What is Health?

What is Health?

I have been in the “fitness” industry, working as a Coach, since 2013. In that time I have been to at least 2 seminars per year with experts ranging in the field of body weight mechanics, to bronze medal Olympic athletes, to world champion Powerlifters, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu black belts, Nutrition “experts,” CrossFit Games champions, Yogi’s, etc., the point is, when I ask these Coaches and “experts” to define “health” there is always a long pause followed by a completely different answer from each person. Even when I narrowed the question, “What is the recommended exercise and nutrition regiment look like for the average human?” I received the same response. If you line up all these individuals I just mentioned, they all look noticeably different in physical appearance, it would only make sense to assume their answers to those questions would also drastically differ. Especially the martial artist. When I ask a Jiu Jitsu black belt the question “what is health” typically one of the first responses is to be able to defend yourself. I, personally, know a LOT of people who have been in the fitness industry for 20+ years and would not even think to mention self defense as a criteria of health.

You can find contradictory evidence everywhere you look in the Fitness industry. Likewise in the Nutrition and even Medical field. The obvious disputes make sense from a superficial level. For example, a 300 lbs Powerlifter is probably going to have some fundamental disagreements with a devout Yoga practitioner. On the surface it would seem as though those two are on opposite planets. However, this fundamental disagreement and even open disrespect happens between Coaches at the top of their game, in the same field! That’s right, their are top level professional Coaches in the Strength and Conditioning community, Jiu Jitsu community, Nutrition community, and every other community from what I can gather that openly disagree with the other “expert.”  

Their are Vegan World Champions just as there are World Champions who swear their performance suffers and they don’t feel right unless they consume lots of Meat. Their are nutrition experts on both sides who have “scientific” research to show positive results for both of their cases and negative results for the other. But what’s important is they BOTH have proven positive results for their clients. Both methods are capable of producing such high level performing humans they become Olympic and World Champions. Both with different and some would say even opposing Nutrition and Physical Fitness regimens. Medical professionals as well, a lot of them differ in their recommendations for nutrition, exercise, prescriptions, and surgical procedures.

So, what is a Coach let alone the average person who just wants to be “healthy” to make of all this? Who do you listen to? I study this for a living and it can be overwhelming. I can one hundred percent understand the average person’s confusion and frustration. Although admittedly, it’s a pet peeve to hear as a Coach, I can understand how the already unmotivated person could received enough contradictory advice on their new “healthy lifestyle” and quickly give it up. This is why I constantly ask this question when around whom I consider to be the best in their field and also clients of mine who just simply want to have more energy to play with their kids.

It’s become clear that this is a subjective question which can only yield subjective answers. The more I ask myself and others over the years I’ve tried to pick out common answers and quite honestly, just use common sense.

I’ll start with Nutrition. Again, this is my opinion thus far in my personal experience of being a Coach and an Athlete. When I work with my clients on nutrition it doesn’t matter to me whether your preference is vegan, carnivore, paleo, etc., all the foods either grow in the ground, swim in the ocean, fly in the sky, or walk on four legs. Essentially, if grocery stores didn’t exist you could hunt, farm, or forage for these foods. The earth provides them for us. If you’re looking to be “healthier” and overall feel, perform, and look better, start there.

Physical Exercise: Obviously we all have our biases and that’s an important thing to recognize. For me, I got into Strength training out of necessity, not want. I had a family member who was very sick and physically could not even sit up in bed on their own. Being strong, at that time, was not an option. That’s why I started Strength training and I continued because once that person passed away, it gave me a positive outlet to express myself. It quickly became a passion and an obsession which then turned into me making it my career. I’ve trained many different disciplines under many different Coaches. Life showed me very blatantly that Strength is never weakness and it’s never an option. I can only assume I will always recommend and practice some form of resistance training. However, before moving weight I strongly believe it’s important to first move your body well first. For me, this means having full range of motion of each joint and control under load in that position. For example, once you have full range of motion of your shoulder I may ask you to carry a lightweight dumbbell overhead, in a safe position, to strengthen your shoulder and core. But if you don’t have full range of motion in your shoulder to begin with, I would never load the joint in a compromised position. That would be my only recommendation; do some form of resistance exercise, that you enjoy, and make sure you’re moving safely and optimally before adding weight(s).

