It never fails…every time a new person starts with us at my facility they inevitably hit a frustration point. Even “fit” people are shocked at how little they really know about their body and how it is supposed to move and work. Even though I warn people that there is a 2 week learning curve where you learn to show body awareness and control that they simply are not used to displaying it is still frustrating as they realize how many things they have to work on.

Last week I was working with a client who has been with us for a bit and he started to voice some frustration about an exercise and how something new we had made him aware of “made it harder”. This got me thinking about how most people approach their fitness program.

Most people want to feel good about and protect their ego. Getting out of their comfort zone scares the crap out of them and so they avoid exercises and programs that challenge them. This is another one of the reasons that things like machines and aerobics equipment are so popular – they do some of the work for you and make for an easier training experience.

What I realized was that mindset will always lead to lackluster results. Here are a couple of things I tell clients to help them keep things in perspective –

An ancient Chinese proverb says that “to be different from what you are, you must first know what you are”. The first step in changing something is finding out what it is and how you want it to change. This process can never start if you always avoid things that expose your weaknesses and give you a proper perspective on what and where you really are.

As frustrating as it may be at first, every weakness that you expose is an opportunity for change that you did not have the day before. From that point of view finding weaknesses should be embraced because that is the first real step in exacting change in your body.

You also want to remember that if you have the proper mindset you will want to seek out your weaknesses, not hide from them. Because the discovery of weaknesses is the first step in exacting change you never want to reach the point where you think that you have no weaknesses or else you have no more opportunities for change and growth.

What makes the masters in any craft better than anyone else is their constant desire to find their weaknesses and improve on them. Even the simplest of exercises hold lessons for everyone out there to learn, we just need to seek them instead of avoiding them. This mindset will not only help you achieve better results in the gym but also in your life, which is what training is really all about.

-James Wilson-