Part 3?! Yes! There are so many different lessons that we can take away from lifting weights and apply them to our daily lives. In part 1 & 2 we talked about some of the obvious takeaways and steps that we go through while lifting and how we can use them on a daily basis. In this final blog of the series I am going to discuss some points that might not stand out to most people but are still super beneficial. I hope that after these 3 blogs you see that lifting weights is not just about getting stronger or muscular, it builds character and a stronger mindset overall.
Lifting weights isn’t just for the “strong” or the disciplined among us. It’s for everyone who’s looking to improve themselves physically and/or mentally by challenging themselves on a day to day basis. Like we have discussed in the previous parts, the improvements are not going to come overnight, it’s the weeks, months and years of challenging yourself that’s going to show results and progress.
Let’s see what other lessons we can take away
Lesson 1: Patience is key, run your own race
Just like consistency, patience is an important skill to learn when trying to become fitter and/or stronger. If you put in the right intensity every single workout, eat the right foods and treat your body properly, the results will come. If you and your best friend are working out together, your friend might end up progressing a little bit faster or vice versa. When that happens it’s easy to get frustrated, jealous or even angry. While you’re so focused on what your training partner is doing its easy to lose track of what you’re doing. You might even miss your own progression if you get too far down that rabbit hole. I completely understand the frustration to see someone else progress more than you’re, but we have got to understand that genetics/talent and other factors play a role in our development as well.
Just like genetics and talent play a role in our development in the gym, it holds true for the outside world as well. Just because someone else’s progress shows a little bit faster than yours doesn’t mean we should quit. It should motivate you to push harder while learning to be smarter about opportunities that come your way. Just putting the blinders on and grinding every hour of every single day without a proper plan in mind is a good way of burning yourself out and taking the fun out of what you’re doing. We all know where that leads to in the long run. This is why it’s important to run your own race. Looking at other people for motivation is good and all but eventually it’s not going to do anything for you. It’s your own hard work over longer periods of time that turns into results/progress.
Lesson 2: Routines are great, just not for constant progress
Yes, it is awesome that you can get into a routine of going to the gym and do your workouts on a regular basis. This doesn’t hold true when we’re trying to progress in the gym however. Our bodies are really good at adapting to new situations, so you can imagine that it doesn’t take long for your body to get used to certain exercises, rep schemes, workout routines etc.. In order to progress we need to keep our body guessing and shock our system every time we come in to do a workout. Now, this doesn’t always require us to change up every single thing, sometimes changing up the rep schemes, weights, angles or tempos can make a big difference already. If you don’t know how to work this into your program, I would suggest you find a solid workout program that does it for you. Unfortunately, we see a lot of people doing the exact same things for far too long, simply because it’s safe or they don’t know better.
Let’s bring this back to our daily lives, we can probably all agree that certain routines work for us, like morning routines, bedtime routines, how we go about out day at work etc.. But how can we expect to get better if we keep doing the same thing over and over again? Isn’t that the exact definition of insanity? Like I said, routines are great to get things done, but you can mix small things up within those routines to get even better results. Just to give you some examples in our daily lives: If you’re in a relationship and you have a pre-planned date night every Sunday, how about you change that up by planning a different activity than you’re used to for that night, or spontaneously change it to a Thursday night instead (I know, silly example but you get the point). Let’s take it to the business side for a second, I am absolutely not suggesting that you should get less work done by any means, but changing up your routine might actually get more work done in the long run. If you change up small things throughout your day you avoid falling into a rut, in turn that will keep you motivated/energized to get more work done. It could be as simple as changing up the time you eat lunch or talk to someone new during your break. Change can also involve doing more work, trying new things at work like possibly dabbing your toe into other departments that might interest you as well.
The big word here is change. A lot of times it seems scary or uncomfortable but it usually works out in the end. I think we have all experienced routines that makes us feel like we’re running on a hamster weel that we can’t get out off. Routines might seem like a good idea because it’s safe, but just like the gym, there can’t be constant and serious growth by doing the same thing. Even if something works out really, really well, there will come a point in time that it gets old and we need to change that up too. I am not saying that you should change everything at once or even every day, but keep your life exciting, fresh and progressive by changing small things regularly.
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