I Do The Details

Hi ALL,

Trainer Tuesday is BBAACCCKK! You missed it right?!? One whole week is so long, boo. Have no fear, we are here. I hope you really think about today’s post, remember we are being honest here- NO FLUFF fitness advice.

Mike, take it away..but try to play nice. Nah..

By: Mike Peritore

Sit mens sana in corpore sano: “A sound mind in a sound body.”  When trying to achieve a strong & healthy body - it is essential to make sure you have complete focus and perspective on the goals you want to achieve.  Today’s article sets out to make a point about complacency and how important it is to stay far from it.

If you’re anything like me, you tend to find yourself drawn to before & after photos of physical transformations, amazing rags to riches stories or anecdotes of people in their 70’s competing in ironman triathlons.  Why? Is it because they are freaks?  Well, yes. 

In a nutshell, many of these people faced their fears of pain, hard work & being somewhat of an outcast head on and conquered them.  You see, average is what “most people” are.  It is also the worst thing you could ever call me.  Think about it - in grade school growing up, the only people that were noticed were either the A+ kids or those that were floating in the D range.  The average were just lost in the herd.

That being said, you have to ask yourself, “…am I average”?  What sets me apart from from my peers?  Do I eat horrible because everyone else does?  Do I skip the gym because no one else really goes anymore? 

What about when you go to the gym - are you one of those people that just “strolls” along on the treadmill or barely pushes themselves on the elliptical while watching the Jersey Shore on the TV? If so - STOP.  Being average sucks. 

Get out of your Snuggie induced comfort zone and put yourself out there.  Push harder, eat cleaner and plan better than the next person.  These choices to become uncomfortable puts you in a place to grow & become stronger and wiser.So I’ll take this opportunity to give you a great example.

One of the things in life I’ve always wished I could do is run a race.  It doesn’t need to be competitive but to only me.  That being said, I’ve roped not only myself, but Trista as well into running a 10k in just under 7 weeks. I can run a 5k semi comfortably - but that’s really not all that impressive to me.  Trista takes Zumba & kickboxing classes… but that is still not that big of a deal. 

I’ll prove it. Trista, do you want to go to Zumba tonight?  She’ll always reply yes.  Why?  because there is no question that she can do it… low level of challenge.  Zumba is an hour long.  Running a 10K is just over an hour long (hah..at least for “joggers” like me).  But when I asked her to run the 10K with me… you can see the fear of not knowing if she could do this on short notice - the fear of discomfort.

I was a little nervous about committing to it - but I’ve decided to embrace the chaos of having ONLY 7 weeks to prepare for this.  Knowing that there is no room for missing workouts and the requirements of eating properly to recover from those workouts.  This is more of a mental hurdle than physical.  So after a little peer pressure, we both registered right there and then so there was no room for backing out.

Yeah, I’m sure some of you out there feel a 10k is no big deal - but average is relative.  Make it relative to you, that’s why it’s called PERSONAL development. So figure out where you are with your nutrition and plan it out better.  Figure out (and be honest) with how much effort you put into your training (did I make that trip to the gym really count?). Track your progress and continuously re-evaluate.

Embrace the fear of discomfort.

By the way, STAY TUNED for our special February GIVEAWAY announcement!!- GET VERY EXCITED- One person will win…..sorry, you’ll have to wait!