Turn around and look
I remember when I was a young boy of about 6 or 7, my father took me and my elder sister for a walk to the summit of Mt Amos here in Tas. It wasn’t a particularly strenuous trip but the thing that I still remember to this day was that I guess at that age the only thing I could imagine as climbing up a mountain would be climbing up rocks and cliffs. So when we left the car park and had strolled along a track through the bush for about half an hour I was starting to wonder when we would get to the mountain climbing. I asked my Dad this and he simply said "Turn around and look". I turned around and to my amazement we were already a long way up and I could see for miles. How does this relate to our training?
Sometimes it is easy to get discouraged when you feel like you have had a lack of progress because you have been so focussed on the journey that you forget how far you’ve come. For example I remember the first time I dead lifted 100kg and how happy I was to break that milestone. I also know how much happier I was when I picked up 200kg.
I remember when I first loaded 160kg onto the leg press sled I asked for the attendant to give me a spot because I couldn’t my mind couldn’t imagine moving that much iron and I was scared of being stuck underneath it. My Current PR is 380kg.
I remember struggling to break under 12% bf. For the life of me I didn’t think I could do it. I now sit at 7.7% Lastly I remember our first mountain run 4 or 5 months ago. We only did 6kms up before turning around and I didn’t think I could go much further up. Sunday I am going to run up 21.4km. Sea level to the summit 1300m above.
I still have a long way to go but by reflecting on these achievements it helps me to take the next step forward knowing that inch by inch I can achieve my goals. What have you achieved on the way?
November 20, 2008 at 12:06 am
Wow what an inspirational post. I really do believe in ‘mind over matter’ too. If you don’t believe you can do it, then you won’t be able to. If you do believe you can do it, somehow, you will find a way to do it. We are either our own worst enemies or our own best friends when it comes to that stuff.
November 20, 2008 at 9:07 am
Thanks Ryan! That post could not have come at a better time. The concepts that you discussed in the post are not foreign to me however as I have been embarking on my own transformation journey, it is hard not to get discouraged when I don’t see the scale move. It has been 7 weeks and I have made progress. I am, however, a very impatient person and looking for the positives is an art I am working on. As I got on the scale today I was a little disappointed but as I was getting dressed, I noticed that the shirt I am wearing fits does not show my belly the way it used to. That added to the fact that my wife could not stop feeling my arms last night. She said: "They feel so good". I know for a fact that if I just keep going, the progress may not be apparent on the scales or the mirror, but it will happen. If I keep putting on muscle, the fat will not have a chance and will be forced to leave. Thank you again.
November 20, 2008 at 1:27 pm
You words resonated like poetry. Thanks for the inspiration.