Mental Health: I myself was a very depressed and self conscious teenager who had less mental capacity than physical capacity which wasn’t much. Hands down, my favorite thing about consistent physical exercise combined with optimum nutrition (whatever that looks like for you) is a direct carry over to mental fortitude and a blossoming self confidence that is undeniable. I have personally started training kids at age 12 who walked in the gym, not an ounce of muscle on them, could barely look me in the eye or shake my hand, no self confidence whatsoever, and watched them graduate a strong, capable, confident human with swagger. Do you realize how huge that is? That’s the evolution of a depressed struggling kid into a happy prospering young adult. Here’s how I see it, again just from a common sense point of view, I’m not a neuroscientist, doctor, or psychologist, this is my intuitive observations of myself and others I’ve trained or known personally. From a physics standpoint, human beings are energy, and our energy is demanded by different stressors of life. Again, I barely passed science class let alone understand physics but I am looking at it from a common sense point of view. If I have a certain amount of energy I need to burn off throughout the day, the more important the stressor imposed upon me, the more energy I will burn which is good, I need to burn energy. The problem is, the common stressor for our species for thousands of years included physically strenuous unavoidable activities. Remember, it wasn’t that long ago before industrial farming and transportation. Not only were we required to hunt, farm, and forage for survival, we had to physically walk anywhere we needed to go because modern transportation didn’t exist for the vast majority of time human beings have been on this planet. Nowadays, especially if you live in the west like me, there is food in some form of another on every single corner. There is also an endless means of physical transportation to get you and your food from point A to point B. In fact, I would argue, in certain parts of the world, you could not have to walk more than a few feet per day because of modern technology. You can earn a living working from your home, have your groceries or meals delivered right to your door, and pay all your bills via an app or the internet. Modern technology has essentially made it possible to not have to physically do anything throughout the day to simply survive. Now, going back to the idea that we are energy, and that energy needs to be burned off. Just like a battery, if it doesn’t get used enough it starts to leak, the excess energy is literally finding a way to get out. So, as human beings, I truly believe if we don’t physically burn off our excess energy in one form or another, it will leak out in other ways. Maybe this excess energy will express itself with depression, an exhausting obsession with the past. Or perhaps it will show up in a form of anxiety, an exhausting focus on the potential dangers the future may hold. Hopefully you see my point, energy isn’t biased, it just needs to be used. And if our environment isn’t demanding a consistent physical task from us and we aren’t creating one through an exercise routine, maybe, possibly, it can cause internal imbalances? I don’t know, but it makes sense, to me. Now, I am definitely not saying if you workout, all of life’s problems will go away and you’ll instantly be a great person. Hell no, I am not saying that. I believe in reading, journaling, meditating, being open and honest with yourself, constantly practicing self awareness so we can continue growing mentally and spiritually. I believe in practicing this along with a physical practice. The physical practice is merely a piece to the puzzle of achieving your best life possible.

Self Defense:. Something very interesting happened when I started training Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. At the end of class, we “roll” or sparre with each other for 6 minutes then rest 1 minute and repeat for however many rounds you can last. As someone who has done my fair share of intense workouts over the past 7 years, I can guarantee you, there is no tougher workout than wrestling another human, let alone more than one. So, the interesting thing that started to happen was, I found myself avoiding conflicts at any other time in my day and life as much as possible. Where perhaps in certain situations I would be likely to get fired up and voice my two cents, if I had rolled that day in Jiu Jitsu class, it simply brushed off my shoulders. I believe these to be the reasons why everyone from the quiet kid who is possibly likely to be bullied to the one doing the bullying should start practicing Jiu Jitsu. One, you have now become hyper aware of the possibilities of a physical altercation. Especially, if the other individual is more trained than you or if they have a weapon of sorts. Two, again, we  have a finite amount of energy. If some of that energy is already being expressed in a physical, aggressive, yet healthy and constructive manner, well, now that energy is burned and doesn’t need to rear its ugly head in traffic, the office, or facebook posts. Third, which may be the most important, you begin to develop a sense of confidence and trust in your own body and mind that you will be ok in the face of adversity. Because you practice, on a daily/weekly basis, getting out of compromising situations with other human beings. You start becoming comfortable with the uncomfortable, with adversity. It not only makes you feel more physically capable but mentally as well. You start to feel more resilient in all aspects of life. My only regret is not starting sooner, as with anything new and life changing you are introduced to. When I started Jiu Jitsu, I was in the best shape of my life up to that point, I was the strongest and leanest I had ever been. And I got my ass handed to me by teenagers with barely an ounce of muscle on them. Of course, over time, the more you stay consistent you begin to improve, but it doesn’t come easy, or quickly. You’re forced to deal with your ego and a sense of defeat that even after playing sports my entire life, is unlike anything I have ever felt. After your first roll in Jiu Jitsu, you’re left in a sweaty puddle on the mat, completely exhausted, and forced to deal with your ego and all the bull shit negative talk your mind will construct of why you should never in a million years return to that mat again. And many never do. But, if you stay, you start to understand the philosophy of Jiu Jitsu, which I believe to be, if you stay persistent, humble, and willing to learn, you can conquer any task in life. “A black belt is just a white belt who didn’t quit.” Just like a successful person is someone who learned from their failures and kept going. To put it in mathematical terms, Jiu Jitsu = Humility, Confidence, and Persistence.

So, WHAT IS HEALTH?? I have come to believe, it’s a personal journey to become fulfilled through self improvement. Because, fulfillment is where happiness lies and improvement is growth, evolution, and if we aren’t growing then we are dying. I don’t believe health is purely a physical assessment or test results printed out by your doctor. How many times have you heard from someone who eats poorly, smokes, and or is overweight, tell you they recently saw a doctor and all of their tests came back “perfectly healthy.” BULL SHIT. Either they’re lying or what the hell is the standard of the test? Health must encompass more than blood panels or how much weight you can lift or any other physical ability. The healthier I want to be, the more capable and of service I need to be. How can I contribute to any given situation? If I want to be healthier, I need to move better, talk with more purpose and clarity, have dominion over my thoughts and actions, be capable of carrying my own load and possibly someone else’s. Essentially be a contribution to myself and my community, to all around me. Health is becoming a renaissance man. Health is the commitment of growing into the strongest version of yourself, physically, spiritually, and mentally.

Health & Happiness

• Coach Karli