“Good Shape”
Something I do that isn’t universal, and not always necessary, but which suits my internal workings and sometimes helps clarify an issue:
I pay attention to the nuances of words and phrases that might seem casual or ordinary to others.
(By the way: I’m publishing this on April 1st, 2022, but I am in no way joking about any of what I’m about to say. I drafted this article several weeks ago.)
So: I pay attention to nuances. Often, I can’t help it, that’s just where my mind goes automatically. And sometimes I get picky about it. So let me tell you what’s on my mind today.
“Good shape.” As used in sentences like “I want to get in good shape.” “I used to be in good shape.”
We all know what this is INTENDED to say, if English is our first language or we’ve been familiar with it long enough to have a feel for idiom. It’s meant to specify good health and general well-being.
But there’s that word ‘shape’. As a synonym for those things.
It’s not an entirely innocent substitution.
It implies that for any given person, there is a physical shape that is ‘good’ and others that are … not. But, like, what is that shape?
In a society where so many of us have access to endless media about people who are not living in our personal body, there’s a tendency to talk about ‘good shape’ as a thing that someone ELSE’s body has, that entire classes of bodies have, without any connection to whether our own body will ever perambulate around the world in anything even close to those proportions.
Listen, if I wanted to think about my ideal ‘shape’, the one I want to show up in? I would be at least three inches shorter, with shorter arms and shorter legs, and more muscularity overall. I’d be a mesomorph. I’d have some kind of rugby-player or powerlifter build.
I have personal friends with exactly the body I would aspire to … some of them in excellent health, some not so much. Sometimes that’s something they could fix with effort. Sometimes NOT (hello, intractable medical conditions!).
“Shape” is a terrible word for all of that.
I’m in the best FITNESS and HEALTH of my life the last few years, but as far as SHAPE? The SHAPE I want is literally impossible. For me. I can make better and better approximations, and have done so over the years. It won’t ever be good enough, if all I want is a specific end point. So I’ve made it my business to recall that fitness and health are for other things than an end point.
I think the term “good shape” subtly, but powerfully, leads us down a bad path in this regard.
I encourage everyone to check in with yourself about whether you really want to use it, on yourself, or about others. I’m all for great health, for physical fitness, for general well-being. Good shape? That’s for triangles and hexagons.
By the way: if you are seeing the image I chose to go with this article: that’s me feeling as good about the actual ‘shape’ of my body in as long as I can remember. I could also tell you a bunch of things I wish were different. Meanwhile I have to be careful not to overexert myself in the gym, but I can also think about doing a 50-mile bike ride tomorrow if the weather holds. ‘Shape’. Nah.
© 2022 Grampa Fitness
Disclaimer: Ideas expressed in this blog post should not be construed as official advice on how to safely perform fitness activities. Always consult with your doctor and other medical professionals as necessary, before engaging in exercise.