Divergent

What does the first in a series of books about virtues in a dystopian society have to do with being 40ish and working out? A lot more than I expected.

I haven’t read The Divergent Book Series yet, but my daughters loved them and wanted to see the movie.

As with most of their public appearances now, I am not invited. Plus I didn’t want to see some teenage girl movie so I dropped them off and I went to Wings to watch some basketball and make other bad choices

When I picked them up, they kept raving about how good the books were, how good the movie was, how the movie was different from the book, and how much I would like the movie. Hmmm. They know me pretty well so I guess I’ll have to go see it.

After checking out some of the reviews, Veronica’s blog, and some YouTube previews… I am in.

But after finding out more about the story, all I am thinking about is how this relates to real life… especially the lives of people who exercise in some form or fashion.

Virtues of an “Exerciser”

There are five basic virtues in the book:

Candor – honesty
Abnegation – selflessness
Dauntless – brave

Amity – peace
Erudite – Intelligence

And I would suggest there are five basic types of exercisers:

1. Non-Exercisers

This group makes up the vast majority of the adult population. Whether you call them couch potatoes, sedentary, or just walking time health bombs, they make up about 80 percent of the population according to the CDC and this article from Ryan Jaslow.

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/cdc-80-percent-of-american-adults-dont-get-recommended-exercise/

Candor/Honesty is the first virtue in the book and most people aren’t very honest with themselves or they would see that they fall in the 80%. Stands to reason though if you remember the 80/20 rule.

2. Cardio freaks

This group of people only does cardio. Running, biking, swimming, rowing, spinning, and any other “ing” you can think of that covers getting your heart rate up. This is a great leap above the Non-Exerciser group and you will find a lot of people who do one or more of these.

This group is much more likely to stick with a single sport like running and they often specialize in certain distances that fit their lifestyle, time commitments, abilities, age, etc.

5k’s, 10k’s, Halfs, Marathons and Ultras are just a few of the options they choose to focus on and turn into goals. Lots of my friends make events out of their pursuits – marathon goal becomes a quest to run the Disney marathon, or possibly the music themed events like the Country Music Marathon or the Rock and Roll Marathon.

A smaller percentage becomes slightly divergent within the cardio realm and choose Duathlons, Triathlons, or some combination of cardio events. All tough and I can see the appeal. Many of these people cross train, and the very serious ones or the knowledgeable ones will also lift weights.

3. Power Lifters

This group of people only does heavy weightlifting. Squats, Bench Press, and Deadlifts are the staples of their world.

This group is stereotyped in society as true meatheads and you’ll see them caricatured in commercials for Planet Fitness and others – especially judged by the first and second groups which always makes me laugh since it takes a LOT of work to do marathons, century rides, and others, but it takes just as much work to literally lift a TON of weight.

There is an extreme group of powerlifters just like cardio ultramarathoners called strongmen – you’ve probably seen the competitions lifting insane amounts of weight in crazy locations around the world. They are cool to watch and I’ll catch myself stopping on that show if I happen to see it listed.

Often, this group is mixed and confused by the uninformed with bodybuilders.

4. Bodybuilders

These men and women are rapidly closing in on divergent status – most of them lift heavy, but not at heavy as powerlifters.

They do cardio, but most of the ones I know hate it… have to do it, but hate it – much like the cardio freaks who love their sport, but lift when they have to or feel they have to – rarely do they walk away from their non-natural sport having loved the session.

This group really dials in each area of their exercise routine and adds a third component which really starts the point of divergence and separation for group 4 and 5…

NUTRITION

Ask any bodybuilder how much protein they are eating today and they will show you containers of grilled chicken, lean turkey, pork, beef, dairy and any other source they can get their calloused hands on. They know down to the ounce how much they need each bulking phase day (ie, all of them) and especially dialed in to an exact number during their “Cutting” phase getting ready for competitions.

A lot of gym rats will say they fall into this group, but unless they dial in their diet plan they are probably a mix of powerlifters and cardio freaks… slight difference, but huge results difference. I almost fall into this category most of the time because I lift, but rarely dial in my diet… don’t look like Jay or Ronnie either

5. Divergents – aka Fitness Freaks

This group routinely crosses over all three focus areas – cardio, weights, and diet. They blend high intensity training, straight cardio, and focused weightlifting to build impressive physiques that both powerlifters and cardio freaks can relate to…

For that matter, you will find that most of the people who work out in any way believe they fall into this group. Don’t kid yourself because in 99.9% of the cases I’ve seen you either focus on cardio or on weights and half ass the other one and even less focus is placed on diet. Be real with yourself here. If you do fall in this group, congratulations – you are part of an impressive team!

Even though this group is small, it is the fastest growing and arguably the most diverse group of exercisers. Depending on which side of the weight/cardio equation gets the heavier factor you will hear this group called many things:

Crossfit.

You’ve probably seen one of these “gyms” pop up around you in the last few years. At least some knockoff like a bootcamp training or extreme fitness xyz. Either way, it is a fast growing trend with some great workouts of the day (WOD).

CrossFit is a strength and conditioning program with the aim of improving, among other things, muscular strength, cardio-respiratory endurance, and flexibility. It advocates a perpetually varied mix of aerobic exercise, gymnastics (body weight exercises), and Olympic weight lifting http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CrossFit

Fitness and Figure competitors

A spinoff of the bodybuilder events for women, this is a focused group looking for muscle definition and not necessarily muscle mass.

Even within this group there are basically 3 different focus areas – Fitness, Figure, and Bikini. All have competition focus and different degrees of expected muscle size/development so it appeals to many more women who don’t want to look like body builders, but who also don’t want to look like anemic fashion models. I am a big fan!

Take a look at Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, and Instagram and you will find these women in ads or just shared, viral pictures.

Athletes, personal trainers, and fitness models

Usually these people cross over from being athletes to models/trainers and you are very likely to see them on magazine covers or billboards due to the defined muscles and broad appeal of their physiques. Walk by any magazine rack at your local grocery or convenience store and you will recognize this group.

Ripped, lean, jacked, or shredded headlines are the telltale signs.

This isn’t the best name for this group, but I didn’t know how to categorize them any other way – I’m sure they will have their own, but it looks like Fitness Model is the current best definition.

A few examples for your viewing or goal setting pleasure – all are truly inspiring and most of their Twitter accounts are linked so go take a quick look:

The Cast and Author look like some of them are inspiring in their own right so I tried to find most of their Twitter accounts as well and I’ll be checking them out – I see a couple “Divergent bodies” already:

Shailene Woodley
Theo James
Kate Winslet
Miles Teller
Ansel Elgort
Ashley Judd
Jai Courtney
Ray Stevenson
Zoë Kravitz
Tony Goldwyn
Maggie Q
Neil Burger
Veronica Roth
Divergent on Twitter

So do you agree with my 5 groupings? Do you see yourself in one or more groups and approaching Divergent status? Do you want to be? Comment below with your own thoughts and sign up for our mailing list on the right to receive members only articles, reviews, and helpful tips.

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