One of my favorite things is to go down to the beach and sit by the surf. I can spend hours doing that.
The sounds of the waves soothes. Nature has a power that’s easy to overlook from our fake man-made world of gadgetry.
Exposure to nature helps tune us in to the forces at work all around us. You get a feel for the rhythms and movements in the world. Too much time staring at screens, or getting your self-righteous ego involved in stupid human drama, puts reality at arm’s length.
I just can’t care about this week’s 2 Minutes Hate from the TV when I walk outside.
There’s a lot to learn from a simple wave as it washes up on the shore.
Waves build, reach a crest, and then break against the sand.
There’s no better model for visualizing how your body responds to stresses, which include the stresses caused by physical activity and food intake and watching too much TV.
You can be performing at your best one day, and a week later crash into a pot-hole you never saw coming.
Likewise, the biggest breakthroughs often surprise you right when you’re ready to give up from lack of progress.
Fat mass and muscle mass are sticky. The changes happen slowly, beneath notice, and then one day, BANG. Everything clicks into place and you take a level up.
These delayed reactions are but one reason I preach the gospel of consistency.
You can kinda-sorta time these peaks and valleys, but only to a point.
All you can really control is your daily and weekly process. That means your workouts and your food and your sleep and restoration practices.
Tuning into your body’s genuine feelings, not the fake “check engine” light that tells you to punk out, is helpful in figuring out if you’re in a crest or break. You can learn when to open up the throttle and when to tap the brakes and coast.
Otherwise?
Waves are gonna wave.
Instead of this mind-set of jumping from program to program, you’d do better to learn how to surf.
That’s key to what I do in my own training and eating and whole life, and it’s how I work with clients.
Reason is, it works… and it’s the only real path to sustainable progress for us aging goats who have our eyes on longevity rather than short-term flattery of our ego.
If you’re tired of aching, feeling tired, and spinning your wheels because what worked at 25 doesn’t work no more, I open up a few spaces for coaching each month.
If you’re interested in working with me, you’ll need to be on my waiting list. Use this link if that’s of any interest to you:
Matt Perryman