You may be looking at the subject line and thinking to yourself, “What does this have anything to do with training?” I swear I’ll get to that…
Last July, my wife and I took our first big vacation in almost 10 years (‘start a small business’ they said… ‘it’ll be fun’ they said)… a cruise to Hawaii that left from Los Angeles. This consisted of 5 days at sea, about a week of island hopping, and 5 days at sea coming back. For some, the thought of being in the middle of the ocean for that long may seem like the worst kind of hell. But for introverts like Marie and I, it was wonderful. Being disconnected from the world allowed us to reconnect to each other.
Of course, the “completely disconnected” part was optional. Nowadays cruise ships sell internet packages that allow one to stay connected the entire time (for a hefty premium), but we weren’t having any of that. As a matter of fact, I would have paid extra to NOT have internet that whole time!
One of the things I didn’t realize until we were sailing in the middle of nowhere, is how much of a current events junkie I had become post-COVID. During the pandemic, like most of us, I was glued to the news non-stop, trying to figure out the changes to our business that were coming at breakneck pace. After the pandemic, this attachment to the news didn’t go away… and I started to notice what an impact this was having on my mental health. You’re not my therapist, so I’ll spare you the details.
I must confess… for the first few days, being in the middle of the ocean with no phone/internet was rather uncomfortable. It took the better part of 3-4 days before I got used to being off the grid. Although I knew The Protocol was in great hands, it was unsettling to be away from work at first. And not having any idea what was happening in the world was equally unsettling.
But by the end of the trip, not getting the blow-by-blow of news coverage was so wonderful that I made the decision that I was going to keep doing it after I got back. My wife had a similar experience. However, instead of giving up news media, she enjoyed being off social media so much that she gave that up after we got back. She now limits herself to one day per week (Saturdays) to catch up with family and look at the updated photos of the grandkids.
Fast forward to today… it’s now been over a year that I’ve made the intentional action of not watching the daily news, and not consuming news coverage. In the effort to provide full disclosure, if something pops up that gets my attention, I will look the story up and read about it. But for the most part, my days of daily news consumption have been gone for a little over a year.
Here’s what I discovered…
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#1: If something major has happened, you’ll find out about it whether you want to or not.
When I told people I stopped watching the news, the most common question was, “How do you know what’s happening in the world?” The simple answer is, “I don’t know, I just do.” If there is something big happening, everyone talks about it non-stop. If it’s something that seems important and/or of interest to me, I’ll go on Wikipedia and read about it. If you’ve never done this, you’re missing out. If you go to their home page, they have news stories on there. Now here’s the cool part… the stories are summed up in one or two sentences. It doesn’t tell you how you’re supposed to feel about it, or a bunch of color commentary. It’s just the data. You know… the way news used to be before media outlets started getting paid per click.
In summary, there’s almost no way to NOT hear about something important going on. And if it’s not important, no one talks about it. Which brings me to the next thing I learned.
#2: Most stuff the news talks about just isn’t that important.
If it’s a slow news day, the media outlets still have to put out their product. So, if there’s nothing important to talk about, they either a) Report on some obscure BS that is of no importance. Or b) Try to find something that will piss people off so they’ll click on the story. Either way… what a colossal waste of time!
#3: Most stuff the news talks about isn’t even news.
Here’s a fun experiment: Next time you turn on the news and a story comes on, ask yourself, “Is this really news?” Frequently, it’s not. Oftentimes they’re just reading the internet to you. It’s literally the same crap you’re wasting time watching on your phone.
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How This Correlates To Training…
When you’ve been coaching as long as I have, you’ve seen many trends come and go. I’ve been peddled every fitness gadget, every supplement, and every MLM wellness program known to man. It’s been many years since I’ve fallen for one of these, and we pride ourselves on acting as a filter to separate fact from fiction for our clients when it comes to this stuff.
In the world of strength training, it’s very easy to get distracted by shiny objects. In my younger days, seeing something shiny and going off the program set my training back more than I’m willing to admit. Today my training is simple (not to be confused with easy), minimalistic, and gets the most accomplished in the least amount of time… no fluff.
Perhaps you’re not ready to give up your news feed. I would still encourage you to try a short-term ‘media fast’ and see how you feel after a week or two. And on the subject of training, there will be a Part 2 to this post, so stay tuned. Next time I’ll be talking about one of the most valuable things you can do that no one talks about to get long-term results.
Until next time,
Jerry Trubman is a coach, clinician, author, blogger, and powerlifting state champion. With over two decades of lifting experience, he has devoted himself to seeking out better answers, and distilling them into practical programs that produce great results. Jerry has coached “Team Protocol” to 4 National Powerlifting Championships in the 100% Raw federation. He writes the internationally-read blog, “The Healthy Addiction” and lives in Tucson, Arizona with his wife, Marie, and dog, Asher.
