It seems that it doesn’t really matter who you are, you will, at some stage in your life, compare yourself and your abilities to someone else. This leads to us wanting what somebody else has.
It is totally natural and since our primate and then homo sapien descendants demonstrated, this need can evolve into producing more, working harder, becoming more creative and developing speech and the world around them.
So here we are.
This need, it could be argued, also leads to greed, destruction, war and division.
And as society needs to deal with this obsessive nature of ‘keeping up with the Joneses’ we as individuals need to take a long hard look at how we deal with this process.
Even now, I will walk into the gym and want to run as far as her. I want his hair style. I want the six pack and the teeth and shoulders and their ability to tell a joke and make people laugh. I want the tattooed sleeve.
I will watch in admiration as they push a 150k bar, but I might end my thought with ‘I wish I could lift that much weight’. I truly admire other people’s abilities and, as part of my job as a PT, I help in people reaching such great abilities. But as human nature as it, sometimes I want it too.
But whilst the evolution from primate to homo took billions of years, we want it now, today.
A book that was brought to my attention recently called The Boy, The Mole, The Fox And The Horse said,’What do you think is the biggest waste of time’, asked the boy. ‘Comparing yourself to others.’ Replied the mole.
Patiently watching and learning from others can be a wonderful attribute to have. But comparing yourself to others can be damaging and, as the mole quite rightly puts it… it’s a waste of time.
The difference between learning and comparing is massive. It’s the difference between peace and war. For you personally, it’s the difference between self love and self loathing.
So take a look in the mirror at yourself. The beautiful, intelligent you. And keep being you. Nobody else.
I’m already starting to see the frustration in many newcomers to the gym that I train at. Their new years resolution and ‘new year, new start’ good intentions are beginning to wobble already.
This isn’t new. Professionally I’ve witnessed this for 10 years and personally for almost 30 years. The average person who begins a fitness journey generally calls it a day before they’ve had a chance to make any serious impact on their health, fitness or aesthetics.
Why?
My theory is that restricting oneself to a set date can be dull, uninspiring and demotivating if you simply are not ‘in the mood’ at that specific time. We cannot simply switch on and become something that we have not been for the past several months or years and in many cases, forever.
I use the term ‘catching the wave’ when it comes to specific life goals, be it in the gym or in general ambitions. Timing is important.
Catching the wave is an idiom that refers to taking advantage of a moment of good fortune or an occurrence in time and creating a sustainable, practical routine that can help you achieve your goals.
Riding the crest of this wave might not last forever, but because your memories of your successes are still fresh in your mind, you will find it much easier to catch the next wave. Much like the surfer, getting back onto the surf board after falling into the sea becomes much easier with practice.
But if we ignore the signs, most commonly our bodies and our minds, then all we have is a dreaded day in which we have to do something that we don’t really want to do.
Let’s take Jeremy as an example. He promised himself that he would join a gym on the second of January. He had never joined a gym before and, apart from the occasional 5 a side football game with his friends, had never been into a fitness centre at all.
But he had started to feel sluggish and lethargic. He couldn’t run with his young children or pick them up. His diet suffered due to the difficult cycle of feeling depressed because of his health and appearance so he comforted himself with food.
His new year’s resolution was to join the gym. The problem is that not only did the wave not come, he didn’t actually know how to catch it even if it had. After a few weeks of going to the gym and slogging out a few sessions a week he felt demoralised by not seeing any changes to his health or appearance and a few niggling injuries had started to occur. Jeremy became one of the many numbers of people who join the gym in January and don’t continue to go after February.
How to fix it!
As I have stated, a new year’s resolution gives a restrictive time frame. You must start at the beginning of a new year! Yet a few new tweaks towards a healthier outlook can, and should, happen at ANY time of year.
Rather than beginning a regime of a fad diet and 5 gym sessions a week, try starting by walking more. Research a few local areas that are popular for walkers and give them a go. It doesn’t have to be a full day of rambling. Just an hour will do.
Pick out a few of your favourite fruit and veg and start adding these to your plate more. These will add numerous nutritional benefits and create satiety, which allows you to feel fuller for longer. Also, making fruit and veg smoothies can help you get your required amounts if you don’t usually eat them in a meal.
