This is a collection of ten things I found out about in the past week that felt relevant to my work.

They can be read as individual curios, or, as I understand them, as waymarkers towards a more interesting and inclusive culture of fitness.

This week I haven’t been doing a huge amount of reading other than of cookbooks, so it’s going to be a bit cookbooks and YouTube-heavy, I think…

Yesterday I recorded a monologue I wrote about an unbelievable gym (perhaps the best I’ve ever been to) that I stumbled across halfway up Penang Hill in Malaysia for my podcast, The Good Gym Guide. I’ll release it soon-ish but here are a couple of photos as a teaser:

When we were in Malaysia, we tried to eat at some of the places that the mighty Anthony Bourdain enjoyed when he was there. We had laksa at the stall near the Kek Lok Si temple and it blew our minds.

Anyway, I love the chapter in Kitchen Confidential called ‘How to Cook Like the Pros’ where he describes “some ingredients that separate food at home from food in a restaurant.” Here’s the list:

shallots
butter
roasted garlic
chiffonaded parsley
stock
demi-glace
chervil, basil tops, chive sticks, mint tops etc.

Read the book for the full descriptions as to why (and just because it’s so fantastic.)

Sandor Ellis Katz is a hero of fermented foods. This DIY series based around his trip to rural China is an educational gem ❤️

This week the YouTuber Rambalac announced that they would stop uploading videos for a while. It’s a real shame. Any time that I need to feel transported I watch one of their steadicam walks around Japan with some “lo-fi hip hop” in the background. When I’m working I often have a small pane open showing one of their walks and it makes life feel less dreary.

I particularly love the nighttime city ones and the snowy ones.

The reason I raised that is because I recently watched a video where someone had recorded a similar steadicam walk around Bristol! It was very disorientating to see such familiar places shot in the same way as something I exoticize. Nicely jarring. There’s probably something to learn there…

I mentioned Norm Meltzer last week or the week before but didn’t link to this video, which was a terrible omission:

This week a client reminded me of the brilliant browser game QWOP, created by the former bassist of Cut Copy.

There are a lot of life lessons to learn in the game’s introductory text:

You are Qwop, our nation’s sole representative at the Olympic Games.
Use the QWOP keys to move your legs.
Ideally you will run 100 metres…
…but our training program was under-funded.
Remember, it’s not about whether you win or lose.

Give it a go. It makes real-life running seem relatively easy.

The Chariots of Fire music fading hopefully in is an added bonus.

Lynette Yiadom-Boakye paints portraits of fictitious people, created from found images and her own imagination. As the Tate says, they “raise important questions of identity and representation.”

“Please just read the stat”

I want to include this video because it reminded me that outside exists and that outside is magical.

New Fitness Culture Scrapbook #6