When I was a younger, far less experienced trainer, intensity was my word of the day. You could have called me Blowtorch or Ball Peen Hammer because in my little novice heart, I believed that everyone just needed to train harder, they just needed that dose. I wasn’t alone, either. You might have heard of a little thing called CrossFit? Intensity equals work capacity equals fitness?
Yeah, that was mostly my arena. Many lectures were given, some pointless workouts were assigned. I like to think my saving grace was having had to struggle at sports to improve—through consistency and repetition, not blowing the doors out every workout. Also, I’m not a lunatic or a sadist and genuinely enjoy helping people so that probably helped. We live, we learn.
Nevertheless, five or six years after that I was looking to buy domains like “BarbellsForBusyPeople.Com” or “RealPeopleNeedRealWorkouts.Org.” The tide had turned and what had I learned?
A lot, but there’s one thing in particular I’d like to share with you today:
When it comes to workouts for people with some bumps and bruises and a generous dollop of life experience, there are a few things that aren’t the most important thing:
- It isn’t about seeking out pain and failure in the middle of your workouts.
- It isn’t about a tricky “program” that reads like magic manna for your soul.
- And it isn’t even about your hopes, goals, and dreams. (Those are, of course, important).
What it is about is the 24-48 hour period after your workout:
- Are you so sore you can’t move well during your everyday tasks and are a little to a lot pissed?
- Are you remembering things you did in the gym that felt demoralizing and embarrassing?
- Are you cranky, tired, hungry, and given over to crappy decisions just to self-soothe?
Those aren’t great feelings and those feelings make it far less likely you’re going to find traction and consistency in your workout routine.
Here’s what we are looking for in that interim period after you leave the gym:
- You feel like you were challenged but not put on your heels. You worked hard and pushed a little bit. You could and would do the workout again in a day or two.
- Your muscles are a little bit sore but your joints are mostly not. (Some joint crankiness is hard to avoid the older we get). It feels like usage and it feels pretty good.
- You are experiencing little glimmers of allied desire: maybe getting to bed a little earlier, maybe wanting to drink some more water or have some fruit, a walk or a hike in kinder weather (it’s February in Massachusetts as I write this).
When these things start to happen, you are smack dab in the middle of habit creation. And habit creation as it coheres into routine slowly becomes something almost inherent to your identity.
Who are you? Someone who works out, and then comes back to do it again.
And that’s the magic.