What Have You Learned About Yourself Lately?
Early on in my "fitness beginnings," I didn't know much about, well, me. So many times Coach JC would ask us to do 10 more, or hold something for 10 more seconds. But I didn't. I thought I couldn't. My legs would be burning or my arms would be shaking so I'd stop. I interpreted those things as signs that I was done. That I had reached the end.
But I was wrong.
It has taken me this long and the experience of recovering from foot surgery to understand exactly what Coach JC was trying to teach me all this time. Maybe I thought I knew a few times. But now I am sure I know. I'll forget, just like we all do, but for now I know.
Over the years, Coach JC would ask me to do an exercise for a certain amount of time or a certain number of reps. It was always slightly more than I thought I could do. As soon as it looked to him that I was close to being able to handle something, he'd increase the time or the number of reps or even the weight. Over and over and over again. You should have seen the faces I made at him. Okay, still make at him.
About a month before the surgery I was at boot camp. I was next to a good buddy of mine who'd started boot camp a few months ago. We were doing something Coach JC calls a body saw. Basically you get into a plank and push yourself forward, pull yourself back, forward, back, etc. All while holding the plank. Around the 3rd or 4th set of 2 minutes of these, my buddy dropped to her knees and looked at me. She said, "How are you still doing this? Doesn't it hurt?" Without stopping I said, "Yes." She asked, "Doesn't it burn?" Again, I grunted, "Yes."
It did hurt. It did burn. I did want to stop. But I pushed myself well past the point when I thought I couldn't go any farther.
I really understood this when I returned to work after the surgery. I spent 2 weeks at work on crutches. My shoulders constantly ached. My arms were sore. My palms were brused and blistered. But I stuck with it because I had to. At one point I had made it to a meeting in another building, but I didn't think I could make it back to my office. Words can't describe the pain in my hands and the exhaustion in my upper body as I made my way back. But that lesson I'd learned from Coach JC, the thing I'd so recently learned about myself: I CAN keep going even when I feel like I'm done.
You see, no matter what it is that you're trying to improve at, it's all about pushing yourself. It's not about completing something. It's not about lifting more weight than the next guy. It's not about finishing faster than anyone else. It's about you pushing yourself past your own limits.
I really understood this when I returned to work after the surgery. I spent 2 weeks at work on crutches. My shoulders constantly ached. My arms were sore. My palms were brused and blistered. But I stuck with it because I had to. At one point I had made it to a meeting in another building, but I didn't think I could make it back to my office. Words can't describe the pain in my hands and the exhaustion in my upper body as I made my way back. But that lesson I'd learned from Coach JC, the thing I'd so recently learned about myself: I CAN keep going even when I feel like I'm done.
You see, no matter what it is that you're trying to improve at, it's all about pushing yourself. It's not about completing something. It's not about lifting more weight than the next guy. It's not about finishing faster than anyone else. It's about you pushing yourself past your own limits.