Objective vs. Subjective Fitness
Some thinking on what it means to be "fit" or "look fit" or "feel big" and whether the data means anything.
The Teardown
Tuesday :: July 16th, 2024 :: Approx. 7 min read
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Objective Fitness Data
Like many suburban kids, my parents submitted my application to our town for “track” - as it was called - as a way of keeping me active, occupied, and healthy.
I was a great sprinter. By contrast, my legs barely moved every time I stared at a line of hurdles. Various other throwing, jumping, and lunging activities didn’t produce any crowning achievements. In all track meets, I ended my ceremonious activity with a cold sweet desert - ice cream or popsicle - to restore critical carbohydrates.
Not long afterwards, I joined the high-school cross-country team at the start of freshman year. I was a light-as-air (99 lbs) kid with peach fuzz and a wiffle, just about to turn fifteen. There weren’t, as I recall, try outs like other sports. We ran, yes, but the coach let most everyone onto the team. The applicant pool was not overflowing with eager students.
Weekly races were split into groups: boys, and girls. All boys ran at once, for the most part. Varsity and Junior Varsity teams were merely symbolic on a given course.
As you would expect, Varsity boys ran faster than Junior Varsity boys. But contradictions were possible. So, within one or two races, I passed the slowest Varsity teammate. He hadn’t been the fastest runner prior to that race.
Within two hours, I was a member of the Varsity team, competing toward the back of that pack but glowingly part of faster boys. I could gloat in school with my too-long tie and baggy khakis and still, remarkably, not attract any female attention.
The term faster is instructive because it’s a simple term and data point. You win a race if you’re the fastest runner. And, this is important, you’re fastest relative to everyone else in that race. But, you might not be the fastest runner ever. There are national, world, and Olympic records for those sorts of people. Usain Bolt exists.
So, a race produces an objective outcome. Let’s say you run a five-kilometer race in twenty minutes. You’re much faster if you finish in seventeen minutes. It’s hard to argue against the pure numbers in the comparison.
Subjective Fitness Data
Lots of fitness and health information is, by contrast, complicated as compared to my simple running example. We’re in a moment when tracking has never been more prevalent and easy but more confusing. Is resting heart rate useful? So what if my cholesterol is high? What should I do with my Whoop score?
I’m someone that generates and lives with lots of data, but in recent times, I’m tracking and caring about much less detailed data. Willem Middlekoop helps illustrate my view in discussing the data he collects:
Macro versus Micro data
Honestly, I have to admit that I do not know where the sweet spot is when it comes to health and fitness data. My WHOOP band passively keeps an eye on broader trends and it has detected an improvement in resting heart rate and HRV since I began my intensified training. I like its somewhat more holistic approach, focusing on macro instead of micro: you'll see your progress on a broader horizon. But it, too, only seems to capture a part of the picture of me feeling better.
What does “feeling better” mean?
When you think about health and happiness, remember that while tools like psychological scales and biometric measures can offer insights, they often fall short of capturing the full spectrum of your personal experience. The most authentic barometer of your well-being and happiness is your own self-awareness.
Tune into your body's signals and your mind's reflections. Are you feeling energised or drained? Content or restless? These internal cues are invaluable. Embrace a habit of regular self-check-ins, perhaps through mindfulness or journaling, to deeply understand and appreciate your own state of well-being. This self-attuned approach not only respects the uniqueness of your experiences but also empowers you to make adjustments that truly resonate with your personal needs and aspirations.
The idea of tuning into your body’s signals resonated with me.
I am, by the standards and metrics and feelings I care about, fit. My base running pace is fast enough. Numerous compound lifts performed at the gym are at or near their historical records (mine, of course). I’m not gaining or losing weight in excess. And, my stress is at a historic low.
But that last observation is not something I’ve measured. It’s something I feel and notice. I’m happier, less irritable, and less reactive. Also, I’m not stuck to a desk all day and can read, write, and spend life outside - sometimes in the sun, sometimes at the beach, or under a covered porch.
I’m measurably better off even if I’m not measuring anything.
Intuition and Common Sense Prevail
A recent conversation popped into my conscious thinking as I read Willem’s post and sparked the idea to write this post.
Two weeks ago, a family member mentioned, out loud, that they felt big. Here’s the full Merriam-Webster entry covering various forms of the word.
When you say big relative to fitness or health, it might mean any of these things:
You ate a big cheat meal.
You are big - i.e. strong, bulky in a desirable way.
You are big - i.e. fat, bulky in an undesirable way.
You have a big health problem
Etc x 1000000000000
In this context, big meant larger than intended in a specific way. The composition of an arm, visually, was big. Arms felt big.
I interjected not with visual confirmation but instead questions. I was curious about health data, diet, and some sense of workout efficiency. My point wasn’t to prescribe something laser-precise, but instead to understand what might be tangibly linked to an unfair conclusion.
Obvious things came to mind. It’s hard to lose weight if you ingest more calories than you spend. The opposite is true too. It’s hard to gain weight if you don’t ingest more calories than you use. Muscles don’t magically get bigger without fuel. And, an arm that is bulky - either objectively or otherwise - doesn’t look toned if you don’t change anything to mold it into an Adonis-like feature.
Let’s just forget about Ozempic, too. I’m not against this sort of treatment, but won’t go down the path of discussing it here.
Neurons fired at a rapid pace in the aftermath of that conversation.
So, I shot some messages to a small subset of family members with some of my thoughts. I suggested either increasing the intensity of Peloton bike workouts or integrating some other more intense aerobic activity. My rough but intuitive thought was just to choose activities that engaged more rather than less of the body. Running engages the core and upper body musculature more than biking.
I also suggested some diet changes. My advice was to focus on ordinary high-punch foods. For example, although they can’t be mistaken for white rice, lentils provide carbohydrates and protein and a host of nutrients. The specific choice would then be not for something more or less healthy, but something more or less nutritious.
My last piece of advice focused on the level of work in a workout. Heart rate tracking provides a simple view into your level of work. In short, you’re working harder if your heart rate is higher and vice versa. So, I nudged my family member to look at heart rate, to see if a workout was indeed work or if it was maybe just agressive emailing.
If the latter, the goal was to push the intensity up one level - not based on what I was saying - but based on their relative work out history.
All of what I communicated wasn’t especially objective. I don’t have books and articles on the tips of my fingertips that say do X to achieve Y. Instead, I gave subjective suggestions like X might help Y but it will depend on you.
That last phrase connected back to Willem’s point in his post. There is an ever-increasing load of research to do all kinds of things to improve health, fitness, and mental well-being while meditating in a bath of Athletic Greens. There is some subjectivity in that space, but the community at large strives to be objective.
By contrast, I think it’s as useful as ever to view things with some dose of subjectivity. Do you feel a problem? Well, how would you feel if you did something different? Better? Worse?
To say it another way, it might be best to use common sense. When you’re running well, try to run faster, if you want. When you’re lifting with ease, lift more or change the lift and see what happens. When you see an objective measure like high cholesterol at the doctor, think about changing it through diet or maybe a workout adjustment.