Hire a PT. The feeling is that Personal Training can be a ‘no pain, no gain’ sort of attitude full of Burpees and just about everything else that is horrible. The reality is that a good PT, as long as you tell them that you are new to exercise, will give you advice similar to my first two points. Move a little bit more and add fruit and veg to your diet. If they go straight into Burpees then sack them. Also, PT can be done online these days which is cheaper. A good PT will get to know you and develop a routine for you that you enjoy and will even know when you are on the crest of a wave or if you’re in the sea!
And finally, to really find that wave, if you feel like doing it, just do it! Start saying yes to the 5 a side games more. Go for a walk or a run. Start swimming. Or just join the gym at any time of year!
You might find that one of these activities becomes a passion and something that really motivates you. Eventually , you find yourself riding a wave. And if you ever fall off, rather than wait until a new year, you’ll know how to get back on much easier, much sooner.
I am a Personal Trainer, meditation teacher, health and fitness blogger, husband and dad.
As I ran home crying from the group of kids because of name calling, I remember my mum telling me to ignore them. ‘Kids can be cruel’, she said.
It seems to be a given that, at some stage in their young lives, kids will be teased about their appearance or their character.
I had big front teeth, didn’t always wear the newest, trendiest trainers and I didn’t ‘join in’ with the other kids games. Games such as throwing stones at passers by or tormenting the old man who was thought of as the local ‘wierdo’. I didn’t smoke or drink to look tough in front of my mates and I didn’t like to swear. I was an easy target for 12 year olds to pick on in an estate where you had to look after yourself to survive it.
However, I was very good at football. This, between young peers, can be a golden ticket that saves you from years of bullying. Despite my lack of ‘coolness’ in my appearance or my actions, I’d be one of the first to be picked on their team when it was time to play footy.
‘We want Ducky!’ they would shout as the team captains picked their teams. Ducky was my nickname because of my last name, Duckworth. And even if I went back to the estate today in Leeds 9, I would get a call from across the road by a bloke in his 40’s shouting ‘Ducky! Alright mate!’
I was, despite a few incidents of name calling, a child who escaped awful bullying. Football and a cool nickname saved me. And into my teen years, after a series of playground fights with other kids, I was never bullied or even heard a hint of name-calling. Seemingly, my ability to have a scrap in the playground was pretty useful too. Kids rarely picked on a kid who could fight back. But these days I worry about the kids.
Kids might have received a bloody nose and a ripped shirt that they’d have to explain to their mum after a scrap in the playground. But these days I worry about weapons being carried. That never entered my head as a kid as I readied myself against the school bully. Today it would.
But anyway, as my mum said, kids can be cruel. So where do they get it from?
My concern is that if we as adults normalize bullying then our children will see this as perfectly normal behaviour too. I made a decision this week to take myself off of Facebook. I share pictures of family life and work life on Instagram which is fine for what I want to use it for, but I found that Facebook was getting out of hand. I’ll tell you why.
Last week a well known UK television presenter wrote an article in one of the biggest selling newspapers about Meghan Markle. What he said, in my opinion, should never have been published. It incited violence and gave his readers a reason to ‘hate’ a woman who was already vilified by the UK press. This was adding fuel to an already very raging fire.
On Facebook I read so many comments that were congratulating the article. The words which they used to attack Megan Markle were disgraceful. Any attempts to call out the bullies were met with comments about being ‘woke’ or a ‘snowflake’.
Is that where we are at now as a society?
A couple of years ago a young woman took her own life because of the negative publicity she was receiving about her personal life. Caroline Flack was a TV presenter who, on screen, was confident and bubbly. But the UK press hounded her about her off screen troubles. A ‘Be kind’ hashtag became popular and it seemed that, maybe, the press knew it had gone too far in its reporting of Flack. But unfortunately, if the latest media target has anything to go by, it is back bigger and uglier than ever.
Name-calling, trolling and hate speech has been normalized.
