Year: 2011

In many contexts we often wonder why people do things we don’t like.  Why do friends take advantage of us?  Why do our athletes skip workouts?  Why does our significant other do things that they know bother us?  Why do people continue doing these things when they know they upset us?  Well the answer is simple: people do it because we let them.

Why Do Dogs Pull?

Since about September of last year, I’ve been volunteering at the Austin Humane Shelter, walking dogs, doing other activities and getting more training under my belt.  And I’ve learned a lot since I’ve been there. For example I’ve learned that I’m better at remembering the dog’s names than I am the other volunteers on my shifts.  I’ve also learned that I like most dogs better than I like most people though I pretty much knew that already.

But some of the things I’ve learned are actually a little more useful. … Keep Reading

In the vein of my discussion of why it’s incorrect to exclude the middle, I want to write about a slightly different topic which has to do with what you can and cannot control. I suppose the impetus for this piece is one particularly (take your pick from the following list): consistent, repetitive, irritating, moronic folks that regularly troll my comments section.  No, I won’t name him, he doesn’t deserve the attention which is what he clearly so desperately craves.

Among his other amusing looniness, one thing he often asserts regarding the weight loss/fat loss/dieting issue is the role of genetics, and physiology, and stuff that falls well outside of the realm of diet and exercise.   Often accusing me of ignoring many of those biological realities.

He also appears to be illiterate since anybody who’s read this site or my books knows full well that I don’t ignore them.  Since the discovery of leptin and my first interest in it over a decade ago, the underlying biology and physiology of the body weight regulation system is one that has alternately fascinated and aggravated me. … Keep Reading

Finishing up from Part 3, let me try to finally address the question “Can hard work beat talent?”.  I’ll look at this within a couple of different contexts since that does determine what the answer is or might be.

Can Hard Work Overcome a Genetic Limit?

Coming out of Part 3, you can probably imagine that my general answer to this question is simply no.  If we take talent to include what are clearly genetic limits, then no amount of work, hard, smart or otherwise can overcome them.  Because that’s not what the word “limit” means.   By definition a genetic limit is one that cannot be surpassed naturally.

Simply, the most that proper, hard and smart work will ever do is let a given trainee maximize their inherent talent.  Obviously if you don’t put in the work like the “always gonna” athlete, you’re never going to accomplish jack squat.  But assuming you put in the work, the most you will ever do is achieve your own inbuilt genetic limit.… Keep Reading

Continuing from Part 2 where I defined talent and presented what I call the Work/Talent Matrix I want to move into some seemingly unrelated issue that tie into this topic.  First let me go off on a bit of a tangent about how people seem to parse the question “Can hard work beat talent?” when it comes up.

Don’t Stop Believin’

There are certain concepts in fitness and sports that, no matter how clearly I try to explain them, someone will misinterpret it.  This is one of them.  The mere idea that there might be genetic limits to someone’s performance, that no amount of hard work might ever get them to their goal is just met with a lot of resistance.

I’m not sure it just comes down to reading comprehension, though.  Rather, I think it has to do with most people’s deep seated psychological desire for what I’m saying not to be true. … Keep Reading