Physical Intelligence
The New Approach to Vibrant Health, Ending Obesity,
Improving Lives, and Helping People Feel Better
by Herb Rubenstein and Dr. Christine McDougall, Writer, Endurance Athlete,
Introduction
The world has long used the IQ test as a measure of cognitive ability or intelligence. More recently, we have begun to use the term EQ promoted by Daniel Goleman of Harvard to represent the concept of “emotional intelligence.” Howard Gardner has identified nine different types of intelligences, and one he has identified, “bodily/kinesthetic” is related to our term “physical intelligence.” In addition, Cindy Wigglesworth has recently published an excellent book and assessment on “spiritual intelligence.” Today, we are presenting another form of intelligence, one we believe has equal and significant relevance. It is the idea of “physical intelligence.”
Generally, the term physical intelligence has been used to describe how a person is aware of their body, of how exercise improves their body, of what and how much they eat, and of the ability to be in control of the actions that can improve their body and their health. These are all excellent aspects of what we refer to as “physical intelligence” but they do not explain all of the key factors that comprise our definition of “physical intelligence.”
Statement of the Problem
In every developing country, the average person’s weight is increasing. Life expectancies are not growing at the rate they have in previous decades. Diabetes is at epidemic proportions. Some forward thinking government officials are starting to talk about putting either a tax on high fat or high sugar content foods or banning their sale outright. In addition, as schools drop “physical education” in more and more school districts, it is easy to see that the reducing of education regarding our physical domains will reduce our individual and collective health and our “physical intelligence.”
We believe that the physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual domains are all connected. Therefore, in this article we are not asserting that the physical domain is somehow completely independent of or superior to the other domains. In fact, for someone to become more interested in physical intelligence as a idea or even an operating principle, it will take an act of their mental domain and their emotional domain to support their interest and commitment in becoming more “physically intelligent.”
Therefore, the problem, world-wide, as we see it is straightforward: Too few people are as physically intelligent as they should be or as they need to be in order to live a physically intelligent life and teach others to live a physically intelligent life. While it is beyond the scope of this introductory article to develop an entire curriculum as to what one will need to learn to become physically intelligent, we will define “physical intelligence” so that you can begin to assess yourself and those whom you might teach or advise, as to what being physically intelligent would require in terms of actions and knowledge.
Defining Physical Intelligence
Physical intelligence involves people gaining an understanding of the following:
At the base level:
1. How their food and drink, medicine, vitamins and supplements intake work in their body to produce fat, muscle, disease, health, sickness, mental acuity, grogginess, and weight gain or weight loss.
2. How their level of exercise, including their heart rate during this exercise, contributes to their physical well-being and how their lack of exercise reduces their physical well-being.
3. How their physical appearance is a direct function of their food and drink intake, their level of stress, the quality of rest and sleep, and how physically intelligent they live their lives.
At the intermediate level:
4. How their physical appearance is a contributing factor to how people treat them, their economic prospects throughout their lives, their overall level of success, and how they “feel” about themselves.
5. How each individual is in charge of his or her own physical well-being to a significant extent and that each individual can transform the way he or she lives to commit and be successful at being more physically intelligent and physically competent.
6. Understands the impact of their external environment on physical intelligence. This includes our association with friends (do they smoke, drink, etc.), the level of toxicity in the air, water, and food, and related environmental detriments to our health.
7. Being aware of the cultural effects on physical intelligence. Particular food groups and genetics can hold significant influence and can impact the quantity of food we eat.
At the advanced level:
8. Ability to create and nurture an intuitive dialogue between one’s physical body and one’s mental/emotional/spiritual intelligence. For example, the ability to ‘tune in” to the physical intelligence of the body can direct specific actions such as the requirement for sleep, harder or easier exercise, not eating a particular food type, or the need to eat a particular food. (Not as an addiction but as a physical requirement for health and vitality)
9. At the advanced level of physical intelligence, a very high “flow state” is achieved. Master of physical intelligence can recognize, modify, and adapt even the most subtle of physical signals. This level of physical intelligence correlates with advanced levels of emotional and spiritual intelligence, as it requires one to develop the ability to surpass the basic egoic triggers, addictive patterns, as well as emotional and social need-based behaviors that harm us physically and reduce our level of physical intelligence.