Last year I helped an elderly man with a few techniques in the gym so that he could walk easier. He loved to go for walks with his wife but was struggling. Each time he saw me in the gym he would say ‘Shay! Because of what you have shown me, I am getting stronger on my feet again!’ His confidence in the gym had grown and he seemed to have a spring in his step again.
But just last week, I asked him how his exercise routine was going and he said that he had stopped doing it. Two men had started to comment and laugh at him every time he started his exercises. What they thought was ‘banter’, was having a serious impact on the older man’s experience in the gym and therefore his health. He will only use the treadmill now which is in a different section of the gym to where the two men train.
Our words and our actions can impact other people’s lives. We have a choice of whether we want to use our words and actions for good or for bad. We don’t always realise how profound our words and actions can be.
But if you are ever unsure, as a general rule of thumb, just be kind.
Ah social media. As much as I love it, I hate it too. For all the good advice that we can find out there, there’s the bloody awful stuff that can be misleading and potentially dangerous.
Let’s take the latest weight loss pill that entered my feed recently. Take one a day and watch the fat roll off, apparently. Oh, and you don’t need to exercise. The ads have always got before and after pics as evidence of course.
The problem with before and after pics on advertisements are…
A. Did this person genuinely lose weight through taking this pill or were they actually just on a calorie deficit?
B. How long did this transformation take? Because I’ve seen timelines that are either impossible or would need a dangerously low calorie deficit to get there.
C. Anybody can get a generic before and after pic from the internet. Does this person even know that they’re being used in this ad?!
As far as a magic pill goes, the ingredients are probably harmless. It might be mostly caffeine and therefore make you feel like you’ve had a shot of espresso. But the real dangers are the idea that you don’t need to exercise if you are taking them.
Pills, drinks, vibrating attachments to bellies and bums and fad diets are all contributing to the ever increasing obesity levels in the western world. The reason for this is the idea that’s given that it is some sort of short cut. A fast track trick for a firmer tummy.
I’ve been in the industry for too long to know that none of the above work. And whatever you choose to put into your body or attach to your wobbly bits it isn’t going to work unless you move more.
Moving. That is exercise. Staying active and eating a balanced diet works. That is the key.
And if you have been given the advice from a PT that you need to run marathons, pump iron everyday or sign up for the next Tough Mudder, that’s bull too. You just need to walk or run a bit more, join a few fun fitness classes with friends, lift a few weights and keep moving.
Although weight loss, fitness and muscle hypertrophy can be a science, the basic principle is simple…
It’s almost a year since I published my first article. Before I started, I wanted it to be engaging for the average person who had goals and aspirations whilst juggling work commitments and family life. After all, that person is me! Along with doing the breakfast routines and finding school uniform and organising my work diary for the day, I also wake up thinking of a new PB at a bench press or sticking to a healthy nutritious meal plan. It excites me to think of stuff that can improve me physically and mentally and listening to squabbles about Pokémon cards from my boys can be tedious. So I sometimes switch off to think about my own personal journey.
‘Shouty Dad Has Gone’ was my first attempt at blogging. Like a singer who hates listening to their own voice, I haven’t read it since it was published so excuse the mistakes. I hope I’ve improved!
My idea for my blogs was to empower people into a fitness routine that not only worked on physical health, but mental health too. Every day I see new faces in the gym and I know that they’re in for a long long journey because their attitude to fitness needs to be addressed. Most people quit. But if they learn to develop their emotional side to their training then they have every chance of succeeding in their journey. Maybe, perhaps, my articles might have resonated with some of my readers at some point. I dunno. But I do know that those who work with me find success because I focus much less on the perfect squat or bench press. As impressive as these lifts are, these alone won’t achieve what they are looking for.
Happiness, self worth, acceptance and a balanced life all start in the head, not the barbell.
So I wanted to write more than just a fitness article where I would describe rep ranges, time under tension and training splits. These are all important, for sure, but as I say it means nothing if you aren’t inspired to begin or see it through.
It means that, in writing my blog, I began a journey of reflection myself. It made me think. For example, if I had not written anything for a few days, I would reflect on my life and what I had done with it in that time. And I found that there was always something to think about and write about. And actually typing out those words allowed me to either feel a sense of achievement, gratitude or a need for improvement in certain areas. This is one of the reasons I recommend journals and thought diaries. I find that it can help.
