Monday, April 5, 2010

Citius Altius Fortius

To all but the most disciplined fitness devotees there will come a time, usually around the 4th or 5th week, probably at 5:30 a.m. during  the 14th rep of pushups that you'll ask yourself: What's the point? You are eating right. You've lost a few pounds. Your clothes fit better. You feel fine. You don't smoke or drink to excess. Why are you doing this to yourself? After all this can't last forever and so instead of pursuing this painful investment in time and energy why not look for an easier alternative.

Welcome to "the wall". Some hit it harder than others. Some do manage to avoid it. The vast majority of people who embark on a fitness program crumple at its base and stagger off into the sunset headed for the nearest MacDonald's.

But not you. Not this time. Not gonna happen. Here's why. You already are prepared through a proper attitude to ignore the mental recordings that have plagued us ever since the first bicep curl was attempted and instead remember why you are here and what you hope to accomplish. Weight loss, biceps, keeping up with your kids, avoiding family health problems, nice clothes...they all come as a byproduct of what you have committed to: faster -higher- stronger. You remember that it's not about the number of reps (your notebook cares about that). It's not about a goal in a fixed time limit ( the calendar cares about that). It's not about bigger guns ( you saw you earned those last week).

What keeps you pushing through is the knowledge that you can now do things that 4 or 5 weeks ago seemed impossible, and very soon you will reach a fitness level that allows you to move through all aspects of your life with greater ease and comfort and satisfaction. And you also know that within a very short period of time your fitness program has become a part of life not a chore you must do, and that the maintenance of your new found fitness is made easier by the fact that you have approached your program with the correct mindset from the first push up, pullup, and curl.

You are different. You know it. You feel it. You see it. It was worth it. 

That sound you heard?

It was a wall coming down behind you as you pushed through it.

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