Have some FUN!

Myself, The Grass Man, and Hoss at Warrior Dash 2011

This afternoon I took off to a local park and ran through the woods, splattering mud and water, ducking tree limbs, and trying not to bust my ass (successfully I might add!).  While there was a specific reason I did this, in all honesty it was really quite fun.  A gorgeous day, the sun shining through the trees, no one blocking my path, and just moving along at my own pace.  It’s kind of sad sometimes that so many people are stuck behind a desk, or in a car, or on the phone, or coming up with a million other things to do instead of getting out and enjoying the world.  When we were kids we couldn’t wait to go play outside, ride our bikes, and goof around in the mud.  Now we call it “exercise” and loathe the thought of it.  

Think about the last time you did something so fun you thought “Wow, I feel like a kid again!”  As long as it’s not stealing your mother’s car for a joy ride, or sneaking out of class to go smoke behind the bleachers, find some time this coming week to do something truly fun.  Ah hell, steal your mother’s car…she won’t even know it’s gone!

THE Fitness Ninja-Solving the world’s problems one pushup at a time.

CRAZY!!!

Remember Martin?  He literally went crazy!

When is the last time you did something crazy?  Like, really crazy, enough that when you told your friends they looked at you with the turned head look that your dog gives you.  For many of us, it’s been a while.  Yet at some point in life, most of us were pretty fearless.  I watch my 4 year old using my living room as a jungle gym, jumping off the arm of the couch and onto the floor into a perfect tuck and roll.  Or busting out into an impromptu bear crawl in the middle of Target.  If you want a great workout, just follow a 4 year old around a playground for 30 minutes.  You will be sufficiently worn out!  So what happens to our sense of adventure when we get older?  Is it the sitting in a classroom for 13-17 years in a row?  Is it the fear of injury because we know our head can’t take a bump the way a small child’s can?  Or is it trepidation holding us back because we’re just not sure we’re capable anymore?  In all aspects of life, too many of us allow fear to keep us from doing the things we truly want to do.  Those nail on the chalkboard words “I can’t” come out faster than an insulin spike in Paula Deen’s bloodstream.  Often times the best thing we can do is just get out of our own way, and let it happen.   

There are boxes that we jump on in the gym.  It’s possibly the biggest fear I see in training.  Clients that I KNOW are fully capable of jumping on top of the box just can’t get past the fear to do it.  It’s that little voice of doubt, the cautious adult we’ve grown into, the fear of failure holding us back.  But the only true failure in life is failing to try in the first place.  

So what crazy thing do YOU want to do?  And what is holding you back from doing it? It may not be something you can go out and do today or tomorrow, but take a moment, write down a CRAZY goal, and make a plan to get there!

THE Fitness Ninja-Solving the world’s problems one pushup at a time.

STFU and Do It: The C-Word series continues...

Have you ever woken up and felt like going back to bed…but didn’t?  Ever walked into the kitchen to make your kids breakfast and didn’t really feel like it…but you did it anyway?  Ever go to your trainer and look at him like he has two heads because he just asked you to do 250 pushups…then knock them out regardless?! (I KNOW some of you can relate to that one!)  And WHY did you do these things, even though you didn’t FEEL like it?  One word: commitment.  Prior to that moment you had made a commitment to do those things.  It didn’t matter whether you felt like it or not, it needed to be done.  If we waited in life until we felt like doing things, I’m fairly certain not much would ever be accomplished.  In January, people everywhere commit themselves to healthier eating habits and exercising more.  But when they don’t FEEL like doing it anymore, or that eating healthy is just “too hard”, they quit.  Those that know me well understand that I LOVE food…correction, I’m IN LOVE with food.  I love a good bowl of pasta and brownies just as much as the next person and I don’t always feeling like having a chicken salad for lunch or no bread with my dinner.  But I made a commitment not only to being healthy, but to being an example for my clients to show it CAN be done, and the desired results can be achieved.  

If you are looking for a change, don’t wait until you feel you’re ready.  Commit, and the feelings will follow.  It seems as though the times when you really don’t feel like doing something are the ones that end up being the most rewarding.  I never EVER felt like changing horrid smelling diapers when my boys were little, but fortunately or unfortunately it’s the promise I made of being a parent (BLEH!).  So stop dragging your feet, shut your pie hole, and DO IT!

THE Fitness Ninja-Solving the world's problems one pushup at a time.