Happy Sunday, all.

 

I'm going back over my chat with Dr. Mark Hyman on his podcast (just released, go check it out!) and I realized something. It was all about metabolic flexibility—how training your body to easily switch between fuel sources is the key to metabolic health, effortless energy, and healthy longevity. This makes sense to most people, and it's the drum I've been banging for years now.

 

But I realized that flexibility is everything in all areas.

 

Back in the days of marathoning, I was inflexible about my diet and my training and it was killing me, and as soon as I relaxed my rigid views on the proper way to eat I improved.

 

Not only did that help with my immediate issue but it helped me become more flexible in other areas. It opened up an entire new world. I began rethinking the way I lived, slept, sunned, worked, and spent my leisure time. I had a whole new perspective from which to experiment with, well, everything. All because I was suddenly flexible.

 

Think about what flexibility means in a physical sense. When you are flexible, you can get into many different positions with ease and fluidity. You don't force your body to do things it isn't ready to do. You manipulate your body through every possible range of motion using organic deliberate movement, and it works. It's true and legitimate. And you can go from one position to another without straining.

 

The inflexible person can get into the splits position with enough force and pain and two people on each leg pushing down hard, but it's not really the splits, is it? They'll tear something. They'll break something. And the rest of their movement ability will suffer because of the damage they've done trying to get into a position they had no business being in.

 

Now, you must combine that flexibility with strength. If you're weak, flexibility isn't anything worth having. There's no foundation to it. You can get into the position but can't hold it. You can change your mind but can't defend your stance. You can get into the full squat but can't lift the weight. This is true for the mind, the body, and everything else.

 

But flexibility really is important, isn't it? Are you flexible? About diet? About exercise? How about other areas? Let me know in the comment section of Weekly Link Love.