What do people think of this substack article? I do know of divorces that have been caused by one spouse’s obsession with exercise (Triathalons) to the exclusion of family activities.
I was chatting with the health journalist Jen Murphy the other day. She spent two decades writing the Wall Street Journal’s What’s Your Workout? column, which covered the exercise habits of high-profile people. Think: presidents, CEOs, and founders of major companies.
Some of these busy people trained hours a day for triathlons and other sports. They skipped meals with friends because the menu didn’t fit their nutrition requirements. They avoided social gatherings that might go too late and impact their sleep.
Jen told me there was often a fascinating tension to those pieces. “I regularly had spouses—or ex spouses—email me to say they wished their partner put as much energy into their relationship and family as they did into their workouts,” she said.
Health practices, pursued beyond a certain point, stop making your life better.
Your body fat percentage, VO2 max, and biomarkers may look perfect on paper. But the damage shows up between your ears. Anxiety rises, relationships suffer, life becomes robotic.
So, a question: How much is enough?
Health practices exist on an inverted U-shaped curve. Too few and physical health suffers. Too many, and life does.
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