Getting There

Progress.  That's what it's about...not perfection.  Improving your fitness level doesn't happen overnight, and it can be a difficult to do something that's so physically challenging that you end up on the floor, panting and sweating each day.  In our world of instant gratification, we get used to having things NOW, and when we don't get what we want NOW, we can get antsy.  Or frustrated.  Or maybe feel like we'll NEVER get where we want to be.  "I can barely do regular pushups, and those guys are doing handstand pushups!  That's crazy!" It can seem like an impossibility to many of us, as far away as the moon from where we stand today.

The good news is that making progress is really pretty simple.  Just get started, and don't quit.  If you have to take a break, or get sidelined because of your job, work, a vacation, whatever...just start again.  That's not quitting, that's just a bump in the road.  Just...keep...going.  It doesn't matter where you start, only that you actually start and then keep going!

So what if you're only using an empty bar for push presses when 'that guy' is using a massively loaded barbell?  Who cares if  you're winded after your first 15 squats?  Your squat may not be as low as it should be, but hey, you're squatting!  What matters is that you're DOING something, you're working hard at your level, striving to get better each time.  Just allow yourself to do what you can do.  Your intensity can be just the same as 'that guy's'.  He's been at it longer, and can do more work, but you're working just as hard, even if your run is a slow shuffle and you have to modify the exercises.

Because when you simply do what you can do, day in and day out, when you stick with it and just give it what you've got, a funny thing happens.  After a while, that empty bar just feels too light, so you add weight to it.  You start feeling a breeze in your face when you run, not because it's windy, but because you're faster.  With a knowing smile, your coach asks you to deadlift more weight than you've ever considered lifting in your life...and you actually DO it.  Old clothes feel too big on you, your step is springier, and carrying groceries into the house just isn't a big deal anymore.

Progress...every day, just a tiny bit of progress.  Days go by, then weeks, and months...and before you know it, the moon doesn't seem quite so far away.