10. Understands the role of “pace” as we seek to go through life at a supportive pace so as to keep our stress levels down and our productivity over time to an optimal level.
The Path to Physical Intelligence
There is no single, accepted standard today to assess how physically intelligent a person is. So we cannot offer you a guide on how to raise your “PQ”, your level of physical intelligence, say, 10 or 20 points. That will be the subject of further discussion by the authors and those interested in setting quantifiable standards of physical intelligence.
However, there are significant activities, learning, and the establishment of a commitment to physical intelligence that can pay off pretty quickly for every individual. The list below of the actions, thoughts, beliefs, and insights you can undertake to become more physically intelligent are merely a starting point for you to influence yourself and begin to influence others on their path to becoming “physically intelligent.” The list below is limited to 24 items and they are not listed in any particular order.
1. Create a baseline statement about yourself today and write down the results of your self-evaluation. Rate yourself (self-assess) on the following attributes on the following scale:
• 1 - very poor
• 2 - well below where you want to be
• 3 - slightly below where you want to be
• 4 - where you are satisfied today with where you are
• 5 - where you could be given your potential
Check back every month to compare how you are compared to your baseline assessment. Evaluate yourself on the following attributes on this one to five scale:
a. Food knowledge and diet– To achieve a score of 4 or 5 on this attribute, you must be aware of everything you eat, drink, ingest, etc. and how it impacts your body and health. You must eat consistent with the diet that you should have to promote maximum health, a correct weight and fat content level for your body.
b. Exercise knowledge and activity – To achieve a score of 4 or 5 you must exercise diligently and to the maximum level you should exercise to improve your body’s strength, flexibility, and health.
c. Stress level understanding and response – Do you actively undertake steps to keep your stress level to the lowest level possible.
d. Environmental factors control – Are you aware of the environmental factors in your surrounding areas that may negatively impact your life and regularly take action to keep the negative impact of these factors to a minimum.
e. Weight and fat content of my body– Do you know exactly how much you weight and your fat content; how much you should weight; what your fat content should be; and are you taking all reasonable steps to achieve your desired weight and fat content in 180 days or less.
f. You are keenly aware of your physical appearance; how it impacts your life; how your physical appearance impacts how others perceive you; and do you undertake actions daily to improve your physical appearance and the reception you receive from others upon seeing you.
One’s maximum score is 30 points. A score below 20 will require substantial changes in your habits. We believe a score of 24 would put you in the upper 10% of people in the world. Always work toward achieving a score of 30 points, with at least some improvement each month. Be a tough grader of yourself to make this exercise most beneficial.
In addition to creating, paying significant attention to, and updating this baseline assessment, we have identified the following steps that you can deploy to improve your level of physical intelligence.
2. Plan and implement a significantly improved new diet for the next 365 days. Write down this new diet, noting the changes that you will be implementing and the areas of your new diet that you believe will be most beneficial to you. Tell others, especially those with whom you regularly eat your plan for your new diet.
3. Plan and implement a new and evolving exercise routine for the next 365 days. Write down this new exercise routine and your changes over time, noting the changes that you will be implementing to your exercise routine that you believe will be most beneficial to you. Notify your exercise partners and significant people in your life about this new exercise regimen.
4. Have a professional evaluate any physical deficiencies, pain, soreness, lack of flexibility, heart disease, etc. that could impede the desired exercise routine and follow the professional’s advice to deal effectively with this deficiency.
5. Set goals for your weight, fat content, resting heart rate, blood pressure, cholesterol level, and physical appearance and measure these items regularly. For your weight, measure this at least once a month. Consider buying a scale that measures your fat content as well.
6. Develop a plan to reduce your stress level after identifying all factors in your life that are increasing or keeping your stress level high. Be sure to get enough sleep and to keep an appropriate pace for all of your activities. Avoid procrastination as it disrupts your optimal pace.
7. Ask for support from one or more people to help you on a regular basis to maintain your diet, exercise, and improvement of your physical appearance. Team up with others.
8. Compare yourself to your potential in setting all goals and implementing all of your activities consistent with your plan and do not compare yourself to others who are not as committed as you are to achieving physical intelligence.
