B-E-A-UTIFUL

So this week I want to cover an aspect of mental health that I come across every single day in the gym. The bit I gave you last post for this week was PBS. This stands for Pretty Boy Syndrome. That is the habit that a lot of people have of looking into the mirror after each bicep curl or sit-up to look and see if their muscle has grown any more or  gelling your hair before you go get sweaty. Why do we do that? Why do men and women at the gym feel embarrassed about how they look or about what shape they are in. Why?

"But the Lord said to Samuel, 'Do not look at his appearance or at the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for God sees not as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.'"

1 Samuel 16:7

Our world and culture is shaped and pushed by searching for the “perfect body”. We work out, diet, and push ourselves to get this perfect body. One of the biggest problems with this idea is that there is NO “perfect” body but fashion companies, makeup companies, and Hollywood project their ideal onto us. In our society you must be young, tan, have a 0% body fat, and always covered in makeup to be beautiful. This is sadly one reason a lot of people work out and work to get into shape. These are called extrinsic motivations. That means that the only reason you are doing it is to appeal to an outside influence (such as others).

Now, what I am not saying, is that we should not work out just to spite the clothing companies. We still need to go get our weekly amount of exercise. The benefits of exercise are immense. BUT, what I am trying to get across is that our culture has so screwed with our heads that when it comes to exercise, we do it purely to strive for the media's idea of perfection. We need to search for the intrinsic motivators that we have. Intrinsic motivators are the reasons we exercise that come from within. These can be from a love of being outside, the feeling you have after a workout, or the increased health benefits that will allow you to play with your grandchildren. These are the reasons that we should be motivated to work out and exercise, not because the Victoria Secret fashion show makes you feel fat.

This cultural ideal of perfection has also caused a lot of self-esteem issues. Self-esteem is defined as feelings of self worth (Myers). People that have a lowered self-esteem are more likely to disparage others, express greater racial prejudice (Ybara, 1999), tend to be thinned-skin and judgmental (Baumgarnder et al., 1989), and often become excessively critical (Amabile, 1983). This is the negative while people who feel good about themselves have fewer sleepless nights, succumb less easily to pressures to conform, are more persistent at difficult tasks; are less shy, anxious, and lonely (Greenberg, 2008). So when we are constantly seeing on the television about what is beautiful and then we see the difference between that person and ourselves it can cause a lowered view of ourselves.

1. Ybarra, O. (1999). Misanthropic person memory when the need to self-enhance is absent. Personality and Social psychology Bulletin, 25, 261-269.

2. Baumgarnder, A. H., Kaufman, C. M., & Levy, P. E. (1989). Regulating affect interpersonally: When low esteem leads to greater enhancement. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 83, 817-827. 

3. Amabile, T. M. (1983). The social psychology of creativity. New York: Springer-Verlag.

4. Greenberg, J. (2008). Understanding the vital human quest for self-esteem. Perspectives on Psychological Science,3, 48-55.

5. Myers, David D. Psychology. New York: Worth, 2004. Print.

My point in all of this is just to bring to light that, as hard as it might seem, there is no true definition of beauty. Our goal is to find pleasure and enjoyment in exercise because of how it makes us feel internally and what the added health benefits allow us to accomplish, NOT to exercise for the hope that other people will find us beautiful. We are all created in God’s perfect image and he made us the exact way for that reason. So I implore you to remember this as you head to the gym today. Find an internal motivation and enjoy whatever exercise you do. Just remember, You do You.

Even if your exercise looks like this...

MUSCLE(s) of the Body

And now, moving on to the most interesting muscle in the world. Yes, this will be a little biased (and I am actually going to combine two into one) but I hope I can convince you to think the way I do. There is a lot of competition for this coveted award between the popular biceps brachii, to the powerful gluteus maximus, to the fun-to-say sternocleidomastoid, and to the humorous tensor fasciae latae. But to me these are not the most interesting muscle in the world.  To me, the most interesting muscle in the body is the iris. Yes, if you fact check me the iris is actually made of two muscles (circular to contract, and radial to dilate) but I am counting it as one. The iris is not the most important or the most powerful but it is still really interesting.

I don't always have blue eyes... wait, yes I do.

First off, the iris is the only colored muscle in the entire body. I could stop right there and still think it is pretty cool. The main function of the iris is to contract and dilate the pupil depending on the light. The iris will dilate when there is low light and constrict when there is a lot of light. One reason that this is so cool is because of the speed and ability to constantly adjust based on the light. If you are sitting in a normally lit room, glance at an open window that is very sunny, and then look down at the book you are reading, your iris will have changed the size of the pupil multiple times. I think it is so cool how fast and how accurate the iris is to make sure that you are constantly seeing the appropriate amount of late to either allow you to see in dim light or protect the cornea from too much light.

Lastly, we perceive others to be more attractive when their pupils are dilated. This is the main reason that we determined candle-light settings to be more romantic. We see the other person as more attractive when their pupils are larger. There is a tip for all of you guys out there, let the woman of your dreams look deep into your eyes when it is dim out there! The whole body is awesome and incredible and so the iris is just one amazing muscle of the entire body.

Workout of the week:

This workout can be done at home with no weights or the sit-ups, lunges, squats, and Dumbbell Thrusters can all be done with weights or with anything that is heavy (i.e. milk jugs, bricks, rocks) or anything that you have lying around the house. Do each of these exercises for 45 seconds and then rest for 15 seconds. During those 45 seconds, do as many repetitions as possible. Do entire list three times.  

1. Jumping Jacks

2. Sit-ups

3. Pushups

4. Lunges Forward

5. Lunges Backward

6. Squats

7. Dips (on a bench or couch edge)

8. Burpees

9. Planks

10. Mountain Climbers

11. Swimmer Kicks

12. Burpees (again)

NEXT POST: THE MYSTERY BEHIND PROTEIN