The experience of remodeling our old house has been uniquely satisfying and immensely frustrating. On the one hand, we’re expanding on the history of a home that families have shared for more than a hundred years. On the other hand, very little about this house is “true” – a carpentry term referring to a surface or angle as being straight, plumb, square, and level.
Because so little about this house is “true,” I can’t always expect things I do to go consistently or reliably.
That’s something I’ve always appreciated about the Rotary Club. While I’ve never been a Rotarian, I am familiar with their set of principles called “The Four-Way Test.” The test is a series of questions one can use to guide personal and professional decisions and dealings, helping to ensure everything you do is reliable, consistent, and honest:
1. Is it the truth?
2. Is it fair to all concerned?
3. Will it build better friendships?
4. Will it be beneficial to all concerned?
The Four-Way Test is intended to guide business ethics, but it can really be used to add positivity and integrity to any human relationship or endeavor, including fitness and wellness.
In my next few articles, I’m going to look at the questions in The Four-Way Test from the perspective of your fitness. If you’re looking at starting a new fitness program or changing up your current regimen, I’m certain you’ll find this series interesting and informative.
This week, we’ll start with the first question: is it true?
Most fitness fads are “magic bullets” or “magic pills” that either aren’t based on scientific evidence or are based on cherry-picked bits and pieces of one or several studies but ignore any larger context.
Some of these fads simply appeal to what we want to hear: A few years ago, the media couldn’t stop talking about the latest “fountain of youth” anti-aging compound scientists had discovered in wine and chocolate. “Drink more wine, eat more chocolate, and turn back the clock!”
The king-sized news reports contained only dregs of the truth, though, failing to mention the thousands of gallons of wine necessary to recreate laboratory dosage of the key compound – and thus the same health effects seen in the study.
Other fads can be dangerous. Remember “toning shoes”? Their claims turned out to be completely unsupported. Independent research proved these “miracle shoes” were not only ineffective but unsafe – they actually increased the risk of falls and injuries. Skechers, at the forefront of the “toning shoe” trend, was sued by several parties, including the Federal Trade Commission, over stress fractures, strains, sprains, and chronic pain caused by their product.
And some fads can be downright deadly. Fen-phen was a prescription weight loss drug sold in the early 1990s with the promise of amazing and lasting results. Within a few years it was withdrawn from the market after being linked to potentially fatal heart and lung problems. Manufacturers faced more than 50,000 lawsuits and legal damages in the tens of billions of dollars.
These are just a few examples of the countless quick fixes that rarely fix anything and are only quick at emptying your wallet. From time to time, an extreme diet or exercise plan or new “wonder drug” might give dramatic short-term results; when the program ends, though, most people find their habits and their health revert to what they were or worse.
And therein lies the truth: it’s about habit. Lifestyle. Are you willing to follow that new extreme diet or exercise routine consistently for the rest of your life? Old habits die hard and will tend to come back if and when the fad ends.
In my experience both coaching others and transforming my own health and fitness, it’s the “tried and true” fitness basics that really work wonders – if you’re consistent and patient.
For many people, their fitness journey is like Dorothy traveling toward the Emerald City in The Wizard of Oz: you may start out with hesitancy and "little person steps," but before too long you’re finding your pace and traveling along that yellow brick road with a spring in your step and a vision of where you want to go. The path may not always be sunny and smooth, and there will surely be minor setbacks to overcome, but chances are you’ll make new friends and slay some personal demons along the way.
You may even get a new pair of shoes.