You Are Not A Special Snowflake

Joel Younkins
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I originally wrote this post as a weekly VIP Newsletter email. But in this Lifestyle Blog, I wanted to rework this message as I think many of us get confused about the reality of Individual Differences and how it applies to us as individuals. Too often, many people assume that Individual Differences means that you are an exception to the rule. Before assuming this idea, we should slow down and unpack what's going on first.

Are you ready?
You sure??
Okay, lets get to it!

I get it, we know that we are all different from each other. There is no exact copy of us somewhere else in this world. In another galaxy, I don't know, maybe? But on earth, you are you and I am I. Yes, you are unique on this earth...

But, you need to realize that I'm not your mother...I'm not here to tell you that you're special...I'm here to make you a monster! 

Now, assuming that you do not have a disease or specific condition, the reality is that we are all more alike than different. Let me explain my vantage point on this topic in regards to fitness/training...

In training there's something called Individual Differences. There's no perfect training program, perfect diet, and everyone responds to stress a little bit different from each other. But in training, we have principles that we should follow first. You must know these principles before you can start getting into individual differences and understand them before jumping ship. There are always exceptions to the rules, but usually the exceptions do not mean 180 degrees in the other direction.

I'm going to give you 3 example situations of common beliefs people may have established for themselves and we'll go through what they are, why they should improve these ideas, and finally how to make better adjustments for them.

I hear people talking about what they think works so great for them. Sometimes I know they are legit, and other times I know that they are just rationalizing their own belief system because of how they're responding to their internal feelings about their choices. These are 3 examples of training/fitness claims that you could potentially hear...

1. 1.) Athletes claiming to not lift weights, they just use bands and/or do yoga for their strength work and claim that it works better.
2. 2.) People claiming that they believe that their primary fuel source is running off of fat, for even at high intensities like lifting weights or playing a fast paced sport like basketball.
3. 3.) People claiming that running is the only way for them to lose weight.

Now, you have to understand that these people have their own beliefs at the time of saying these things. You usually we hear them say, "this is just works best for my body." And the human mind can be very powerful, especially in the human performance world. But in these instances, they can all probably improve if they just shifted their minds back to the basic training principles. Let me explain why these thoughts are not very accurate...

1. 1.) These athletes probably just feel better instead of being subjected to the hard training from using weights. Maybe they never properly were taught how to lift weights or they were on bad programs where they always felt beat up and sore. And now yoga and bands help them recover faster so they feel better. If they lifted weights, they could be stronger athletes and able to produce more force on the field.
2. 2.) Sugar is the bodies most effective way at producing energy. For your brain too. Using fats to fuel your body is like putting unleaded fuel and a drag racing car. Yes fats give you energy, but it's a slow releasing energy. It's nothing close to what sugar can produce for you especially during a hard workout. Even if you think you've become this superior fat burning machine, you won't be able to perform as well and recover as fast relying strictly on fats for energy.
3. 3.) Running is just one tool to burn calories. People may think this because in the past or present they have seen good results. But it doesn't really mean this is their only best option, it's just one method that they have made effective for themselves. 

I didn't make these rules up, I just know that this is how it works from years of education, learning, and coaching day in and day out. What we need to understand is that we all respond to everything A LITTLE BIT DIFFERENTLY. But we must start at the root of the basic training principles and then you work out from there to find the adjustments that YOU NEED to optimize your training. Let me explain how we could make some adjustments for these 3 examples...
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• 1.) These athletes should lift weights to get stronger, but maybe focus on reducing training volume and intensities as they may not be able to handle as much as other athletes can.

1. 2.) These people should start trying different carbohydrate choices to use for their training. Start with low serving sizes and track performance and recovery.
2. 3.) These people can still run to lose weight, but also focus on lifting weights to burn more calories at rest (after burn effect) and utilizing different cardio equipment on the days where motivation is low to run.

So as you can see, Individual Difference are not as dramatic as they seem to be. Again, assuming that we're talking about healthy individuals. But it's not a case of new rules to follow, it's a case of making certain adjustments to each persons abilities and personal differences.

You have your own finger prints, your own DNA, your own stress, your own experiences, but when it comes to training we all start with the basic training principles. The purpose of this Lifestyle Blog was to tell you that if you're a healthy individual, that you probably do not need your own set of rules to win at this game. You just need to understand it, work at it, adjust to it, and then repeat! 

You're not a special snowflake, you're a savage :)

Talk soon!

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