Why PE class probably sucked, and what you can learn anyway

"Those who can't do, teach; those who can't teach, teach gym." - Woody Allen, Annie Hall

I'm not sure how it is today, but my days in PE class were less than satisfying. Jumping jacks, pushups, situps, and running laps. Then floor hockey or some such thing. And it completely sucked.

Gym class did not suck because it involved effort and sweat - far from it, I was quite physically active, practicing tae kwon do five days a week. Nor was it torture because it was sports I disliked: how can you hate flag football, especially when it's boys against girls? In fact I didn't even realize until recently that the reason why I hated gym class was...there was no reason for it.

For those who don't know (either out of ignorance or denial), "PE" stands for physical education. If you're in a class called that, you would expect to know something about your body and its use. But I did not walk out of there physically educated. I remember several times when teachers of other classes made an effort to explain why we were studying math, or history, or lit; I don't recall a single time that anything was explained in gym. It wasn't PE, it was just P.

And, what is really appalling (apart from our being a nation in worse health than ever), the gym teachers are supposed to know what they're doing. So that should mean they could explain the routines. But did they? No, at least not in any way that stuck. This means kids left school without the know-how to train intelligently. Not that it mattered, since many were successfully discouraged from physical exercise - by the ridiculous jock culture, but more importantly, by the teachers who were supposed to give us the means of independent action. (Which means either the gym teachers didn't know their material, or they didn't know how to teach it. It's ludicrous in any case.)

Of course I could have simply asked, but I didn't. I just tuned out for the most part, in gym and other classes. That much is my fault, and the only thing I can do is own up to it. Nevertheless, the instructors were not exactly encouraging. We were just supposed to keep running, spike the ball, or whatever was on deck that week - then shower up.

Believe it or not, there is a lesson to be learned from the stupidity: if you're going to exercise, it pays to know what you're doing and why you're doing it. Not only will you train more safely, it'll be more interesting because you understand. When you forget why you decided to run (if you thought about it at all), it's harder to stay motivated. And it doesn't need to be that way.

Fortunately you don't have to go into all the details of sports science; get the fundamentals down and add as much detail as needed for your purposes. You don't have to be a geek about it, unless that's what you want. Since your gym teacher didn't give you any principles to work from after graduation, you'll have to find them yourself. My aim is to help you find some of those ideas and sort things through (read: expose bogus notions) where necessary. That way we can go on to do something more for our friends and family, and who knows? - maybe our little world will benefit some too. I don't want to make too much of your workout, but things do have a funny way of generating effects we wouldn't have expected.

Introduction

Welcome to CriticalFitness, a blog dedicated to sorting the wheat from the chaff in health and exercise.

An obvious question is, Why clutter the Internet with yet another site on fitness? What I aim to do here is unclutter it some - as the name says, by taking a critical view of various teachings and findings. The means to that end is reading, experience, and occasionally dumb luck. I will also link to sites that appear sound to me, so you can take in more than one opinion. And I'm open to your comments, questions, suggestions, and criticisms. That's what inquiry is all about: weighing the options and weighing in.

Here is a sample of topics to be treated here:

• Why gym class probably sucked
• What to do with your gut: suck it in, or what?
• How to map out a training program for yourself
• How working out can help your IQ a little
  

As you can see, some of the topics are the usual fare, while some are not as expected. That's because I want to fill a niche, not just recycle the same old stuff. Technical advice can vary, both in principle and details. I'll give you my take and explain myself, so you can then decide. I find that while many concepts are agreed upon, there is a lot of disagreement about how they're applied. And there are little questions that aren't always addressed, but they give athletes some headaches.

Who am I to set up shop as dispenser of health wisdom? Let me tell you who I am and what I bring to the topic. I'm a doctoral candidate in philosophy, finishing up in Leuven, Belgium. My training has given me a fair share of analytical skill, something badly needed in a world glutted with information. Hopefully my work here can apply that skill to a field that needs it.

As for what sorts of exercise I'm interested in, my preferences include combat sports and martial arts. (Yes Virginia, there is a difference between them.) So that will generally mean I'll devote more time to strength and power training, anaerobic endurance, and flexibility. What receives less time, then, is aerobic endurance.

Now that something about who I am, it's time for who I am not. Let me be up front by saying that I am not a personal trainer: I have no interest in the job, and am frankly suspicious of it. Considering the amount of disinformation about exercise and the oodles of money that ride on keeping you cowed, there's little reason for me to want to join the ranks. There are many fine trainers out there, but there are just as many who are believe the junk they've learned from the industry; worse yet, there are even more who just want your money. And it's not always easy to tell who's who - that's where I make an effort, to make some sense out of things.

I'm also not a sports scientist, though I have great respect for the profession. Physiology is an enormously complex field, and conducting good research in sports science is a frustrating affair. So any significant findings ought to be cause for celebration.

Before I forget, the disclaimer. While I take responsibility for giving you the safest, most effective information possible, I do not be take responsibility for any injuries sustained by your use of that information. If you have any doubts about anything in a post, run it by an expert - like a doctor or sport scientist. It is my job to give good reading, it is your job to know your limits. And it's everyone's job to judge for themselves.

In other words, use your head when you use your body. I'm not a guru, don't treat me like one.

So sit back and relax - for now. I hope you enjoy the posts here, and I hope they help your own training.