This is a topic that has always come up and until recently, for some reason, I wasn’t able to put into a proper context.
Here's an example: We're in the middle of the workout and things are progressively getting more intense and you're not really sure why. You're out breath, your body is fatiguing rather quickly and now you start to doubt yourself. You say "I'm so out of shape," and I reply "No, this is hard! This shouldn’t be easy for anyone."
For some reason, that’s been a hard point to sell. Sometimes, I think people don’t believe me and I just say it to make them feel better. Not true. Trust me, I've said it the other way too. "I'm so out of shape," and I've replied "Yeah, I don’t know what your deal is today but you're not bringing it."
I recently posted a workout on the Facebook page that I found on YouTube. It was a trainer taking some NFL linebacker through a functional power circuit. Everyone who trains with me knows this is what we love :). So the workout is 4 rounds and 10 reps of pull-ups, burpees, lateral hurdles, hang cleans, and plyo push ups. People who have been with me long enough to have learned how to hang clean has probably done a circuit very similar.... and probably a lot better than the linebacker. The female trainer went through it one time AND was able to talk about how to perform the movements. Then the big boy got up there and about half way through, you could see him give a look to someone off camera like "are you kidding me?" Pouring with sweat, he finished 1 round. Obviously he could’ve finished it but this is just where the video ended.
My point is, this guy is an NFL linebacker, probably one of the best athletes in the country and he very clearly knew he was in the middle of a very hard workout. Regardless of all his previous training, all his hours in the weight room and all the miles he's run... this was still hard.
Don't mistake these workouts kicking your butt as you being out of shape or that you're not getting in shape (that’s the other example I hear a lot of. People feel they're not progressing). These workouts should always push you to your limit... and then nudge you past it. And then we'll do it again and again and again. And that’s the point, that’s the fun and the journey. If your cardio is easy... that’s a problem. If your workouts do not leave you completely exhausted... that’s a problem.
Be prepared to lose your breath... be ready to crunch so hard you can’t breathe... know what it feels like when you literally cannot lift your arms... when your legs feel like rubber and you know you need to be careful walking up the stairs... when the sweat is running through your eyes and you exhale out of your mouth and you can see the sweat come off you lip. The part where our hands are on our knees and we're trying to slow down our breath and we can feel our heartbeat through our chest and we look in the mirror and see the pulse in our throats and taking a seat has never felt better.... this is what we came for.
And we'll do it again
Updated Note:
Tomorrow = Sandbags! Woohoo!!!
