When I first began my fitness journey
it was rife with fear and doubt. But here I am... I've lost weight,
run a Tough Mudder and I find myself facing phase two.
I've had to move from a small gym that
specializes in Bootcamp-style classes to a community centre that
specializes in being cheap. The challenge that I now face, after a
couple months off, is creating my own workouts and executing them.
The challenge is the anxiety that I typically carry around with me
and learning to differentiate between my own defense mechanisms and
reality.
1. YES!
You can be independent!
Having
friends or buddies with you makes things WAY easier. I
miss my old gym because of the social aspect. It was way easier
having buddies to share the pain with. Now it is totally up to me. I
have to be my own buddy and my own cheerleader. If I'm having a hard
time of it, there's no one there to push me or say “Come on Karyn!
You can do better than that!” but me.
The up side is
that I have had to learn how to be my own cheerleader. Yeah, having a
coach or a friend encourage you feels great but so does encouraging
yourself. I do know that I can do better and after doing this for a
week I have begun to remember how to ask: “Do I think I can do
more?” and to respond “Let's try it.” So yeah, let's try the
scary looking machine... that's why we're here.
2. Keys to finding
and creating your own program.
Having a coach or
a class teacher makes things a lot easier. I have issues with anxiety
and perfectionism. “Am I doing this right? Will I hurt myself? Do I
look stupid?” These thoughts have no basis in reality, indeed
nobody even looks at me while I'm flailing through my workout, but
the feeling of AAAAHHHHHH doesn't help. Having someone tell me what
to do was amazing. I think I put off finding a gym I could afford
longer because I was intimidated by the idea of deciding my own
workout.
So, I
went online and spent many hours in Chapters. In finally settled on a
book by Bodybuilding.com
that has a twelve week program. I like this book because it has great
success stories, it explains all the basics in a way a layman like
myself can understand, and, as a woman, I was happy to see that the
example photos of lifting had both a man and a woman.
This
program is super simple and removes all the thought from my workout.
I am back to doing as I am told while simultaneously learning what
the exercises do, where etc.
3. Connecting to a community can
happen anywhere.
The biggest thing
that kept me coming to my old gym was the sense of community. I
missed my community. I felt lost and lonely without it. However, part
of the book suggested I visit the website where a community was
already established. I was able to find the support here that I was
missing from my old classes. I may not see these people during my
workouts but they are there. A post before or after and I am
guaranteed a response.
Does community
have to come from the people
around us? I still connect with my old classmates over Facebook etc.
So, how is that different from connecting to people on a forum
online? It's not and it actually gives me something to look forward
to. Often, I will check the site as I am moving through my workout
and already have responses.
I also have "workout buddies" to whom I will text a photo as I enter the gym or the results of my bike warm-up. It keeps us honest even though we live in different cities.
4.
Goals. Goals. Goals.
Goals
are important to any fitness routine. I totally didn't have one. What
was worse I worried that without my trainer I couldn't meet any. I
needed something that gave me focus but was low stakes. I settled
upon the Bodybuilding.com
12 Week Challenge. It was perfect, I was competing only against
myself and it ran over the same length of time I had settled on for
my preliminary routine. It also has weekly challenges that are built
to remind you why you're doing this in the first place.
5.
Nobody's looking at you.
This
is the most important thing that I have learned. I have years of
unpacked anxiety and fears attached to anything that I do with my
body. Experiences in my youth also led me to be hyper-aware of any
new space that I was in and to be cognizant of who was there, who had
access to me, and how could I escape if necessary. This generally
translated into “Forget escaping! Why not just stay home?”
I
have had to force myself to become conscious of the “They're not
looking at you”-ness of my workout area. Truly, nobody cares but
you. Stay in the present where you are and just focus on you and what
you are doing and really... just how awesome it is and how good it
makes you feel to do it. I never thought I would even lift anything
heavier than my purse. But I was wrong, and I love the changes in my
ability.
They're
not watching you. You don't have to be perfect. It's safe here. Trust
me.
I
have just started my twelve weeks and I invite my friends, both
virtual and in rl to join me.
Connect at:
https://www.facebook.com/FailingUp/
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