In the book, "Body by Science" by Doug McGuff and John Little, the basic starting exercise routine that is suggested, is referred to as a "Big 5". This consists of 2 upper body pulling movements (some sort of pull down and some sort of row), 2 upper body pushing movements (usually a vertical shoulder press and a horizontal chest press) and 1 lower body movement (leg press) that targets most if not all of the musculature in the lower body.
Some love and swear by the "Big 5" and others have pointed out its shortcomings, in not addressing all body parts or how it can be improved. The authors, however, do not claim it to be the perfect exercise routine or be all, end all, but rather a good starting point, and for many people will indeed serve them well for a lifetime with little variety. They draw the analogy to a good mutual fund, which for the majority of investors will get the job done, while acknowledging that some will have better results by stepping outside these parameters, whether it be with the investment of their money or the investment of the time and effort they put into their physical conditioning.
As someone who has been a student of both financial planning and exercise, (having worked with an insurance/investment company for over 30 years, plus having studied and practiced strength training for over 35 years), I might add that, many people, however, will also get "hurt" physically or financially by trying to overcomplicate things.
There are some basic requirements for success in both fields. In finances, the main rule is to spend less than you make, and with exercise, at a minimum, you have to engage in some form of physical conditioning, and in both cases, you have to maintain these over time.
Neither of these will guarantee success in either area, however, without these basics, success is impossible.
You could spend less than you make, but squander your savings in get rich quick schemes on the one hand, or in investments that don't even keep up with inflation on the other.
Unfortunately, in the case of exercise, much of what has been promoted over the years, while providing some sort of stimulus for your body to create adaptations and improve, has done so, in manners that have been extremely inefficient, making the time commitment impractical for most to sustain when juggling careers, family and other obligations, or worse, outrightly dangerous, creating either acute or chronic physical problems.
Just as with the "get rich quick" mentality, the idea of "looking good at the beach THIS summer" or "fitting into a dress for a wedding", leads people to short term thinking that prevent them from reaching what should be their long term goals.
Neither financial planning or exercise should be about impressing people, but rather the achievement of life quality. (that is not to say that vanity cannot play a part in motivating us, and there is nothing wrong with taking pride in our appearance or our financial success)
By the way, my definition of quality of life is just two words: "having choices". Without adequate financial and functional ability, your life will consist of doing "what you can" rather than "what you choose."
A financial investment can be evaluated based on three or four aspects. They are
1. Liquidity.
2. Safety of Capital.
3. Rate of Return.
4. Tax Efficiency.
If you can find an investment where you didn't need to tie up your money (liquidity), there was 0 chance of losing a penny (safety), you could make double digit returns (rate of return), and the government allowed you to keep most if not all of your returns (tax efficiency), that would pretty much be the perfect investment. Please let me know if you hear of such an investment. I am unaware of any on this particular planet.
The reality however is that, in general, if you want more liquidity you need to give up some of either returns, safety or both. Same thing if you want higher returns and or more safety... you have to give up some of one or both of the other two.
Kind of like the restaurant, where you are told, you can have it cheap and good, but it won't be fast; or you can have it cheap and fast, but it won't be good; or you can have it fast and good, but it won't be cheap. Take your pick.
In exercise, the comparison would be.
1. Time commitment (how much liquidity of your other time will you still have after you're through in the gym)
2. Safety: avoiding chronic or acute injuries.
3. Results: How much will your physical condition actually improve over time.
4. Genetics: This tax analogy doesn't match as well, because there is something you can do about taxes, but depending on what jurisdiction you live in, that may be limited by your local or national tax schemes. In the case of genetics, you are not totally at the mercy of your genes, but the degree to which you can influence this is much smaller.
5. Effort: the level of intensity with which you exercise.
The good news, and this is borne out by the latest research, is that if you are able to put in enough of #5, (effort: momentary muscular fatigue) then you may not have to have to put in much of #1,(time commitment, literally only minutes a week) and you can achieve #3 (results) safely, if you use proper form and low force, #2 (safety). Your return on investment of time will be phenomenal, but the catch is that this only works if you are prepared to put in a large investment of effort. (i.e. discomfort) Of course, you could put in less effort and more time, but the research is clearly on the side of effort, because of two reasons. First off the additional time equates to a greater volume of exercise, which over time can lead to over use injuries, and secondly, because that commitment of time is not practical for most people, and this is one the main reasons why so many people give up on exercise programs after a relatively short time.
