WORKOUT
Forget the Washboard Abs
The secret to creating a healthier workout and a healthier
you
by
John-Aaron
I read a story of a man who wanted to better himself.
He wanted to transcend what he believed to be a less-than-spectacular
life. So, he decided to visit a Buddhist temple to find
a master to help him. He asked, “Master, if I meditate
four hours a day, how long will it take me to transcend?”
The master replied, “If you meditate four hours
a day, perhaps you will transcend in 10 years.”
Not satisfied with this answer, the man then asked,
“What if I meditated eight hours a day? How long
would it take me then?” The master then looked
into this man’s eyes and said, “If you meditate
eight hours a day, then perhaps you will transcend in
20 years.”
As a personal trainer, the question most often asked
of me is, “How long? How long before I get washboard
abs? ... have a huge chest? ... have a gorgeous body?”
The list is endless. However, my philosophy is much
simpler: You will attain your goals when you learn to
do your very best when it comes to your health. Whether
it’s working out for four hours a week, eight hours,
or even two hours. Transcending into the “new you”
depends entirely on putting your best into the process
of change. It’s quality, not quantity time.
Ultimately, it is the action of doing your very best
for your health that is going to make you feel intensely
satisfied. Doing your best for your health means taking
action, not because of an expected outcome (like massive
muscles or washboard abs), but because you truly love
what you are doing and believe that you are nurturing
yourself.
For example, many people go to the gym day in and day
out. They over-train themselves with grueling workout
routines that last, in many cases, longer than two hours
a day. Then, they further torture themselves by following
diets so stringent that the joy of eating is all but
gone. They think that they are nurturing themselves,
but really, the reason they’re doing all this is
because they believe that if they do this just long
enough there will eventually be a “payoff.”
They think that someday someone (someone who
also has the type of body they’ve been tormenting
themselves for) will notice all that they’ve sacrificed
to become the gorgeous creatures that they have become.
They believe that they will fall madly in love, have
incredibly hot sex (although not necessarily in that
order), and will live happily ever after. And then they
will never, never have to pick up another dumbbell or
carrot stick again. Sound familiar?
These are the people who suffer through their workouts.
They actually hate exercise, and suffer through
it because they feel they have to. They have to be accepted
as pretty, or they have to get someone to notice them,
or they to have to find love outside themselves. They
“have to have” the reward. However, once attained,
this reward usually leaves them feeling as empty as
they felt while forcing themselves through the action
or motion of their exercise routine.
On the other hand, if these individuals were to exercise
for the sake of exercise without expecting a reward,
they will experience the benefits of exercise and healthy
living as they were meant to be—fulfilling.
Learning to do your best when you exercise isn’t
very difficult. You just need to learn two basic rules:
First, practice doing your best all of the time, and
second, remember that your best is never going to be
the same from one day to the next.
Doing your best at the gym all of the time will insure
that you’ve done all you can do each and every
time you set foot into the gym. If you are only strong
enough to do two sets of 12 reps on a chest exercise
instead of three sets (like the guy in your favorite
muscle magazine), then you should be content with doing
just that. Forcing yourself to “overdo” simply
because Brad-the-beef-boy does won’t get you any
closer to your goals. Unless, of course, you weren’t
doing your best to begin with.
By the same token, your best is never going to be the
same. There will be days when you are strong and days
when you aren’t quite as strong. Yet, by doing
your best in either scenario will guarantee your results
because whatever you do, you’ll be doing it to
the best of your abilities on that particular day and
time.
To this I must add that I don’t understand those
who want to work out through injury or illness. They
think that if they miss a single workout they’ll
lose all that they’ve worked for.
Well, if this is your thinking, and you are certain
that a week, a month, or even a single day of missing
your workouts due to a serious injury or illness is
going to be that devastating to you, then you’ve
already lost ground. To this day I’ve never met
a person who has been able to live a life without experiencing
an illness or injury. If you know someone like this,
chances are that they just haven’t lived long enough.
In any case, if you are mortal, then injury and illness
is inevitable. So then, why not prepare for it by agreeing
not to condemn yourself for getting sick in the first
place? Instead, dedicate yourself to recuperating the
best way that you can so that you can get back to the
gym completely healed and ready to give it your best
again. In other words: If you get sick, get well. Then,
once you are well, get stronger. It’s not very
complicated. Don’t you agree?
Doing your best when it comes to your health is an important
ritual and is as simple as taking a bath. Showering
is a favorite ritual of mine. With that simple action
I nurture my body by simply feeling the warmth of the
water as it falls over it. I cleanse my body from dirt,
disease, and the tensions of the day, and when I’m
done, I emerge refreshed.
The same holds true for exercise. Your muscles need
training to grow strong. The heart needs to pump in
order to maintain life, and bones need to be challenged
to prevent them from becoming brittle and frail. Therefore,
doing the best for your health means taking appropriate
action through exercise. It is the ritual by which your
body will emerge stronger, healthier, and happier.
How do you do your best in the gym? Well, you do your
best by being consistent. You practice by repetition.
How did you learn to walk? By practice and repetition!
How did you learn to speak, read, or create cognitive
sentences? By practice and repetition! So, how are you
going to beef-up, or trim down? I think you know the
answer—by practice and repetition!
Be consistent in your approach to health. If you do
your best over and over again (regardless of obstacles
like illness, injury, or the occasional pizza pig-out),
you will ultimately become the master of your own transformation.
Furthermore, you will not need the recognition of others
or the prospect of finding your next spouse (although
it’s a nice benefit) in order to reach your physical
goals. You will have reached them all on your own because
you did your best at the gym, at the dinner table, and
in your conscious decisions to benefit your body.
So, how long will it take you to “transcend”
into the new you? Well, my answer is that you’ll
only know if you give it your best today, tomorrow,
and every day after that.
John-Aaron is a nationally certified personal trainer,
member of the International Assoc. of Fitness Professionals,
and owner of Muscle Mechanics, a personal fitness training
and nutritional guidance facility. He can be reached
at Musclemech@aol.com.
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