we have a lot of interesting conversations in the gym. A LOT. and what i realize is that we are all coming at this fitness thing (like life) from different angles. as a coach, its my job to bring those different angles together and make one comprehensive plan that works for everyone. its like a giant jigsaw puzzle made up of different goals, various work ethics with a sprinkle of fun & a dash of hardcore. add to that body types, old age, youth & competitiveness, and you have an inkling of how hard it can be to create an atmosphere and regimen that works for everyone. if you add to that my PERSONAL goals, its even a bit tougher. not everyone wants to do the things i want to do, or end up in the same place as i do. or end up with "man hands".
I will annihilate the narrow margin that lies between me and my unused potency. ~Muriel Strode
to me, my rough ass ugly calloused hands are the outside embodiment of what it takes INSIDE to accomplish shit. anything, really. to me, THIS is what hard work looks like. and i totally understand that it is "unfeminine". i just dont really give a fuck. these are MY hands. they dont have to be soft or pretty. soft and pretty are NOT the goals. or at least not mine. HOWEVER. i work in a gym with a bunch of people (men and women alike) who do NOT want hands like that. and really, can you blame them? i dont. i mean, my hands ARE pretty gross. but it took about 2 years and literally thousands of pullups and various bar work to get them like that. so i'm running with it.
what do i do about everyone else? where is the compromise. like everything, its not an either/or. either your hands look like shit or they are soft like buttercups. there are a million spaces in between. and thats where the fun happens. how do we find a place for everyone to fit. just because you are not like me or want what i want doesnt mean we cant work together. its taken me a lot longer to learn that in the gym than in real life. and i think its because i feel like gym people are "my" people. so we should be the same. i dont really expect that anywhere else, so i'm not sure why i expected in the studio. but there you go.
Face what you think you believe and you will be surprised. ~William Hale White
so how do i marry what i want with how to help everyone else get what they want? 3 years in, and maybe i'm starting to get it. starting. today was kind of a watershed for me. you see, i have some crazy people in the gym. like me. who want to work as hard as humanly possible all the time. one of them is like the slowest human being alive (according to me). and the other is the absolute fastest. they are also my most dedicated and have been with me from pretty much jump. so how can the 3 of us - who all work hard, and are competitive - come at the workouts so differently? and why did it take me all this time to see it?
today i actually asked. i let them explain to me what their thinking was behind how they attack the workouts. and guess what? their reasoning makes perfect sense. its still not how i would do it. or will probably ever do it. but now I GET IT. im hardheaded like that. they have a philosophy and a perspective that is not mine. and somehow i guess i figured that since its my gym, everyone should listen to me. i try to be open minded. but i am firm in my belief in how this process should work. i spend a shitload of time on my programming, and try to consider what everyone is trying to accomplish. ive just never really realized HOW they wanted to accomplish it. like sure, we all want pullups. but most of us dont want awful man hands. so it may take longer to find a good solution - gloves or tape or whatever - that get to the result without the callouses. and that is FINE. i see it in the small things like that. i just didnt see it in the bigger things.
Excellence is not a skill. It is an attitude. ~Ralph Marston
if you think the way to get where you are going is to be the fastest all the time, even if it means pushing the envelope in terms of "standards" - then that is the right way FOR YOU. if being the fastest pushes you, then that is the right answer. if you think you have to do every movement absolutely perfectly which slows you down but makes you stronger, then that is ALSO the right answer. for you. i have been trying to speed one up and slow one down, all with the goal of us all meeting at this perfect place where we are all fast and strong at the same time. and it just doesnt work that way. color me shocked! and also enlightened :)
Always be a first-rate version of yourself, instead of a second-rate version of somebody else. ~Judy Garland
i love that i am in a place where i get to learn as much from my people as they learn from me. we may not end up in the same place, and even if we do, we may get there a different way. a lot like life. the common ground is in making the journey with people who care enough to stick with it with you. we consistently joke about the tortoise and the hare in the gym. whats the best strategy to win? who
plans better to get the desired outcome? i think i was just missing the part where they both showed up to the race in the first place :)
Do what you can, with what you have, where you are. ~Theodore Roosevelt
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