To Gym or not to Gym?
I started gymming after a friend pointed out that I was in no shape to defend my girlfriend from hooligans. It was the first year of college. I had neither abs or a girlfriend. And I had no plans. But to my adolescent mind that was reason enough to start. 15 years later I still can’t stop gymming. Motivations have changed and so has the GDP. But I still go three days a week, 4 if I am not touring and not writing such posts at 2 in the night. It is better than any other habit I would have picked up in college. But all these years later I am still not sure if regular exercise is a good investment in time.
Nicholas Taleb says, ‘Gymming is to physical exercise what social media is to socializing.’ It should come down to goals and my current goals are longevity and aesthetics, in that order. But then Taleb also says, ‘Modernity’s dual curse is to both to make use live longer and age faster.’ And if your gym plays Kabir Singh on loop for 6 months straight, is the longevity even worth it? Research over the past several years has been disconcerting.
Even at the lowest average of 2 days per week and 45 minutes per session, I have spent 70,000 mins = 50 full days at the gym, more than three months if you count only waking hours. Not to mention, coming and going, shower and supplements. I hope that it is at least adding more days than it is taking away.
Research on this topic over the last several years has been disconcerting. One study shows mice who were on a healthy diet outlived mice who were on a healthy diet plus exercise. The hypothesis is that while there are benefits; exercise adds to the wear and tear of the body which adds up as ageing and all the conditions that come with it. This is corroborated by latest research on ageing that shows intermittent fasting as the surest way to live longer. All the protein supplements and excess calories cannot be helping. Most of us overeat as if we are compensating for dying of starvation in a previous life. Mild exercise and dignified eating are the only way to go.
What about all the Mr. Olympias and other sportsmen then? The straight answer is, we never hear from the ones who are past their prime and off the air. And they don’t have a day job to hold on to.
There are fringe benefits of improved posture and confidence, increased basal metabolic rate and an endorphin boost. But as a student of philosophy I am too acutely aware of the passage of time to let these be deal-breakers. In a world of unlimited pleasures, taking out an hour or more for exercise is nothing short of sacrifice. And just feeling good about yourself cannot be reward enough. The media onslaught of perfect bodies and the Nike onslaught of sweaty motivational videos is overwhelming. But if you are someone who reads my blogs you can easily see past these things at least more than the average Salman fan.
The clock of mortality is ticking constantly. All of our efforts to shore up against its ultimate collection day are so in vain that it is not even funny. Coveting an idealized physique or even some arbitrary peak performance may be taking way more time from the bank than the quality it adds. It is like we are all preparing hard for a final exam for which the result is already out. The best we can do is celebrate the anti-climax. To quote one of the greatest movies of all time, ‘Get busy living, or get busy dying.’
- Punit Pania
