Keeping It Positive
Too many times I have heard people mutter, “I’m not here because I want to be here….but because I have to be here.” The first step to success is changing that losing attitude to a winning attitude. A negative mindset is automatically going to set you two steps back from where you are and is only going to make it that much harder to achieve your goals, whether they be fitness oriented or not. Do not forget that no one likes a Negative Nancy anyways.
I myself do not like to fluff anything or anyone up so I have a tendency to shoot straight from the hip. Performing moderate to vigorous exercise whether it be some sort of resistance, flexibility or cardiovascular training, is commonly referred to as working out. Now ask yourself this; do you truly enjoy going to work? If you are one of the few able to confidently answer “yes” to that question then consider yourself one of the lucky ones. Can you see where I am going with this yet? To make the point again, exercising is called working out. My point is this: Yes, it is hard. Yes, you will be doing things that you may not want to do and no, you will not necessarily enjoy doing it at times. It still needs to be done and at the end of the day it makes you a better person for doing so.
The first step, and probably the most important one, towards accomplishing your goals is by making the effort to smile while you are working out. Now I do not mean that one needs to maintain an ear-to-ear grin the entire time they are sweating to the oldies, but make the effort and find some enjoyment from the activity. I dare everyone to try this little experiment out….bust out a wall squat or an intense plank and attempt to hold the pose for at least a minute. As the pose really begins to get difficult, do your best not to cuss me out, instead put on your happy face and watch how your misery slowly lessons and you push on through the time stronger than anticipated.
Do you want more reasons to keep it positive? When we exercise we are not just making our heart and muscles stronger, we are actually reversing our bodies aging process instead of slowing it down. How is this possible you ask? According to Dr. Henry Lodge, our entire body constantly goes through a cycle where each cell dies and is replaced with a new one. Roughly we replace about 1% of our body with new cells from our blood cells to lung tissue each and every day. Here we have the choice of whether this new tissue is stronger than the original or will continue its path of early decay. Honestly, I myself am not one who is interested in living 140 years but what ever my life expectancy is, I want my body to be as strong as possible for whatever obstacle I may come across.
By Angelo Gala, Elite Trainer, Fitcorp, RKC Level II
