Aug 142009
Bruce Lee's statue, guarding Hong Kong

Bruce Lee's statue, guarding Hong Kong

Before we get to the titular quote, we bring you this romantic Office Space interlude:

Peter Gibbons: I wanna take you out to dinner, and then I wanna go back to my apartment and watch Kung Fu. Do you ever watch Kung Fu?
Joanna: I love Kung Fu.
Peter Gibbons: Channel 39.
Joanna: Totally.
Peter Gibbons: You should come over and watch Kung Fu tonight.

Now, on with the show.

Take what is useful, reject what is useless.

Bruce Lee (paraphrasing Jiddu Krishnamurti*)

Fitness, much like gaming or coding, is a process of learning and subsequently refining what you know. Early on, before we’re confident and comfortable, we’re apt to avoid getting in over our heads. Later, once we’ve got a feel for things, we begin looking to folks who’ve been there before, seeking guidance, advice, or, dare we say, +WIS.

It’s easy to find way more information than you can use, much of it contradictory (heck, there are only a handful of us here at ShrinkGeek, and we don’t all agree on a lot of stuff when it comes to some stuff). Congratulations, for you have skilled up enough to begin sifting through what you’ve learned and heard and experienced to distill something personal, that works for you.

Whether you’re up to your eyebrows at Elitist Jerks trying to tweak your build or rotation, or trying to decide whether tabata intervals or kettlebells are the right way to kick-start your gym routine, once you’ve reached the point where these things not only sound like English (without chasing links), but begin to have real import on what you’re doing, it’s time to begin analyzing the benefits and shortcomings of the various things you’ve found. Does something make sense, and resonate with you? Does something sound counter-intuitive? Does any of it pique your curiosity?

This isn’t to say that someone newer to things can’t be discriminating in their research and approach — choosing between walking, yoga, cycling, or resistance training, or playing mix-and-match — is definitely a good idea. There’s another oft-repeated cliché in fitness circles: The best routine is the one you keep doing.

Any workout regimen, if you stick with it and put in the effort, will give you results. Whether it’s a life-eating few weeks of Boot Camp, P90X, VD3, or an enduring free-range workout you’ve made up on your own, you get out what you put in. There are no shortcuts to fitness and wellness, unless you consider working really hard [Warning: salty language behind that link] to be a shortcut.

Take what works, discard the rest. Even from us. :-)

* The full quote can, very infrequenly, be found with some elbow grease and Google-fu, and expands and enhances the more famous abbreviated version. “Research your own experiences for the truth, absorb what is useful, reject what is useless, add what is specifically your own.”

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  3. Words of +WIS: Get Up, Stand Up

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