So here’s to another year of blogging. I hope that you, the reader, continue to enjoy my ramblings and you feel inspired too.
I don’t know if anyone else has noticed, but the TV adverts are all of a sudden looking a lot more Christmassy this week. It seems like one minute I was collecting sweets with my two little devils and then the next minute I’m buying my box of Bounty-less Celebrations ready to open on Christmas day!
Oh how holiday consumerism flies.
And for 54% of the UK at least, what will be around the corner not long after a repeat of Morecambe and Wise will be the new years resolutions. A quarter of those resolutions will be health based, but only 9% of new years resolutioners will continue into the new year with their goals and actually achieve what they set out to do.
My theory is that when January arrives there has been very little planning involved in starting a fitness goal, if any at all. I can’t imagine many programs or meal menus being created over an episode of Jools Holland’s Hootenanny. In fact, due to the upheaval of the previous two weeks before January starts, it is probably the hardest month to commit to in regards to health and fitness.
So what is the best time?
Now is the short and easy answer. Today you can get a gym membership. Today you can write down a few healthy nutritious meals ideas and buy the ingredients for them. Today you can read an article like this and think ‘What am I waiting for?!’
What are you waiting for? My guess is that you don’t see any point in starting now seeing as silly season is just around the corner. But if we do the math then you might feel differently.
There are 57 days until New Year’s Day. So even if you take two weeks off of training over the festive period that’s 43 days left to train.
But you don’t need to train every day. Let’s be sensible and meet around half way. If you trained 3 days a week at an hour each time from now until a Christmas break, that is 18 hours.
One hour of light training can burn 200 calories per hour. Times that by 18 and you have burnt 3600 calories before the Christmas break.
One hour of vigorous training can burn 600 calories per hour. Times that by 18 and you have burnt 10,800 calories before the Christmas break.
These estimates are without the additional ‘after burn’ effect that you get, especially through resistance training, where your body will still be burning calories during the recovery phase.
Not only do the numbers look impressive, but the whole package does.
* You have already built up momentum before January arrives
* Beginning different eating habits straight after such an indulgent period as Christmas is extremely tough
* If you wanted to hire a PT, this time of year is good and you might be able to strike a deal. January can be a bit pricier during their busier months such as January.
So if you’re looking to get started on a health and fitness journey and you find yourself saying “I’ll wait until January”, think again. The sleigh is waiting for you now. Your journey can begin today.
The bright shiny object is a term that is used particularly in business, but can be relevant in many different situations in life.
It is the belief that, although you have put a plan in place, a new venture or interest catches your eye that attracts you to it. This new thing being the bright and shiny object. In the psychology field they have even called it a syndrome (Shiny Object Syndrome, SOS).
It can often be derailing to our original commitments and the extra cost and time devoted to the shiny object begins to affect a plan that was actually already working rather well.
In the gym I see it daily and, make no mistake, the shiny object is as alluring to me as for anyone else. But I have trained my mind to move on and stick to the plan as difficult as that might be sometimes. So let’s give a couple of examples of what it means in our health and fitness goals and our diets.
Case 1. The Inconsistent Trainer.
This is the shiny object that often tries to put me off of my stride. And it did for Jack. Jack had committed to the gym four times a week to follow a program plan by his trainer which would eventually see extra muscle mass and a leaner, aesthetic physique. He was fully focussed, made the investment in time and money and, after a few weeks, began to notice subtle changes to the way he looked and felt.
His program continued to be challenging as he progressed through the different phases of training, but after 3 months a friend had started to send him YouTube videos of a few different fitness influencers. They became Jack’s new, bright and shiny new object. He wanted to try the sort of techniques and ‘kick ass’ moves that would quicken the process and reach his results in less time.
He began only loosely following his program as he diverted from it during his training to try the new stuff that he had seen from the influencers. He no longer practiced conventional deadlifts. Instead he was keen to master the Jefferson deadlift, which was described as ‘quad killers’ by the influencer. However, whilst the Jefferson might be a useful lift for many of their subscribers, for Jack it put pressure on his spine. Over time, he began to suffer with lower back pain. His PT advised him to stick closely to his original plan, as he still needed to master the original deadlift before trying different variations.
