one move to fix your body - another dumb article

one move to fix your body - another dumb article

Get Long, Lean Legs Like Ballerina Misty Copeland
from self.com

From the article:

"Not only is the girl ridiculously talented and uber graceful, she's also got a strong physique and hot bod to boot. "It's one of the few art forms that you have to start at such a young age. It really takes years to shape and mold the body," says Copeland, who took her first ballet class on a Boys & Girls Club basketball court.

Since some of us may not be able to dedicate years to the craft, Copeland gives us a for-dummies-style guide to the first building block of ballet: the Plie. "The technique creates these long, lean muscles so you're incredibly strong but in a delicate way," she says. "Something as simple as the plie will strengthen your quads, inner thighs, and calf muscles." One move to ballerina legs? Done.

The article then goes on to describe the details and how to do the "Pile in First Position" move.

Really? Because I don't buy it.

1.) Let's start with the obvious. Misty Copeland is a soloist with the American Balet Theatre, and has been training long hours for at least 15 years. This puts her well into the 10,000 Hours category, described in Malcom Gladwell's book Outliers. (the theory being it takes 10,000 hours of training in a particular field to become a world class expert in that field.)

From Misty's own words in the article, "It's one of the few art forms that you have to start at such a young age. It really takes years to shape and mold the body..."

And yet, according to Self, you can knock out a few Pile moves and have legs like Misty's by next week. Awesome - my wife will be stoked!

2.) Next, let's step back and consider her diet and nutrition. Misty Copeland is a professional ballerina, whose physical body is her key for success. I'm willing to bet she eats very well - not just in the "less calories than you burn" way that's good enough for 90% of us, but in the "maximize the exact benefit of nutritional makeup from every bite" way used by the top 1% performers.

To put it more simply, those legs weren't built on cheeseburgers and pizza.

3.) Let's also consider genetics. We all come in different sizes - tall, short, thick, thin, and everything in-between. It would be impossible for some people to have legs like Misty, regardless of how many years they spent doing first position piles.

Most of us would be better served to work on the things we have the most control over: eating smaller portions, eating less processed food, and exercising more. That's a simple combination to make the most of whatever genes your parents gave you.

Bottom Line

Come on, Self. You have to do better. Nobody is going to get legs like Misty Copeland from doing one simple move. Why not use your platform to promote ideas for body shaping and lifestyle maintenance people can actually use?

Whatever. Maybe we'll have more luck Getting Scarlett Johansson's Superhero Bod in One Move...

-Chris Butterworth

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