Dispatches from the past pt. 22: The Infinity Stones of Movement

A more recent article talking about nerd-dom and exercise

As you may (or may not) know, I’ve been a trainer/strength coach/movement helper-type since 2005. I’ve written many articles, blog posts, and other semi-pointless ramblings about fitness/wellness/exercise over that time. Some hold up. Others don’t.

While updating my website (www.themightyodd.com - updating still in progress), I felt nostalgic and opened up an old website I have under the same account. It was called The Iron Covenant and it was a site I used to promote coaching, workshops, and a zine I wrote in the early/mid 2010s with the same name.

I came across a series of blogs I did from that time, and some struck me as pretty insightful. A few were pretty cringey. Either way, it felt like a fun way to reflect on where my training and life philosophies have gone over the years. And since this is a free newsletter that asks nothing of you as a reader (other than your attention and consideration, which I appreciate), I’m going to occasionally share some of these posts with you, and including some insights from Contemporary Tyler.

I first wrote this article back in 2018, after Avengers: Infinity War came out. It’s one of my favorites, and I like to bring it back around every so often since I think it holds up, even if the MCU has lost its former luster.

Enjoy!

Did y’all ever see AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR?

It came a few years ago, so I think it’s been long enough that we’re outside the spoiler-avoidance window - if you haven't seen it by now, I'm going to guess you're not too concerned with spoilers.

For those of you unfamiliar with the franchise, it’s based in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU for short). As the name suggests, it’s the cinematic adaptation of a bunch of the comic book publisher Marvel Comics franchises.

So far it’s focused primarily on the Avengers (Captain America, Iron Man, Black Widow, Hulk, Thor), Guardians of the Galaxy, and surrounding characters.

INFINITY WAR is the culmination of the last 10 years of the MCU leading up to the 2018 release. All the movies until this point have been building up to this event, if only in small, tangential ways.

It’s huge. Epic. Tragic. Comedic. Almost three hours of non-stop action and exposition.

At the center of it all is the baddie of all baddies, the cosmic nihilist, THANOS. He’s huge, purple, and has a big, rippled chin. He wants to destroy half the life in the universe, and he’s collected the jewelry to do it - the INFINITY STONES:
6 gems of massive power, that, when wielded in unison, imbue the user with nigh infinite power (hence the name). He sticks those babies on a big golden glove, and kicks the crap out of everybody.

Each of the stones has a unique power and represents an aspect of existence. 

They are:

Red - Power
Orange - Time
Yellow - Reality 
Purple - Space
Blue - Mind
Green - Soul

After I saw the movie, I started thinking about these mighty rocks and their powers. I make a lot of parallels. Too many, probably. I love a good analogy, even more if it’s a pop culture one. There’s something magical about seeing patterns, connecting seemingly unrelated things and finding threads throughout everything.

To that point: I talk a lot about what constitutes Movement (with a capital M), and what we are trying to get out of Moving (also with a capital M). What are the manipulatable factors, and what are our objectives?

I looked at the attributes of the Infinity Stones, and it was all clear to me:

Power: intensity/strength. This one’s pretty obvious - applied strength=power. How we create and use strength.

Time: duration/adaptation. How we manipulate time variables to elicit certain responses. Pace, tempo, etc. Time also relates to the time it takes for our body to take in data, process it, and adapt to the stimuli, aka the adaptation process.

Reality: reaction/coordination. How we perceive our bodies and the world. Our reactions and responses to the world at it moves around us. Perception of ourselves and our environment. Usually called proprioception in the training world.

Space: moving through the world. How we navigate our environment, interact with our environment.

Mind: problem-solving/learning. Figuring out how to do things - learning & solving physical problems.

Soul: creativity, style, how we express ourselves through movement, or do things in our own way that makes sense to our mind and body. Greatly unvalued in fitness: not only in terms of adapting movements to the individual, but also the potential for personal expression through movement. Usually only valued in dance or similar performance-based movement arts, but can apply any time of movement. The intensity with which someone lifts a heavy weight, or the efficacy of a handstand - it’s all an expression of the person engaging in the act. It’s a value of movement placed outside increased load (aka more weight) or more repetitions.

So why the parallel?

Basically, I’m saying that you can unlock infinite power by training with me. 🤷🏻‍♂️

But really, how do you think about movement and exercise?

How are you choosing your exercises?

What are you trying to get out of your exercise program?

Do you want more? I know I do.

I’m gonna be the exercise Thanos (without the genocide).

In order to become wielders of Cosmic Might, we must consider all of the physical Infinity Stones and incorporate all of concepts in to our movement practice. It’s more than reps and sets - it’s a deeper consideration of our bodies, how they work, and how they respond to certain stimuli. 

Want to talk more about this way of looking at movement or exercise?

Or about Infinity War?

Smash that reply button and let’s talk about it.