Jack became frustrated. He understood what his PT was saying, but the pull of an influencer with thousands of followers was too much of a draw. Surely they knew their stuff, he thought. And of course he was right, they did know their stuff, but they didn’t know Jack. However, Jack decided to stop the services of his PT and try to pursue his own routine.
As the year progressed, Jack went from having moments of motivation where he would manage to get to the gym four or five days a week to not managing to get there at all for weeks at a time. Either through injuries or simply feeling demoralised, Jack didn’t reach his goals. He ditched his original plan designed specifically for him for the bright shiny object. He found that one influencer would tell their audience to do one thing and another influencer would tell their subscribers something totally different. Jack’s consistency and motivation had gone.
Case 2. The Yo-Yo Dieter.
Jill had promised herself that she would lose some weight and started to be more careful about the food that she ate. Having a sweet tooth and grazing throughout the day meant that she had put on a certain amount of weight that left her feeling lethargic and uncomfortable about herself.
Jill decided that she would download a calorie counting app to keep a check on the amount of calories that she was consuming. She didn’t want to be too restrictive, so along with meal plans of some of her favourite nutritious meals, she allowed herself some of her more indulgent treats a couple of days a week. Jill knew that, as long as she could track her calories, she could remain in control of her portions and enjoy her efforts to lose the weight that she wanted. After a few weeks, Jill felt that she wasn’t so tired all the time and she decided to join a local running group and also began enjoying long walks with her partner.
After 6 months of the positive lifestyle change, Jill was talking to a friend. They were discussing weight loss and it was apparent that her friend had lost a considerable amount of weight. Jill’s friend told her that she was on a diet which allowed just 800 calories a day and, although she felt too tired to exercise from the lack of energy, she was losing lots of weight each week.
Jill had been happy with her progress, but her friend’s impressive story had made her wonder if she could do the same. Jill concluded that, due to the darker cold nights setting in, she wouldn’t want to go running anyway. Plus, if she can make the sort of progress that her friend did, she could hit her target weight for Christmas, 6 months earlier than she’d expected.
Jill started the new diet. But it wasn’t long before her energy fell and she quit the running club. Her mood changed too. She felt snappy with her partner and didn’t want to attend special occasions because she was unable to eat or drink the same as anyone else. She lost weight quickly, but she wasn’t happy. Eventually, she would have binge days and this left her even more frustrated as she felt like she was failing.
Jill came off of the diet and tried to go back to her original plan. This proved to be more difficult than she’d expected though as all of her positive habits that she had worked on had gone. She found herself grazing and eating all of the wrong things again. Despite having bouts of motivation, Jill has not found the consistency that she had once enjoyed.
Summary
In both scenarios, Jack and Jill had found something that worked for them and their lifestyle. There is nothing wrong with what a friend might be doing differently or what an influencer might suggest, but what Jack and Jill were doing was successful to THEM. Yet something new and exciting swayed them into boycotting their plans. The very plans that were working.
Alterations, tweaks or little changes to a plan are fine as long as it is exactly that…the plan. Nobody wants a training program to stagnate or a nutritional menu to become boring with the same meals each day. But the foundations in which it was first created need to remain the same.
The bright shiny object will always have us wondering and the newness to try alternative methods is intriguing, but take it from someone who has had his fingers burnt on many occasions before becoming a Personal Trainer, it will often end in derailing our good work and possibly even ending it with nothing in return.
I didn’t dress for Halloween to be scary. Although a man in his 40’s wearing an inflatable Yoshi and Super Mario costume running around the streets might have creeped some people out. Anyway, my kids loved it and with the response from the other kids doing their trick or treat rounds, it went down well this Halloween.
There’s something very inevitable about Halloween that is as predictable as a Mariah Carey song at Christmas. I eat and drink rubbish. White bread looking like tombstones, pizza, cheap hotdogs, crisps in the shape of ghosts, cake draped in marzipan, beer and wine to be exact. I tried to convince myself that, seeing as I had Yoshi with me, I was eating for two. He’s a hungry little dude.
