Destruction Effort | Nerd Fitness

I remember running up the escalators at Macy’s at the Cape Cod Mall.

My mother, climbing up steadily like a normal person, would say that I’m going to hurt myself (possible) or create a scene (correct) or disturb the people trying to get down (also correct).

Sometimes I would reach the top, tired and out of breath, when my mother would arrive at the same time, laughing at the way I worked.

Spend enough time at the airport (or traveling with small children), and within minutes you will see children trying to run on the People Mover moving in the opposite direction. Boring for them, fun for us.

Do you see where I’m going with this?

My friend Mark Manson posted the following onhis storyon this week:

“All the talk, hard work, and all the influence in the world won’t do you any good if you’re trying to do the wrong thing. Instead, it will do the opposite.”

Which brings me to today’s question…

Where are you running on the DOWN escalator?

Earlier this year, I remember talking to Coach Matt from Team NF about ontraining customerson those who win are those who struggle.

• Who gets it right: they recognize the right ride, and they stick to it. Each stage increases their efforts.
• Who is fighting: they continue to use their energy, their strength, and their energy for change that doesn’t move the needle.

I bet you’ve had moments where you’ve wondered if all the effort was worth it, or why progress seems harder than ever.

Here are a few examples of trying to climb escalators:

• Spending a lot of money on cheap accessories (no prescribed by a doctor).
• Switching to organic, gluten free, or low carb keto based snacks alone on current trends.
• Trying hard foods that don’t actually reduce the amount of food you eat.
• Exercise you hate unless due to weight loss.

Running (and anything else considered cardio) is big for heart and lung health. But running and cardio are onVery little for weight losson more than we think (unless we change our diet too).

I think you want to look “toned,” which means you don’t want to “get skinny,” but keep the muscle you have and lose the fat on top of it.

If these are our goals, then putting our focus on the right escalator is essential.

Here are some examples of escalators:

Show me someone who eats a lot of protein, fruits and vegetables, and trains (which is usually too much) for 30 minutes a few times a week, and I’ll show you someone who walks on proper escalators.

Here’s the thing: onpeople don’t have the intelligence to like exerciseon. We are no longer designed to thrive in a world where healthy and unhealthy foods are always available.

Which means if we use brain power and energy in action something, We can also choose the right things to deceive ourselves.

Yes, there is a whole “life and behavior” change to this (which I wrote about in a previous article. onManageable vs Meaningfulon). But deciding “how fast do I want to do this” is a better question to ask than “Why am I not making progress though working hard?”

Get off the wrong ladder, and get on the right one.

You can use that effort again!

-Steve

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