9. Find ways to reward and acknowledge yourself for reaching, exceeding, and even attempting to reach your goals related to becoming physically intelligent.
10. Mentor others and teach others who are ready, willing, and interested in becoming more physically intelligent.
11. Inform others of your commitment to and actions in furtherance of becoming more physically intelligent, especially members of your family.
12. Prepare yourself mentally for what will be interpreted by you as sacrifice, effort, and the significant investment you will be making in improving your physical intelligence.
13. Blog, write, and speak about your activities and spread the word and excitement you have regarding becoming more physically intelligent.
14. Be prepared for setbacks in exercise, diet, physical appearance, commitment and desire and deal with them looking at the long run goals you have developed as keys to re-inspiring yourself.
15. Commit to success not just for 30 days, or even 365 days, but for your entire life.
16. Explore new foods, vitamins, nutritional supplements, evaluate the medicines you are taking and alternatives to those medicines that many have less harmful side effects.
17. Exercise both alone and with others, take exercise classes, attempt new sports, like swimming, yoga, balance training, zumba, running, and get proper training and equipment for these new exercise routines. Find exercise that you love and that your body also loves. Note, that after some period of time, exercising the same way over and over will yield diminishing returns as your body figures out how to perform these exercises efficiently and with the least amount of effort. That is why it is so important to change things regularly within your exercise program. For example, you can start doing interval work with running, or learning different strokes in swimming.
18. Allow your confidence to rise over time. Expect that your confidence may start out low and will ebb and flow as you try new things, Set higher and higher goals. Be prepared as you might over time “hit a wall” occasionally where your body finds it very difficult to improve or your normal workout seems to be getting harder and harder.
19. Commit yourself mentally to the journey of becoming more physically intelligent.
20. Commit yourself mentally and physically to helping many, many people in the world become more physically intelligent.
21. Do not give your power away to a health professional by ‘swallowing everything they say’ as gospel. Instead, educate yourself, read, and learn about every issue you are facing physically or mentally. Find health professionals who will partner with you in health.
22. Take time daily to tune into the physical signals of the body. You have known how to do this from an early age. You knew when you were hungry, cold, tired, full. Notice whether you are hungry, or are you eating because you are upset or bored? Are you eating and drinking the right quantity and quality of food and beverages? Or are you often eating out of habit or cultural expectations? Begin to notice how your culture impacts your eating and drinking. This attunement is a practice that takes years to master.
23. Choose to eat foods and beverages that have not been modified significantly from their natural state. The freshest, the most organic, the most local foods will always be better options. Learn to read labels very carefully and understand the implications of the amounts of calories, sugar, and other ingredients. Choose to treat your body as the temple it is by not eating or drinking dead, empty food or drink, lacking in vitality and real benefits for your body.
24. Notice your food triggers including such emotions as anger, sadness, boredom, etc. that can literally cause you to eat and drink and influence what, and how much, you eat and drink. Begin to notice how certain environments, such as the cinema/movie theaters, weddings, parties, etc. cause you to eat habitually and not healthily. Also, begin to notice the stories and conversations you have with yourself about your eating, such as “It’s a waste to throw this out, so I will eat it.” In fact, often, it is healthier for you to throw that food in the garbage than have it reside on your hips the next day. Of course, even better, begin to serve yourself and others you care about smaller servings, so there is limited waste.
Conclusion
We humans have total control over what we eat, drink, how much we exercise, how we reduce our exposure to negative environmental factors, and how we reduce the stress levels in our lives. Humans cannot change all of their behavior overnight. Generally, we can only exercise a little more tomorrow than we could today. However, we can change the way we eat radically very quickly and permanently.
You can create new goals and a support system to help you achieve the goal of becoming more physically intelligent and more physically attractive. You can begin, sooner than you think, to mentor, coach, and teach others how to be more physically intelligent. And, you can begin to see the difference all of this will make in your life and in the lives of others in 30 days or less.
We hope you find this article useful in your goal setting and in your approach to becoming more physically intelligent. By raising your own level of physical intelligence, you raise the level of physical intelligence on the planet. You can make great strides in helping yourself and others be healthier, feel better, have more energy, look better, reduce health care costs, and improve the world in so many ways. We look forward to continuing this conversation with you.