Ballistic and grind in kettlebell workouts and in philosophy.

The concept of ballistic can be defined as powerful energy. Think about the kettlebell (KB) swing, slamming a heavy object or sprinting. The ballistic KB exercices are:

• The swing
• The swing clean and press
• The snatch

The ballistic concept in fitness can be transcribed into passion in philosophy. Think about Nietzsche for example: all his writings show a lot of power and passion. It is this fiery unstoppable hyperactive mind that motivate the whole world.

The grind concept in fitness is another concept of power. It is a slow controlled movement, just like the deep thinking constructing mind. The grind movement can be low impact if done without equipment. The KB grind exercises are:

• The KB squat
• The Turkish get up

One can say that philosophy is more of a grind type of thinking because it is a deep thinking, therefore slow. Think about Plato whose later work was different from the early one. Think about Kant, the heavy grinder philosopher and one of the greatest. However, ballistic and grind go hand in hand because they achieve an intellectual and a conceptual equilibrium.

Life is pendulum swinging from ballisyic to grind. It isn’t odd to compare philosophy to life; nor it is odd that kettlebellers are so passionate about their workouts because KB workouts mimic physical life.

The unprecedented desire for routines

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It is understandable that, in shaky situations, one would like to stick to a routine, any routine, for the sense of security and survival. This is why social media is full of videos, podcasts and posts on routines and practices and this tendency skyrocketed since the beginning of the pandemic.

However is it beneficial?

Neurologists explain that the brain functions in patterns. Once an activity becomes regular, the brain takes it as a pattern and forces the person to do it regularly. Hence the feeling of guilt or confusion in missing the regular habit.

Does it mean that we all must be doing yoga, meditation, daily workouts, journaling, drinking lemon water every morning etc.?

Although the above-mentioned practices are beneficial and recommended, it doesn’t mean every person should be doing them. Maybe one hates journaling, must they force themselves to do it? Maybe one feels uncomfortable with yoga or something else, should they do it in spite of it all?

The answer is no. A routine is a personal (sometimes collective) chosen activity for security, pleasure, health etc. or for any enhancement that leads to a better survival.

The problem when something so private becomes a mainstream on social media, it is highly misunderstood or unproperly applied.

P.S: Starting the 1st of July and for every Saturday of the month, I will publish free philosophy teaching documents. You can find them on my main blog page in “Portfolio”.

The Ancient Greeks and the sense of harmony.

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The Greek word “cosmos” meant initially universe/nature but also beauty and harmony. According to ancient Greeks, nature in its wide sense is the archetype of beauty and harmony. Therefore, all what an artist had to do back then is to copy the natural harmony in their work. No outrageous creative ideas, no artistic experimentation beyond what is out there, art had to imitate nature. The artistic value of any work of art depended on the imitating skill of the artist.

The obsession or faithfulness to the archetype of harmony pushed ancient Greeks to create and develop geometry, not only theoretically but practically too. Cities were built upon geometrical plans. Geometry and symmetry bring out intellectual and urban harmony.

So how did this quest for harmony reflect on philosophy and the human body?

Since Socrates – who took a different philosophical path than pre-Socratic philosophers – philosophy had an ethical goal. One would learn philosophy in order to live a better life on both individual and collective levels. Ethics was believed to be the order and the harmony for the soul.

Greeks understood that the human body had to be aligned to the multilayered harmony. This is why philosophers preached moderation in everything, which pushed the invention of the Olympic Games. It was clear to them that sports maintained the natural harmony of the human body, hence its best picture in Greek sculptures.

Let’s dance! Nietzsche on music and dancing.

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In his book The birth of tragedy, Friedrich Nietzsche, the philosopher of life, found two principles in nature. In Greek mythology, Apollo and Dionysus are both sons of Zeus. Apollo is the god of the sun, of rational thinking and order, and appeals to logic, prudence and purity. Dionysus is the god of wine and dance, of irrationality and chaos, and appeals to emotions and instincts. The Ancient Greeks did not consider the two gods to be opposites or rivals, although they were often entwined by nature.

So, how can these two principles teach us more about the body?

The body, like any form of life, is made of these two principles. The Dionysian part of the body refers to chaotic instincts as very different of rationality and logic, a cherished dichotomy to philosophy in general. In other words, the Dionysian part of the body is the energy of life and survival that can be materialized in reproduction, nutrition, breathing and movements. This is when life in us, the Dionysian part, gets to be creative. Simply put, this is when we dance our heart out like nobody is watching; this is when a child moves in all different ways; this when we also stop and stretch and lay down. Sometimes, we are awaken full of life and sometimes we are not. Often we want to move in a certain way. Those misunderstood tendencies are the Dionysian in us, this life energy that can’t be contained or else it will turn against us with self-hate, diseases and pain.

“One must still have chaos in oneself to give birth to a dancing star”. Friedrich Nietzsche.

The Apollonian part in us is the rational and order part that gives the Dionysian energy a certain form. It is the idea of form and technique in any given activity. A proper form or technique tends to turn a movement into an aesthetic and orderly activity. This is when sports science and experience advises on good form to prevent injuries, because the Dionysian energetic instinctive part of the body can be chaotic and dangerous.

“And those who were seen dancing were thought to be insane by those who could not hear the music”. Friedrich Nietzsche.

Descartes’ mechanism and the muscle-centric approach in fitness

Rene Descartes was a 17th century French philosopher known for his concept of consciousness and the emancipation of man through thinking when he wrote: “Cogito ergo sum”, “I think therefore I am “.

Descartes was in Plato’s dualistic theory of the body and mind. According to Descartes, humans are made of two dimensions, the body and the mind, unlike nature and animals who are one-dimensional as pure machines. However, the human body in itself is a machine. Bodies are submitted to physical and mechanical laws; this is Descartes’ theory of the animal-machine.

The question is: is the muscle-centric approach to fitness mechanistic?

Fitness’ muscle-centric approach is focused on muscles as types, categories, functions, performance and their respective related types of exercises and nutrition. Although being direct consequences, fat loss and general health are not the main target in the muscle-centric fitness. The main target is optimizing muscles with strength and performance. In other words, this approach is very much cartesian mechanism.

Muscle-centric paradigm is thought of as new because it is applied now in some types of fitness but it is rooted in the 17th century philosophy. Whether one likes it or not, it is very efficient.

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Weight loss misconception

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Weight loss is always trendy. Experts speak about fat loss (and not weight loss).

Fat is a stored energy. The increase of the body fat percentage is a symptom or an indicator of an underlying cause.

The underlying cause is simply the non utilisation of energy which ended up being stored.

In other words, the real underlying cause is a weak muscle.

Therefore, instead of preaching weight loss (or fat loss) which is everywhere on social media, the focus should be on muscle strengthening.

Pump that muscle and let it take care of body fat.

Muscles are the anti ageing (or ageing gracefully) weapon!