday morning. I actually had a vivid dream about running, and after getting up and doing some work, I looked outside. Hmm… seemed pretty dry out, not too much ice… It was calling me.
Let’s be clear here. In the last 5 years, I’ve gone for a run perhaps three times. It’s way, way down on my list of favorite past-times. But this time was different.
Instead of looking at running as the terrible, lung-torching, monotonous activity it used to be in my mind, I looked at it as my natural function. I just set myself in the mindset that I was just going to have a lot of fun.
I strapped on my Vibram Five Fingers shoes, which are incredibly cool shoes that mimic being barefoot, and off I went. These things are as awesome as they are hideous.
I don’t know how long I ran distance wise, but it was probably an anti-record. A distance so terrible that it gets it’s own record of terribleness. It took me 20 minutes of walking around the house gasping afterwards to finally bring my breathing rate down. Shameful. That being said… it was amazing. I’ve only felt this way running once before when I went on a spontaneous long sprint through a forest trail with my dog.
My calves, foot muscles, and ankle tendons have terrible muscle soreness right now. But you know what? I know my aerobic capacity was a chink in my armour, and not only am I going to fix it, I’m going to have a hell of a lot of fun doing it.
This all comes back to the assumptions you hold. What would you have to believe to stop you from doing (insert activity)? For me, two big assumptions were fasting and running, and it turns out I was missing out on an easier, healthier, more fun way of doing things.
Being open-minded and trying new things can open up so many opportunities for you. There’s a big question you can ask yourself when confronted with a new idea that interests you – What’s the worst that can happen?
For example, on some forums I participate in where we’re discussing the Warrior Diet, we get a LOT of people who hum and haw and play the What If game.
What I did when I saw the diet is said – Hey, this looks really neat and easy. It doesn’t make a ton of sense, but some people that I respect are trying it and getting surprising results… What’s the worst that can happen? I don’t make any gains and maybe lose a pound or two of muscle? Oh well, it’s easy to gain – let’s try it!
Embrace new things. Be decisive and be open minded to opportunities and ideas that are outside of your comfort zone. I’ve found that every time I open myself to a new idea or concept, even if it doesn’t work out, I always get a new perspective to bring back with me, and am always happier for the experience.
Those times that it does work out, like my e-mail rehab experiment for example, then it can be absolutely awesome.
Allow yourself to recognize your own limiting beliefs and assumptions, and start questioning those at every opportunity. Don’t stop at questioning though… what would happen if you reversed your assumptions? If instead of staying the safe realm of the hypothetical, you actually tested out the strength of your assumptions? That could be fun, couldn’t it?
