When Less is More: Give Yourself a Gift

As a devoted practitioner of fitness there are some free gifts you can give yourself that can have a nice impact on your life.

IMHO there is way too much negative energy around promoting different fitness programs, diets, and lifestyles.

For this reason, a lot of us go through our training with a low-level feeling that we could do more or didnt do quite enough today.

Vague dissatisfaction creeps in when we focus on our four pack or sub-400 bench press.

Much promotional hype around different fitness and diet programs comes across as a cacophony of screaming, blaming and guilt promoting messages.

 

Less is More

Time to look at the negativity that may be lurking nearby waiting to pounce on you.

It can be hiding in things like goal setting, false metrics, very popular bad ideas, etc.

Goal setting unless it is tied tightly to a realistic plan can be real downer.

For example, I would love to become the first 83-year-old to play in the NBA. I can write the goal on paper and recite my positive affirmations several times a day. I can also put a plan on paper that will allow me to reach my goal.

I suspect that none of you believe I have the slightest chance of pulling this off.

While this is an extreme example of goals being separated from reality, the point is that many of us enjoy our genuine successes less than we might if we didnt create expectations that were untethered to reality.

The reality is that most readers of this newsletter have extraordinary achievements in strength and fitness. You deserve to feel great about mastering several very difficult practices.

In short, enjoy your successes.

Resolution for 2024: Less angst, less self-critical evaluation, and far less attention to false metrics.

 

More Good Stuff

Enjoying the process of training is one of those cool things that each of us can experience every time we work out.

These include feeling connected to the primary experience of lifting heavy stuff, getting gassed on a set of kettlebell snatches, or running outside in nature.

Most people dont get to have these experiences.

A huge number of people just live in their head. They play video games, stream entertainment and live life in front of a computer screen.

I vividly remember an article I read about 15 years ago by a prominent novelist who had discovered Yoga in her early 40s. This was after a life lived almost entirely in the abstract.

The approximate quote was something like this: All my life up to now my body had been a device to haul my head around. My head looked at things, made comments and often spoke about things. Then I developed back trouble. Oh Sh*t my back hurt! The doctor gave me drugs for the pain but told me to start exercising. Why would I want to do that? Then I tried Yoga! OMG! Suddenly I realized that I had been missing a whole area of life. It hurt like hell, but I loved it!

We get to enjoy the experiences that come when we do physical things.

Today Ill be off running in the cold fog on a winter day. This is a special reward for those who venture out instead of sitting on the sidelines.

 

Bottom Line

Enjoy your training and the feelings that come with it. Fitness is not easy and never will be.

Your workout is part of your reward.

Happy Holidays!

Lift Big!

Richard