But I accounted for the evening binge by how I behave the rest of the year. Indeed, there will be other occasions where I’ll abandon my structured eating habits this year and it is all within my caloric limits. This is how I know that I won’t put on unnecessary weight.
For many years I have assisted people in balancing their diets. I am proof that we can eat whatever we like on special occasions without the guilt, the ill health or the weight gain. We can live our lives without the restrictions of formal diets.
If we can plan for the occasional ‘day off’ of protein powders, fruit smoothies and the training schedule then it is very easy to appreciate it, enjoy it and move on. But planning it is the key. It’s my birthday in two weeks and, again, this will be a planned day (or two) away from thinking about my nutrition too much. As long as I put the work in-between these events then I am confident that I will be absolutely fine with no regrets.
My only regret about Halloween is that I didn’t go as Bane.
The act of congratulating one’s self might seem a little egotistical to some. And perhaps, like everything else, we can form opinions about stuff that only makes sense once we give a bit of context to each situation.
For example, the gym goer checking themselves out in the gym mirror can look like they’re being self absorbed or a ‘poser’. But what if they’re training for a bodybuilding competition and a part of their sport is to flex. Or even if they’re not training for competition, maybe they’re actually quite insecure about a certain part of their body and they want to admire themselves for a short time before the negative feelings about themselves come flooding back.
And I have met people who have tried ‘bigging’ themselves up by putting other people down. They will constantly tap away at your insecurities and laugh at your failures to cover up their own inadequacies. It is difficult, but being the better person and politely removing yourself from this type of person is the best thing to do in this situation. Like I say, it is difficult, as your reactions are often to start believing what they say to you or to give them a piece of your mind and insult them back. But remember, they’re possibly even more insecure than you, that’s why they do it.
Congratulating yourself can be done with humility. It can be done in private so you’re not being ‘showy’. And maybe you should give it a try.
Men of all ages (not just teenagers) grunt into the mirror as they flex their pecs like a WWE wrestler and women check their rears with their new jeans on and feel satisfied with the gym work they’ve done that week. That is a sure sign of congratulating one’s self and giving a well deserved pat on the back, but I’m thinking of something much deeper than that with a greater impact on our mindset and wellbeing. I’m talking about positive affirmations, mantras and reflection.
Sometimes it’s important just to stop and reflect on what you’ve achieved that day or week. Heck, if you have the time you can reflect on your achievements throughout your whole life!
Did you pass the exam and get a dream job? Did you stick to an exercise plan and reach a fitness goal? Have you done your best as a parent or partner? Did you make someone smile today?
If your answer is no to any of these, that’s fine, because now you have given an honest answer, doing it better tomorrow becomes a little easier. But to do things better I believe that affirmations are powerful tools. These are words and short sentences that you tell yourself and repeat them.
In the advertising industry, short sharp slogans are very popular. The most popular seem to be the three word slogans which are also adopted by politicians. Here are a few examples…
Just do it
Taste the rainbow
Build a wall
Get brexit done
I’m lovin’ it
Yes we can
Education, education, education
Take back control
Strong and stable
Maybe it’s Maybelline
Let’s go places
How many of those can you identify? They are memorable because they have a certain ring to them, almost like a chant. Indeed, Trump’s ‘Build a wall’ speech was chanted by himself and his followers. Whether you like the political ideology and the product or not, these slogans were/are very successful which have helped create huge brands with many voters and consumers alike. They were believed. They were punchy.
Now, let’s go back to you. If you gave yourself a moment each day, for example in the mornings, to repeat positive affirmations to yourself, do you think that this could work for you? Indeed, this precedes advertising slogans by thousands of years so it is most certainly working for somebody! My guess is that it worked so well for so many cultures and religions throughout the world for so long that a very clever advertising agent cottoned on to it too. And voilà. What was said over and over again became reality.
You might find it strange to come up with a phrase and repeat it to yourself. It might be uncomfortable at first. But you actually do it already without really acknowledging it. You make a judgement on whether you can reach the jar on the top shelf. You create dynamic risk assessments when crossing the road and driving a car. These daily routines are embedded into your life. Therefore the same affirmations are repeated over and over again.
