How To Become More Physically Fit: 4 Things You Have To Do
By admin
This has nothing to do with the actual post, but I will say that as of 15 minutes ago, I am not expecting to have the most uncomfortable workout ever.
I got up to walk to the bathroom and so gracefully stubbed my toe on the corner of our coffee table.
After the initial “Oh Sh*t” and a few deep breaths, I tried to walk it off. Normally that works! When I finally looked down I noticed my toe is sticking a bit more to the side than it should be. Especially for a toe that is normally tucked under it’s neighbor a bit.
Excuse my extremely dry and gross feet from wearing running shoes ALL the time! 
When I told he, his very caring self told me to “push it back in, there’s nothing to do for a toe.” Thanks ‘hon.
But that’s not the uncomfortable thing I want to hit on this cloudy Sunday morning…
How To Be More Physically Fit
No need to be competitive with others, lots of need to be competitive with yourself
For some reason I have never had a problem pushing myself past the level of where I want to quite. Especially with exercise and competitions. I guess it’s my competitive drive that makes me want to be the best that I can be.
I think there is also a huge fear of failure mixed in.
For example, I have recently learned that if I tell Dan my goal for my long runs, I hit it. No questions asked, if I even think about giving up I hear this in my head… “stop now and you’re going to have to tell him you couldn’t do it.” And that just isn’t an option for me.
I also remind myself, that the only way I will become a stronger runner is to set out and actually accomplish these long runs.
Yesterday was the first day I actually didn’t hit my mileage goal, and guess what… it was also the first time I didn’t tell it to him. Argh.
Fight for one more rep!
It’s not just with running, with all fitness. I have exercised to the point of tears, digging deep to find the strength to perform just one more rep. That one rep might just be the difference between a plateau and increased tone/strength. To me that one rep makes a difference.
To get better you have to dig deep & push through discomfort.
I have a client that inspired me to write this post. I was watching her during a tough workout this past week and suddenly she stopped, sat down and rested. You better believe I was on her like white on rice… here’s what our convo looked like:
Me: “Get up, keep going, you can do this!”
Her response? “My heart is pounding and I need to catch my breath.”
At that I told her: “I don’t care, suck it up and push through. I don’t think Michael Phelps just stops in the middle of a lane when he notices his heart rate rising!”
It wasn’t that I was being a hard ass, I wasn’t trying to have a “Jillian Michael’s moment” but I know how to push each of my ladies, and sometimes only tough love works.
Why couldn’t she rest?
Because, to get better, to continue to see results, and to increase your physical performance, you have to push through the discomfort and prove to yourself that you can handle it. You have to go past what your body wants to do and what you know it can already do. That’s the only way to improve physically.
When you do, your heart will start pumping more efficiently, your lungs are in better shape, your muscles get stronger, your metabolism gets higher and you get more confident.
10 Reps And Your Done?
Here’s another situation that I see all the time in the gym. People pumping out a certain amount of reps like it’s nothing. Putting the weight down and walking away.
That’s not a workout, that’s practice. If you can finish off a set like it’s no big deal then it’s time to up the weight or add more reps!
Your metabolism isn’t going to increase, your muscles aren’t going to get more toned, and you’re not going to see (or feel) results by not trying.
Just promise me that when you workout, you really WORKout! When you challenge yourself to this degree, it’s more fun. You learn about yourself, how strong you truly are and more times than not you’ll leave the gym feeling like a super star. Sorry, there is no way to leave feeling like a super star if you aren’t really trying.
Think you can or think you can’t… you’re right.
I love this quote and use it all the time! It’s 100% accurate. If you think you can do something (even if you’ve never done it before) then you’re much more likely to give it a go and feel successful. If you go into something with doubt, guess what? You’re likely going to walk away saying… “See, I knew I couldn’t do it.”
This goes with fitness and losing weight.
Maybe you want to lose weight but you keep thinking to yourself, I’ve tried in the past and nothing has worked. My body is stuck where it is. That’s just an excuse and you’re letting fear of failure stand in your way. Instead, say forget it, I am going to prove to myself that I CAN and WILL do this. Look at the past programs and decide why they didn’t work, and start looking at weight loss as a path to create a better lifestyle.
With workouts, stop letting intimidation get in your way.
I promise, I get it. I hear it all the time… “I’ll never be able to do a push-up” or “run a 5K” or “do a pull-up”. And with those ideas, you won’t. But I can promise you this, because I’ve seen it, if you look at it as a challenge and you work towards it, then there is nothing stopping you. No freaking matter how old you are, out of shape you are, or overweight you are.
There’s nothing wrong with a cry baby
I had a client that cried her first day of boot camp, telling me she was out of shape and behind the other girls. I asked her what goals she had, how bad she wanted them and was she willing to work for them. She was.
Those tears were the motivation she needed to jump start a new life of exercise and eating right. They opened her eyes to realize that results don’t come from a single workout or meal… it was going to take time and effort.
Now, she is the strongest in the class, pushing out more push-ups, pull-ups and every other exercise better than anyone in the class. Now new people come and say “I want to be like her!”.
She didn’t let fear hold her back, she sucked it up and pushed through the discomfort and freaking rocked it.
So with those thoughts in mind…
- When you workout, do you ever feel you “hold back” on what you’re really capable of?
- Is there anything you have dreamed of doing but have let fear keep you from trying?
- Any tips on a broken toe? haha