3 Lessons Eastern Culture Can Teach Us About Fitness
One of the first things I noticed when studying Taekwondo was its emphasis on connecting the mind and body.
After years of being conditioned to ‘leg day, arm day, chest day’, the idea that the body works with the mind took me a little while to grasp properly.
But Eastern ideas have always fascinated me. I wasn’t going to give up martial arts training because I wasn’t used to it — after all, I started this pursuit because it’s so different from anything we’ve been led to believe.
You see, Here in the West, our fitness culture can be borderline psychotic. No pain, no gain! No days off, bro! How much ‘ya bench?
There’s an unhealthy emphasis on competition and operating like a cyborg whose only mission in life is to lift, eat, sleep, and repeat on a robotic, meticulous cycle. It’s no surprise that so many people find fitness boring and why the idea of the intellectually inept ‘gym bro’ remains prominent in the minds of so many.
Maybe you’re one of these people. If that’s the case, remember that fitness is only as boring as you make it and there’s no ‘one size fits all’ approach to it.
Maybe our culture is to blame. If you’re hoping to reignite your passion for fitness, try taking some inspiration from our Eastern neighbours.
Train For Connectedness, Not For Aesthetics
Six-day bro-splits are great for bodybuilders, but they can be an absolute bore for the layman.
Part of this is because we simply don’t have much time. We’re busy with jobs, families, and other commitments. We have social lives which, frankly, offer more fun than a 60-minute calf day or a 3-hour upper body day.
Martial arts teach us that the body must work in unison to achieve harmony. There isn’t this reductionist ‘split idea’ and there’s a greater emphasis on a holistic training approach.
I love how involved the body is in martial arts. It’s why I gravitate towards full-body workouts rather than split ones — and why maybe you should if you find traditional strength training a bit monotonous.
Eat For Nourishment, Not Because It’s A Chore
Eating is the hardest part of fitness — period.
Working out may be hard for an hour, but keeping a strict dietary regimen is where the work really happens.
Meal one — 8 am. Meal two — 10:30 am. Meal three — 1 pm. It can be relentless and actually make you resent food.
It’s a very Western-centric idea. We take food for granted and focus on its form, whereas Eastern cultures eat for nourishment and function.
Most Eastern cultures eat their largest meal at midday so that their bodies digest the essential nutrients and important minerals for the day ahead.
If you’re sick of meal-prepping, aim for a less is more approach to your food and seek to get the most nutritional bang for your buck out of your meals.
Fitness Is A Journey, Not a Destination
The quest for fitness is a road that never ends.
Martial arts teach us to remain humble, disciplined, and grateful. We must never take our health for granted and achieving fitness is a state we must chase for the rest of our days.
Think of how many karate masters or tai chi practitioners are well into their old age. They didn’t stop pursuing fitness because they achieved their goal of getting abs or losing ten pounds. They continue to study their craft and pay their dues because they’re focused on the process, not the end result.
Both Western and Eastern fitness philosophies can get you healthy, strong, and fit. I, however, have loved learning these lessons from the other side of the world and believe that they’ll help keep my training interesting and fulfilling.
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