“Yes, the road is clear,” is a typical example of this. You are confirming your belief that you can cross the road. So why not take a moment in your day to consciously go through your positive affirmations?
Phrases such as…
I am strong
I am confident
Today, I can do it
I am grateful
I will do
…can impact you so profoundly that you begin to believe. After all, you use self fulfilling prophecies to be negative about yourself all the time. Whether it’s how you look, how you act, what you’ve achieved. Imagine countering this negative thinking with “today I look good, I feel great, I am happy!”
Allow yourself the time to tell yourself these great and wonderful things about you. Yes, you. Just a moment in time where you tell yourself how fucking fantastic you are. Tell yourself daily. Make it as much of a priority as eating. Ensure that it becomes as natural as breathing. There’s no shame in telling yourself that you are a good person. It is not self indulgent to believe that you are an important person in other people’s lives and you are capable of great things to them and to you.
You just need to do one simple thing to make it be true. And that’s to keep telling yourself.
I am a Personal Trainer, Meditation Guide, a Cognitive Behavioural Therapist in Anxiety and I tell myself that I’m the luckiest man alive every day. Therefore I am.
A few weeks ago I wrote an article on a doctor’s appointment that I had made. This was my first visit to see a doctor in over 3 years. With a dash of procrastination and a good sprinkling of Covid lockdowns I had created a recipe of anxiety and paranoia regarding going to see my GP.
I was prompted in making this long overdue appointment because I had noticed a few aches and pains in my abdomen that seemed new. I had to do it.
Anyway, yesterday I saw my doctor who prodded and poked, asked me lots of questions and took readings. He surmised that my discomfort was probably musculoskeletal pain which was down to my job and the work I do in the gym.
Now, DOMS (delayed onset of muscle soreness) is a pain like no other. I know this pain and I can confidently identify this in my clients. But musculoskeletal pain such as sprains, strains or tendon and ligament damage due to overuse and over stretching (or under use) are pretty common too. The doctor booked me in for blood tests just to be safe but he was quite satisfied with what he’d heard and seen for it to be nothing more than musculoskeletal pain that will heal over time.
With the self diagnosis and Dr Google keeping me awake at night, I was happy with his verdict. It was much better than what I’d imagined in my irrational mind.
But there was something else he said that, well, quite frankly I wanted the very words framing and hanging on my sitting room wall. He called me an athlete.
Me
Yes. As he listened to my heart beat he referred to me as an athlete.
Images of Jessica Ennis hurdling to Olympic gold came to mind. Mark Spitz swimming towards breaking another record. Mo Salah sprinting through the opposition defence to score a goal. And then me. I’m not a record breaker or an Olympian and I’m not a Golden Boot winner in the Premier League. But I am an athlete. The good news is that, if you exercise regularly, you might well be an athlete too.
Me
The doctor went on to say that due to my exercise routine I have shallower breathing because my heart is pumping oxygen to my working muscles. To cope with this demand, my breathing increases to remove carbon dioxide from my body. And depending on the intensity of my training, breathing can become shallower but with an increase in my breathing long after the exercise routine.
This regularly puts my body in the ‘fat burning zone’ due to the work I am expecting my body to do for its recovery.
Me
Ok. I jest when I put myself into the same category of professionals and those who dedicate their lives to their sport. They live and breathe it. What they eat, their sleep patterns and the years and years of practice. They get sponsored and paid to do it too! As a PT I’m dedicated alright, but I’m also an average gym goer who has a life outside of the gym.
But isn’t it amazing what the average gym goer can achieve with the right routines and intensity? We can be athletes too. We can achieve goals by knowing what our bodies are capable of and fine tuning it to do what we ask of it.
A lot of what an athlete must do is what we need to do too, of course. We need to be mindful of what we eat. We need regular sleep. And we simply just need to turn up even if we don’t fancy it sometimes. Yes, even on a cold and windy night in Stoke. We can’t pretend to be athletes. We need to play the part and become one. And even at 43 I am one. My doctor told me so.
Never Give Up PT 