Sometimes we need someone to push us beyond the ability we think we have on our own. As you may know I just had a baby 11 and 1/2 weeks ago and have decided to start a career in the fitness industry by doing my first figure show in July. I train or am active in some way almost every day, whether it be at the gym or walk/jogging outside with my baby girl. Now, I am not saying everyone needs to be as involved in fitness or train as hard or as much as I do, but let me start out by saying that we should all be physically active for at least 20-30 minutes almost everyday of our lives, I promise it will energize you and relieve some of that unwanted stress you may have, along with another thousand reasons that being active can be good for you.
So back to getting that extra push I wanted to talk about. As a trainer and consultant I push my clients to achieve things that they never thought they could, I expect them to put the pain, excuses, and can'ts out the door and use there mind and will power to get through it. Everyone I know has gone though something hard, painful or challenging in life so when I know there is something that I need to do and it's hard, I think about that most hard, painful, and challenging time and I tell myself that I got through it and I can get through this. So yesterday I had a friend of mine who is a trainer at the gym I attend train me. Now, I believe I do a great job of training myself both physically and nutritionally but, sometimes we need to mix it up, have someone think for us and quite frankly just give us that extra push we need. I had him train me on my leg day since that is the area on my body that needs the most work in order to reach my fitness competition goal. He trained and pushed me so hard my body wanted to quit but I kept telling myself that I gave birth naturally and this workout had nothing on that so I kept going.
Now, I know and you know that if I didn't have someone there coaching me along and pushing me, I would not have given it 100% and went above and beyond what I thought I could by challenging myself, but he challenged me and I got through it. Guess what... I'm walking today, a little sore but I feel stronger and better about myself knowing I got an awesome work out and had someone give me that extra push that I most likely wouldn't have gotten on my own. I also did 40 minute speed intervals on the stepmill today, legs sore and all.
So what can YOU do? Well I know not all of you out there have a gym or a trainer so I am going to give you a few tips I want you to try to go above and beyond what you think your capabilities are and get that awesome work out you need and deserve to get get that healthier, happier body you have always wanted.
If you belong to a gym:
Either seek out a trainer that you know or feel comfortable with and have a session with them, (you dont need to pay for multiple sessions, just see if you can get a single session periodically if money is an issue) tell them what you are looking for in your session and let them push you beyond your capabilities. Now if you have a good trainer they will work you out harder than you would yourself and you most likely will learn a few things from them for the next time when your working out on your own.
Or
Take a friend, relative or your spouse, but make sure it is someone you trust to help you not hurt or argue with you, to the gym with you and ask them to push you. Have them push you beyond what you think your capable of and crank out one more rep or add more weight and get more out of your session than you could have gotten on your own.
You can also take a class and push yourself harder than you normally do, let the teacher push you or use extra weight or more intensity, but with any class you have to push yourself harder because chances are your only making the class as hard as you want it to be.
If you don't have a gym:
Go with a friend, relative or your spouse who is interesting In working out with you and put together an outdoor or indoor workout plan or go for a run, walk or bike-ride and tell them to challenge you, ask them to push you above and beyond where you would normally quit or add speed or resistance above where you normally max out.
I promise you, if you do this every once and a while you will find yourself stronger than you thought you ever were, but in reality you can always look back at that time you went through the hardest, most painful and most challenging time in your life and know that since you got through that, you can get through this tougher than normal workout. Your body will thank you in the long run, jut remember to push yourself, NOT injure yourself.
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