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Tuesday, October 6, 2015

Health & Fitness Help - 30 DAYS OF AWESOMNESS: Day 2

Day 2 of being awesome! Stop being a bully!

"This Is Hard"

When was the last time your thoughts kept you from trying something? Perhaps a workout? Over the last couple years of leading others in workouts, I have heard “this is hard” countless times. This has occurred at different stages of the sessions: 
1.    After I have demonstrated the exercise
2.    After trying it once
3.    Further into the session after clients have gone through a few sets
At what point does thinking “this is hard” keep one from following through with the exercise? I have found some parts to the answer in a recent Bootcamp class. Usually, clients have the hardest time getting through the exercise when the thought occurs before they try. It can also keep a person from continuing the exercise when they try the move once and automatically want to quit. The solution: try and try again. Modify so that it is a little easier but you are still going through the same movement. 
 
A few clients tend to start the exercises verbally affirming the exercise is challenging. Yes, the exercise is challenging but in my opinion growth happens when you push through the challenges in some way or another. The fact that the exercise you are doing is hard does not mean you are not capable of doing it. The one thing I see in many clients, especially when they are beginning, is they have the mentality that they can’t do it. Let’s call it learned helplessness. Everybody has this problem to some extent. We have this idea that we can’t do something because it is too hard. We think this before we even try. That right there is the issue. 

Writing off the challenge because it seems hard. It is one thing to think it is hard after doing a set or two but it’s another to assume the difficulty. Now I am not saying it is not okay to think something is hard. I am saying that statement is a problem when someone allows it to dictate their ability to do it or at least try.

I care about my clients. I care if they are struggling and I care if they are succeeding. My job, however, is to help my clients not struggle. My job is to help my clients succeed. If I am not challenging for those who train with me, then I am not helping. I go through this battle in my mind when my clients tell me “this is really hard, I can’t do it”. One part of me wants to make it a lot easier for them and the other part of me wants to help them push through. This conflict between thoughts is not easy. So what do I do? I push my clients to do more and to do better because that is my role in their lives. I tell them “you CAN do it”, “do not give up”, “at least try it a few more times before stopping”, and “it is hard, but it will get better”. 
 
My challenge for whoever is reading this is next time you are faced with something that is hard: do not avoid it. Do not give up on the first try. Tell yourself that you can do it the moment your mind says you can’t. Push through it and see how it changes you. You will get stronger, you will succeed.

Written By one of our amazing trainers, Mikenna Kossow. If you are interested in learning more or booking her for a personal training session, please email us at info@guidingfitness.com! 


Monday, October 5, 2015

Health & Fitness Help - 30 DAYS OF AWESOMNESS: Day 1

Tired of feeling tired?!?!  It's time to get off your butt and be awesome!!  Join us on our 30 days of awesomeness as we guide you through changing your lifestyle, one step at a time!