Logan Strohl on exercise norms

Lots of people work for their privileges!  I practiced writing for a LONG time - and remain continuously aware that other people cannot be expected to express their ideas clearly, even assuming their ideas to be clear, because I have Writing Privilege and they do not.  Does my Writing Privilege have an innate component?  Of course it does; my birth lottery placed me in a highly literate household full of actually good books, which combined with genuine genetic talent got me a 670 Verbal score on the pre-restandardized SAT at age eleven; but most teens with 670V SAT scores can't express themselves at all clearly, and it was a long long time and a lot of practice before I started being able to express myself clearly ever even on special occasions.  It remains a case of Privilege, and would be such even if I'd obtained it entirely by hard work starting from an IQ of exactly 100, not that this is possible, but if it were possible it would still be Privilege.  People who study hard, work hard, compound their luck, and save up a lot of money, end up with Financial Privilege, and should keep that in mind before expecting less financially privileged friends to come with them on a non-expenses-paid fun friendly trip.  We are all locally-Privileged in one aspect or another, even that kid at the center of Omelas, and all we can do is keep it in mind.

"You'll feel so much better" and "it's healthy" were the main reasons I was told to start exercising. I guess that's true, but after lifting for 7 years consistently, the main thing I noticed that no one told me was "you'll gain this superpower of every social interaction being a bit tilted more in your favor". Getting a good haircut for the first time ever probably helped too. The difference in how I'm listened to and treated is clear - people are much more interested in what I have to say.

(Off topic, but I wish there was something like an aesthetician shop, focused empirically on appearing as good as possible. They could give you a haircut, recommend you clothes, do your eyebrows, etc. I think these exist but my guess is that the real thing is in a walled garden, i.e. you have to be somebody. I'd love this because I don't really care how I look personally - I'd want someone to figure that out for me)

I think "nerds" need to be taught exercise differently: not by pushing them to compete with others right away, but by lots and lots of patience, repetition, and focus on basics. At some point it will click and they'll be able to compete and have fun. Same as with "non-nerds" and math, really.

"Only do it if it's easy and you like it" doesn't seem as obviously wrong to me as it's supposed to sound. During the 6 years of my life when I had dance practice ~twice a week I never just decided I didn't want to show up, because I really liked going! In performances I would get this high where I wanted to just do every song straight through for the full hour (or however long), even though I always scheduled in rests for each person – and a lot of other people had this experience as well. Similarly, when I run on an elliptical I get to a point where I feel like I never want to stop. I push myself but I don't experience it as 'uncomfortable' subjectively – I might get sweaty and out of breath and be sore the next day, but I like that. The sweaty out of breath feeling is an exhilarating glow, and the soreness feels rewarding and kinda nice.

tl;dr exercise genuinely doesn't have to be unpleasant??

This is probably not a meta enough comment, but I have been using kettlebells since the pandemic and I think they are the highest ROI form of exercise I have ever tried. I do 5 minutes of kettlebell swings with a 60 pound bell 3 times a day: before work, on my lunch break, and after work. My strength has significantly increased and it feels like a good cardio workout too.

My big problem with exercise is not the discomfort but the monotony. Swings are much more exhausting than most exercises and are also a hybrid of lifting and cardio, making them very efficient.

I think the main flaw in his argument comes from his belief that more exercise always = better health / increased longevity.

The evidence on the other hand indicates that health benefits come from a very modest amount of exercise. Daily waking plus maybe a short session of resistance training once a week.

As you start to increase volume and intensity, health and longevity benefits not only tail off, but can actually start to decline. (Especially if you're doing flic flacs and land on your head).

I personally enjoy strenuous physical activity, and being strong and athletic. I therefore do more than the minimum required for health.

If people choose not to exercise though, who's to say that's not the right choice for them? Doing something you hate on a daily basis your entire life in order to make it longer might not be the most rational choice.

There's a belief that "stick at it and you'll learn to live it, I did and so do all my gym buddies". This overlooks the possibility of survivorship bias though.

I agree being further on the exercise-axis makes one better. If I had to put it on a character sheet I wouldn't find "Strength/Dexterity privilege" bad names. Of course its description is going to come out to "When you consider whether to do exercise/gymnastics, you are more likely to actually decide in favor.". I would say the same for Intelligence and math. (And there are genetic factors to both, and they will be more pronounced when observing each tail.)

Do you think calling one's decision processes privileged indicates and promotes akrasia, as in a learned helplessness, a learned disassociation from one's decision processes? As in, your parts that System 2 controls learn that decision power/willpower/vote "allocated" to the issue is wasted, and thus stop doing it, locking in the situation?

Worth adding that the ability to work hard and delay gratification is a privilege, Self-control seems to be 60%[1] heritable (and let's not forget that people also don't choose in which environment they grow up which probably accounts for the other 40%)

In a way, it's privilege all the way down.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0149763418307905

Not germane to the subject at hand, but this stuck out to me:

I think shame is a beautiful and powerful psychological process that probably ought to be treated as personal and intimate, much like recountings of first lovemakings. Trying to use it as a public tool to make people act how you want them to seems to break it.

This flies directly in the face of the historical record. Until modernity began, shame was explicitly and strategically a public tool almost everywhere.

That being said, I am pretty sure this is a case of using shame and guilt as synonyms. I am stricken again and confused again by the difference between public and community; shame strongly requires community mechanisms to work, whereas guilt is supposed to work completely independently of it (as an emotion, at least). Neither mechanism would work based on the words of internet strangers, which seems to be the dominant implication of the word "public" now.