Every now and then it’s good to remind ourselves of the initial pain we all went through when starting a new exercise program. After we have been training for a while and our body has adapted to the positive stress provided by the workout, we sometimes forget how difficult it was in those early days to take the first step and to persevere. We may have had a few false starts where we thought this working out thing wasn’t for us and we shouldn’t go on, but then we do.
Something inside of us clicks.
Maybe we were so unsatisfied with how we look or how we feel that there’s just no way we’re not going to take action and make a change.
Maybe we discovered and got hooked on the flush of pleasure and pride we feel in ourselves after completing an intense workout.
Maybe there’s simply something about moving heavy weight or pushing our body through space that speaks to something primal within us and we fall in love with it.
Maybe we enjoy the looks of envy from others who are slightly jealous of the strides we’ve made yet are not quite ready to take the first step themselves.
Or maybe, just maybe we begin to reach a level where transformation of the body has an effect on our spirit.
Regardless of our current motivation for consistently training there was a point when we lacked it. There was a time, perhaps not so long ago for some, maybe years and decades for others, before this was type of training was routine. Picture it in your mind. Take yourself back to that first step. For me, I can remember fits and starts of trying to workout when I was 12 or 13. I’d do a flurry of activity on this little weight set my brother and I shared in the basement of my parent’s house for 2 or 3 days in a row, then the soreness would catch up and I’d lie on my bed reading or on the couch watching TV for days on end wondering why I did that to myself. When the soreness went away again I’d bravely foray back to the basement for another bout of structureless exercise – I had no idea what I was doing back then – and then repeat the process of sitting on my butt for a week or so all over again. Eventually I began to figure out a way to maintain some semblance of consistency and started seeing the fruits of my labors – biceps! That was enough to spur a 13 year old boy on to keep going. The pain of starting was forgotten and results began to happen.
For me now as a coach, remembering this initial pain of transformation – how my journey began – is so critical for helping my clients overcome their own pain of transformation and start their journey towards strength and health.
No matter how high you go, never forget you too went through your own pain of transformation in the beginning just like everyone else. Stay humble. Stay focused. Help those just starting on the path and learn from those who are farther down the path than you.
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