This past month I’ve been thinking a lot about strength. And my lack of it.
How it would frustrate me if I didn’t hit a big number on my lifts and set a new personal record, especially after weeks of training.
“I’m such a weakling.”
So back to the rack I go and try again.
Still, nothing momentous would occur. Proper form, great execution but no big amount of weight moved. Same with the following week.
“Why can’t I just be STRONG!?”
Then another week goes by and I try again. And STILL nothing major. I’m still pulling (or pressing) the same amount of weight.
“What’s the use?”
And then I thought, “What’s the point of even trying?”
But the story doesn’t end there. I go back and have gone back and tried and tried and tried again. It got me thinking though: This “weakness” mindset. I thought how if I let that little voice have it’s way, I would not have gone back. I could have given up and assumed this whole strength training/bodybuilding/weightlifting stuff is for the strong. And there is no place for the weak in that world.
Luckily, that didn’t happen because weightlifting IS a huge part of my life and one that I would like to never give up on. But what about those who have no desire to lift, no desire to be strong, no desire to even work up a sweat?
They would have given up. They would have assumed only the strong will survive anyways so might as well never bother. This is too hard, too difficult, impossible.
When you THINK and BELIEVE you are destined to be WEAK, destined to fail, you start to think that you are inherently useless. I’ve seen this a lot lately – People think because they are getting older, they can’t possibly hire a personal trainer because they aren’t young enough. And forget going to the gym “That’s for the young folks! That’s for the athletes! That’s for the people who have willpower!”
Or they have so many physical ailments that no amount of activity will do any good. So why bother? They resort to thinking, “If I can’t even work up a sweat, it won’t produce results.”
Or they aren’t smart enough to come up with a good workout plan on their own. So why bother at all? It’s easier to just go on the elliptical for 15 minutes and call it a day.
But here’s the bit that no one ever talks about:
Just because you aren’t producing anything, doesn’t mean you are useless.
We don’t have to constantly be moving and thinking and writing and working in order to be useful. We can be just as productive and get stronger in our mind, body and spirit by being still. Being quiet. Being silent.
I think the mind can play some tricks on you if you let it. I see, now, why my clients in the past would have a physical or mental setback and just quit on me. Even if they had a number of sessions left, they allowed outside circumstances affect them to the point that they just quit.
- Perhaps it was financial – “I lost my job, I have to save some money before I come back to the gym”
- Perhaps it was unsupportive family/spouse – “My husband thinks of this as a hobby for me and we should try and spend more time working/being with each other.”
- Or a moment of weakness -“I cheated on my diet so badly, there’s no way I’ll get this weight off in time for my trip!”
Even if none of those clients came back, wouldn’t it have been great if they used this time to become stronger in other ways?
Stronger in their knowledge base in order to get a new/better job.
Stronger in their marriage/relationships
Stronger in their diet mindset.
The take home message: It’s okay to be weak!
After all, if we have no weakness, how can we possibly grow in our strengths?
Mentally/Spiritually/Socially I have a lot of weaknesses. But for the sake of this post and speaking directly to my physical weakness, it’s my upper body. I’ve never had a strong back. But you know, after many years, its finally gotten stronger. I can pinpoint the moment I FELT stronger and GOT stronger – It was when I finally stopped and envisioned this muscle doing it’s job. I imagined and pictured it contracting and releasing. The next time I went to pull the weight, I didn’t rush it. I went slowly and methodically and it FELT different – I had finally FOUND my muscles! And I wouldn’t have found them if I hadn’t focused on resting and waiting and being still in that moment.
So here’s to leading with our weaknesses!
“For when I am weak, then I am strong.”
