At TTH we want to get everyone active. Whether you’re an outdoor enthusiast or a gym rat, we need to become a nation of active individuals. I believe one of the hardest hurdles to overcome for a newbie diving into personal growth and development through fitness is what it feels like to be healthy.
First off, being healthy doesn’t mean you feel good all of the time. When you are engaging in muscle building activities, endurance building activities, or fat burning exercises, you are going to put yourself in an uncomfortable situation. You must get out of your comfort zone for personal growth. It is amazing to see someone who is willing to push themselves to these limits because those new “limits” become a starting point. What was once an unreachable dream has become the bottom rung of your fitness ladder. Once you get past the false belief that you have some type of limitations, you’ll begin to long for the sore muscles. Why? Because you finally understand soreness equals growth. Growth equals a new level. The great thing about fitness is there is always a next level.
Now for the painful part! 
Just because you are sweating doesn’t mean you are working hard! This is an all too common misconception which immediately leads people to think they are injured when they feel the real work beginning. If I stopped my activities when a broke a sweat, I would never finish an Ironman. I would never backpack into a campsite more than 1 mile from the car. I would never have a body fat percentage below 5%. I like all those things, so I workout past the first bead of sweat. For most who follow the “sweat equals success formula”, congratulations you have successfully become dehydrated! That’s probably about it.
I once wrote that running my first 5 miles was not easy, and that years later those five miles were still not easy. The basic point of this statement is that the pain scale never changes! No matter how fit you are or how many times you have completed a given activity, the pain will always be there. It never gets easier. You will notice physical changes. But in order to get a decent workout and reach the same pain levels as before, you must increase both effort and intensity. In the case of the running scenario, I started my active living running 5 mph. Years later it was 9 mph. The pain was the same but my general physical appearance is “nicer” (for whatever that’s worth). My legs are more defined and as mentioned before, the abs are there, etc…however, my lungs still burn and my shins still tighten. My quads scream at me, and my calves ask me why. The answer to my calves is always the same, “Because I know you can go faster, and I know you can go longer.” And wouldn’t you know it…they always do!
Assigning a number
Here it is – the much anticipated number scale that will be followed by true believers. It will also be scoffed at by the obese (or future obese), likely due to a weak mind and an inability to recognize the potential from within.
0 = watching The Biggest Loser ™ while eating ice cream
1 = walking the dog while carrying 1 lb dumbbells
2 = jogging on the treadmill until you begin to sweat
3 = running on the treadmill, but stopping because you start to feel your feet ache and your shoulders tighten up
4 = ignoring the foot and shoulder pain, but giving up because your feet couldn’t keep up with the speed setting on the treadmill, causing you to catch your toe and hit your face on the control panel. This is the point where you begin to realize you have the potential to do great things, but maybe went out a little too hard!
5 = you feel a nagging pain in your knee that builds to excruciating. You say “F” it and run a marathon anyway. After completion of the marathon, you take some time off because you can’t bend your leg. This is an appropriate level of work ethic and determination; however, your training plan needs some tweaking. You’ve proven pain is a state of mind and anything less isn’t going to give you the results you want/need.
*6 = you trip over a rock on a trail run and break your leg. The bone is protruding from the skin, and you decide your arms are still working appendages; therefore you finish the next 4 miles dragging yourself. Okay tiger, ease up a bit, this was a 1-5 scale. If you get to this level of insanity, send me an email because I would love to have your story posted here at TTH!
The above is an example of one of our athlete’s mentality toward engaging in active living. It’s extreme but has resulted in drastic improvements over a short period.
In all seriousness though, if you rank in the 0-2 range, you are on the wrong track. If you are ranking in at a 3 on the scale, you will never get to the next level but will probably be able to maintain your current condition. If you can push past a 3, you will improve your speed, endurance, and fitness level. Obviously we don’t want you to get hurt, but understanding what others do will help you recognize the real dedication it takes to get to the next rung on your ladder.
Creating the world’s tallest ladder (metaphorically, of course),
TTH Guy
Tags: fitness