Last week we discussed the advancement of movement to the lofty idea of exercise. I put exercise into three different categories: lifting, cardio, and sports. You may only do one. You may do all three. I think balance would be best.
But for this Foundations of Physical Freedom, we will discuss the title of this entire extravaganza – Physical Freedom. What is it? Does it have a definition? How do we know if we have it?
What is Physical Freedom
I define Physical Freedom as the ability to reasonably do whatever physical task you would like to do in a day and to feel comfortable and accept your physical body.
I’m going to have to throw some kind of disclaimer in here that this presumes you are mentally well enough. Body dysmorphia, bulimia, anorexia, and disorders are not something to be taken lightly and not something that will always be conquered simply by living a physically healthy life. The mental health component of this may very well be discussed elsewhere some other time, but right now we presume you are well enough about this and recognize the abilities and inabilities of your body.
My definition of physical freedom is somewhat similar to this gentleman who appears to have coined it in 2019. I came up with the word on my own, which appears to be an example of convergent thought, but Mr. Shaw was first. He defines Physical Freedom as “The ability to wake up each day and tackle any physical task you enjoy, within reason.”
So while the important through-line here is that you need to be able to feel like you can do anything, I want to stress that it doesn’t matter if you also don’t feel comfortable with it.
The Stress of Feeling
I do not mean that feeling in itself is stressful, but rather the stress of Physical Freedom needs to be put on how you feel. There is no calculation to this. There is no number you must hit. There is no way to make this digestible for an audience of more than one because by its very nature Physical Freedom is different between two people.
For one, it may be the ability to crank out 100 pull-ups, 100 push-ups, and then run 10 miles. Sounds like a simple decent workout, but I would never define it as that. At a different point in time, I might’ve defined it as the ability to climb the rope in gym class. Probably as the ability to do a push-up. And I know for a fact at one time the ability to do a pull-up. There was even a time I was so busted I might’ve defined it as the ability to be able to play video games with a controller in my hands.
Just like Financial Freedom, Physical Freedom is something that is more of a spectrum. And it may be better that way. Not everyone should be aiming to be 12% body fat. Not everyone cares to be able to run more than a mile. Not everyone wants to be a bodybuilder or goes hiking for hours. Due to the diversity of humanity, the definition I give is the most accurate it can be. And that means you have to define what does make you feel physically free.
Closing Thoughts
Physical freedom is the ability to reasonably do whatever physical task you would like to do in a day and to feel comfortable and accept your physical body. I struggle with the latter more than the former. You may struggle with the former rather than the latter. For now, we will focus more on the former and delve into the latter occasionally. Being that is what I struggle with, I may very well have some useful insight on it even though I am no psychologist or therapist.
Next week, we will learn how to count calories, which can be useful for most people.
Godspeed,
Dennis
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