Icing and Exercise : Why online may not be the way to go.
Ah, the holiday season. A time for warmth, cheer, and naturally engaging in the age-old tradition of cookie making. This past weekend, my girlfriend and I ventured into this festive territory, reaching the step she most dreads: the royal icing. Now, for those unfamiliar, royal icing is a culinary paradox a simple concoction of three ingredients: egg whites, vanilla extract, and confectioners’ sugar. But its simplicity belies its complexity. The magic lies in the consistency, achieved through the delicate addition of water, which allows it to serve its multifaceted purpose.
To hone our royal icing craft, we turned to the omniscient teacher of our age: YouTube. We sought guidance on the elusive "flood" icing a smooth, glossy surface that transforms cookies into edible art. The technique involves adding water to the base mixture, creating various consistencies measured by how long it takes the icing to settle into a smooth surface: ten-second icing, twenty-second icing, and so on.
We stumbled upon a video with excellent production value. A pristine kitchen set, a clear view of the process, and a well-paced explanation of steps. As the creator piped the icing onto the cookie, they narrated the process with authority, counting aloud to ten to illustrate the ten-second rule. And then, with apparent confidence, they declared the cookie done.
I hit pause.
The icing wasn’t smooth. Blobs and air bubbles marred the surface. I rewound the video, counting silently as the icing continued to settle. At twenty-seven seconds, it finally achieved the promised smoothness. Not ten seconds twenty-seven. Again, I rewound, counted, and confirmed. The icing was decidedly not ten-second icing. Why claim otherwise?
The answer, I suspect, lies in post-production. The script said ten seconds, the editing reinforced it, and so ten seconds it was reality be damned.
Now, what does this have to do with fitness?
Let’s make a few substitutions. Imagine the creator is a fitness instructor delivering online programming. The icing becomes an exercise seemingly simple yet intricate, with layers of complexity. The cookie flooding is the performance of the exercise. And just as with the icing video, many fitness demonstrations fail to reflect reality. The instructor’s squat, meant to serve as the gold standard, often reveals flaws: a collapsing knee, a forward-leaning torso compensations that contradict their verbal instructions.
Where does this leave you, the consumer? Like the cookie, if your icing your exercise fails to match the example, frustration sets in. You assume the problem lies with you. You followed the instructions, yet the result is lumpy, uneven, painful even. The truth is, the flaw often lies not with you but with the demonstration itself. Without an understanding of your body’s unique variables its imbalances, its compensations you’re left to repeat movements that may ultimately lead to discomfort and disillusionment.
At MyoBio, we pride ourselves on a different approach. With over thirty years of experience, we identify imbalances and pinpoint compensations that hold you back. Your body carries its own history, its own narrative. It’s our job to listen, to interpret, and to guide you toward movement that is not just functional but transformative.
So this holiday season, as you flood your cookies or tackle your squats, remember: the key lies in understanding, not just following. And on that note, I’m off to enjoy a well-earned cookie. Happy Holidays, everyone.Make Life More
Fitness in the time of c.19
As Columbus, Ohio considers how people can begin to reacclimate to life during COVID-19, the fitness industry is presented with a dilemma: how to welcome people back safely considering the very nature of the environment involves close contact and touching shared surfaces?
Has anyone EVER felt good walking around in bare feet in a gym locker room?
How about high-touch surfaces like exercise machines, weights, railings, and lockers?
Big box gyms are making their customers the first--and often, only--line of defense against transmission. Usually something like "You will be asked to sanitize equipment before and after using it." But we all know Those People in the gym that are oblivious to their impact on the facility and its patrons. Other people mean well but aren’t thorough enough and this doesn’t exactly inspire confidence, either.
I've been reading how equipment has been spaced out to allow for physical distancing. Facilities implementing physical distancing from personal training sessions to the weight racks and cardio machines. However, if you have been to a franchise facility lately you know that 6 feet of space in the free weight areas and squat rack doesn’t exist.
Physical distancing is an admirable sentiment but it also pushes against their business model. Box gyms jam as many treadmills into their square footage as possible for peak hours of use. How long till the need to maintain massive overhead wins out, and owners stop enforcing physical distance because “everyone here is healthy.”
So what is the solution? Perhaps it is time to consider a new facility in your community. REFIT offers individual training by appointment, and we always have. Our first statement about cleaning and sanitizing has nothing to do with you, the client wiping down anything, and everything about holding us accountable. Beating COVID-19 is a group project. We’re doing our part by maintaining an immaculate space so you can focus on fitness at REFIT.
Our protocols include:
Only 1 client in the facility at a time, even during transitioning from one appointment to the next.
Each client has a distinct pair of sanitized handles for variable resistance work so you’ll be the only person to touch them.
Employees wear masks during sessions and are adept in giving instruction while maintaining physical distance.
We ask that clients wear a mask during training unless a medical condition makes it impossible to do so.
All equipment is cleaned before opening, wiped down between clients and wiped down almost immediately after use.
A smaller space catering to those who don't wish to be exposed to a big box style gym is what we are about at The REFIT Group. We can do much more than memes about physically distancing cardio machines. It's this attention to detail that allows us to take these extra steps and give you the safest experience that we can.
At REFIT we want to give you one less thing to worry about as you resume your life. Focus on fitness, let us focus on the rest.
Everyday People Every Day Fitness
