We hope you're holding up okay. It's been a crazy few weeks here in North America. We paused sending our newsletter out the past few weeks, because it was a time to just listen to the voices who need to be heard the most.
We're working behind-the-scenes at BOMB to do a better job of being inclusive, diverse and openly anti-racist. Stay tuned for updates on how we are progressing.
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Health and fitness usually takes a back seat during stressful times, which is fine at first. But, the dial should never go all the way down to zero.
Here are a couple of things we've been thinking about in our bunker this past week.
1) Exercise takes care of the things you don't see... and that's frustrating
Instant gratification has taken over. We want that book delivered to our porch in a day. We want our stomachs to be instantly flatter after that 20-minute Body Coach workout. We want to feel 5lbs lighter after eating that quinoa salad at lunch.
Someone sent us a video last week with a warning that it's a bit long. It was 6 minutes! Even online movie trailers have a 5-second trailer... for the trailer!
The message is clear: We want the result and the benefit and we want it now!
That's why exercising is so damn hard. We can't see in real-time what the effects of our choices are doing. And it's frustrating.
One way to not be frustrated is to change your perspective in a couple of ways. One, consider that a healthy life is not just about losing weight and thinning down stomachs. It has many non-sexy benefits such as keeping numerous illnesses at bay: Heart disease, cancer, addiction, cognitive deterioration, high blood pressure - the ones you don’t see brewing.
Two, consider that exercise is the compound interest for your health. Treat it as you would a retirement fund or investment fund. Play the long game. Of course, you should re-strategize when required, but most of the time it's best just to do the work and then forget about it.
Then, when everyone else is breaking down at retirement, you'll be strutting around the world with your toy boy (or girl), cashing in on your investment.
P.S. A lot of people like to use examples of a grandparent who didn't exercise, ate burgers for breakfast, lunch, and dinner and lived until they were 95. That might happen if you want to roll the dice and be here for a good time, not a long time. But, this is rare and ultimately an exemption that proves the rule.
Medicine is keeping people alive for longer, but is it really fulfilling to live until you're 90 yet be in terrible pain from age 50?
Don't be that person. Aim to be the grandparent that can still play tag and kick ass in Nerf battles.
2) "Healthcare" is really "Sickcare"
Last week, it was great to see that essential services like dentists, orthodontics, massage, and physiotherapy could open if their governing schools thought it wise.
Notably absent was personal training. Arguably one of the safest physical distancing one-on-one professions - there's usually no need to touch the client or even be within 6 feet of them.
A big reason that it's not included on the list is that there is no unified body or school that regulates it. There are no government incentives and getting your gym fees covered by your employer is a great perk, but not universal.
Another reason is due to how serious health and fitness is really perceived.
A TV or movie trainer is either a meathead, a drug dealer (1), or an idiot (see Brad Pitt's character in Burn After Reading). If a trainer is on Breakfast TV, they have to swallow their soul as the host flails about like an idiot pretending that they can't do a push-up.
Even a conversation among friends is usually a fleeting "I really need to start working out" comment, that's forgotten by the next wine sip and cheese reach.
Sorry, we're not sure who this rant is meant to be at, but when you go see a doctor, physio or dentist (outside of check-ups), it's usually because you're already sick or injured in some way. The damage has been done. That's "Sickcare".
When you go to a gym or personal trainer to exercise and keep disease and injuries at bay, that's proper "Healthcare". (Shout out to Alwyn Cosgrove for the reference).
Both are serious and both are important. So maybe this is for you.
Kudos if you've gotten into a great routine during COVID-19. You are the converted we are preaching to.
If you haven't, that's cool too. All we would say is that eventually it will be on you to do something. We're three months into COVID and we are already enjoying some glorious weather. The motivation to train and eat better will get harder. As we are further allowed to gather in small groups, the barbecue invitations will rise.
What are you going to do about it? What's your plan?
The motivation doesn't have to be to lose weight. Just know that by making healthier choices, you are helping to keep disease at bay as you sculpt your future as a kick-ass grandparent.
That's a good reason to start and that's as serious as you need to take it, for now.
Kevin & Victoria
(1) This reminds us of a classic joke - "Personal trainer just got 9 years for selling drugs. Been going to him for years. It just shows you that you never really know someone. I had no idea he was a personal trainer."