#4 genetics, will limit your results, but that is only a concern IF you get caught up comparing yourself to elite athletes or champion bodybuilders, which is like an investor comparing himself to a lottery winner, and wondering what he is doing wrong. Incidentally, even most models on magazine covers, don't look as good in real life as they do on the cover. For the purpose of quality of life, your goal should be to extend functional ability (health span vs life span) for as long as you can. Believe me, as you get older, maintaining your physical independence, without the use of a walker or long term care nurses to help you with basic activities of daily living (think toileting, feeding, dressing, bathing etc) will mean a lot more to you than being able to answer with a big number when someone asks, "How much do you bench?"
Note: perhaps you are a genetic lottery winner or are preparing for competition at an elite level. For the purpose of conditioning, effort is still your best bet, however for the purpose of skill development, there is likely little substitute for a large time commitment but even this can be somewhat mitigated by utilizing "perfect practice". Perhaps more on this in another post, but for now, I'll just leave you with the fact that skill practice and physical conditioning are distinct and should rarely if ever be combined. Minimizing the time commitment for conditioning will allow more time for skill practice and that is a very good thing for someone who aspires to elite performance.
Context: When it comes to investing your money, there is another factor that is often overlooked, and that is how much of a return to do you actually need to make in order to meet your goals. Depending on how much you wish to spend in your retirement and how much you have been able to accumulate, one person may be in a position of surplus, where they already have more wealth than they are likely to spend in their lifetime, in which case financial planning becomes concerned with leaving a legacy to the next generation, assuming that is a priority for that particular individual. (of course, spending more, or giving some away during your lifetime could be just two other options for someone in that position). For these individuals, taking on market volatility in order to get a better return, will at best, benefit the next generation so there is no real need to take on risk. Of course, each individual will seek various lifestyle levels, and as long as the method of doing so consists of honestly earning money, and the motivation for doing so, has nothing to do with simply impressing others, whatever lifestyle level one may choose to reach will be legitimate for that person or couple. Similarly, for a professional athlete, they may well push their body to limits that could actually jeopardize health and risk serious injury, and they are free to make those choices based on their chosen priorities, but for most of us, the goal is to unload groceries from the car without undue effort, and there is no need or benefit for us to expose ourselves to these risks.
If, on the other hand, someone's financial situation, is such that they are in, or are heading for a shortfall, whereas, they will outlive their money rather than the other way around, then strategies, unfortunately will have to involve a combination of either
1. Retiring later.
2. Spending less in retirement.
3. Saving more now. (reducing current lifestyle or seeking out greater income)
4. Getting a better return on investments. (see above.... want a higher return? How much liquidity or safety are you prepared to give up?)
To some extent, this is similar on the physical side, but often not to the same extent. Here there is a good news, bad news story. Bad news first: no matter how much fitness you've accumulated, you never get to stop and live "off your savings". Good news: Even if you are older and have never exercised, or have not done so for decades, there is a very good chance that you can regain the muscle you had in your youth, in a relatively short time. (doesn't work that way with savings, unfortunately). Research has shown that it is remarkable how much the gradual loss of muscle (sarcopenia) can be reversed, even with people in their seventies, eighties and nineties, and the literature is rife with seniors giving up their walkers, canes and reducing or eliminating medication, so generally, whether it is finances or physical conditioning, you always have options, no matter how late in the game, but with fitness, that may likely be much truer than with finances.
Overlap: Getting sick or losing functional ability is EXPENSIVE. When planning for your retirement, you must estimate your spending requirements, and what very frequently throws off these estimates is the need for additional medical and long term care expenses. Would you rather spend your money on cruises, fishing trips, and going to the theatre or on wheelchairs and someone to change your diaper? In other words, this blog post is not just about showing the similarities between two seemingly separate parts of our lives but showing that these are intrinsically connected. If I remain functionally able, even if I do have a shortfall of savings, I can prolong my ability to actually earn money longer. On the other hand the exorbitant cost of health care has bankrupted many people who worked and save their whole lives, only to have their plans derailed by a stroke, broken hip or dementia. (not to mention they are no longer have the physical ability to earn money)
Insurance obviously plays a part in mitigating the effects of death and illness, and that is called "transferring the risk" from yourself to an insurance company. (which I strongly recommend exploring because you can "influence but not control your health") However, in insurance parlance, there is also something called "risk avoidance", which means doing whatever you can to delay or avoid these occurrences if possible, which is where proper exercise can play a critical role.
What I have not discussed are two other pillars to health which are sleep hygiene and nutrition. In an upcoming blog post, I plan to draw the analogy on how these align, in the financial realm, to how we can create incomes for ourselves. This post talked about investment income, obviously, but also our choice of careers, employment or self employment can make a huge difference as well (just as sleep and nutrition do). Stay tuned.
Thanks for reading.
skip to main |
skip to sidebar
