Money, food, cars, jewelry, sneakers, clothes, all these are valuable. However, it isn’t the most important asset. What is it? Time. While the other valuables can add up to a better quality of life, it is expendable. Time is invaluable in the sense that you cannot get it back. My relationship with fitness has been for 20 years and I have learned a lot during the process. What are the things that you learned from the time you started your fitness journey? Here are the three things that I learned.
First, fitness has taught me that my goals and standards change with time. When I first started training, all I wanted to do was bench press 200-lbs. Why? Because 200 sounded strong. With time, my goals have been about improving overall health. From improving strength, running faster, flexibility, and taking care of my past injuries. The body goes through changes that we cannot control and we must adapt our training accordingly.
Secondly, is experiencing failure. Without it, I wouldn’t be the trainer I am today. My biggest failure in fitness is how I injured my shoulder. My obsession with bench press led to overloading the chest. In addition, neglecting the back muscles (which support the movement) subsequently led to an unstable shoulder. However, because of this experience, I became fascinated with the human body and led me to pursue studying kinesiology. My shoulder injury led me to develop a training style that emphasizes on body mechanics and proper muscle activation.
Lastly, fitness has taught me that it applies to other aspects of life. Taking care of your body requires discipline. From eating healthy, consistent exercise habits, and making good choices. This same formula can be applied to getting good grades or relationship with your significant other. It also applies to any line of work. Being on time, working hard, occasionally complaining, and doing your job every day (yes, EVERY DAY). Being consistent leads to results, plain and simple.
So what has fitness taught you during your journey? Hope you liked this week’s blog. Stay tuned for more next Wed. Kei