I hear the following statement A LOT and it drives me to the brink of insanity every time.
"I need to get in shape before I start working out."
WHAT THE.........?!
As much as this self-defeating mentality drives me f*cking bonkers.....I get it. Working out can be very intimidating. This is especially the case when you are starting from scratch, walk into a gym and see fit men and women throwing around atlas stones, sandbags, barbells and whatever else may be close at hand. I get it.
In addition, through my years of coaching and just being a human - I've come to understand that humans do whatever they can to avoid pain(physical pain, embarrassment, feeling unaccepted, etc.) and experience pleasure(acceptance, achievement, growth, community, etc). Sometimes this basic human programming gets a little screwy, but at it's core, it makes perfect sense that people are very hesitant to just jump right into the type of shit we do here at TCS. This makes me sad. : (
So when awesome people say stuff like "I need to get in shape before I start working out", I hear their protection mechanism coming up with a way to avoid pain. You see, if they "get in shape" then they feel like they will have a better understanding of how to actually workout and won't look stupid to others(avoiding pain). They have the idea that they'll come back to the gym 10-20lbs lighter, looking hott as hell and look like they belong in this social group - and therefore be accepted(pleasure).
Of course this is just one scenario of many, but I'm sure you can see yourself and/or someone you know in this example.
The trick for us humans to learn is how to utilize these powerful drivers - pain and pleasure - to our benefit. Think of it this way......look 10 years into the future. Assuming you don't change a damn thing.....how do you look, feel, move? Is it what you hoped for at that age? Can you play with your kids/grand kids/dogs? For those of you that continue to postpone initiating some form of consistent training program, I would imagine that the thought of you in 10 years may be a little painful......Yes? Use this pain as your motivation. Do the logical thing to avoid this pain and get started ASAP! I promise, once you get through the initial phase of starting this program you'll feel far more pleasure.
The key to successfully making this transformation happen occurs in the first couple weeks. This is when you really want to create a solid foundation of movement knowledge and competency. If you rush through this phase in an effort to catch up with everyone else, you'll find yourself too sore to move, frustrated with little or no progress, and/or injured - putting you back at square one. No good.
Be patient. Learn from a quality coach that pays attention to the details and pushes you to hold a higher standard for yourself and your movements. Do that, and the success (pleasure) will undoubtedly come.
