The Comparison Game: The Gym & Our Mentality

We live in a world where we strive everyday to be the best, have the best and look our best. It's been seared into our DNA since childhood when we dreaded being picked last in kickball. The same concept followed us to adulthood as MTV broadcasted stick-thin celebrities and Pinterest asks us to re-pin athletes with washboard abs.  In a perfect world we want to choke those annoying voices in our heads that say we're not good enough, but it's not always easy when we're constantly surrounded by opportunities to compare ourselves with others. I love Pinterest and find it as a great motivator to stay fit and healthy. However, I'll see a pin like this before the gym:

and feel slightly discouraged when I don't leave my workout with a BMI of 18 and abs made of pure steel; I have to then take a step back and realize that once again I was a victim of the comparison game.

This mentality always seems to sneak up at the gym. I will admit that I have been guilty of running on the treadmill and trying to out run the person next to me. But why? Who cares. Another person's workout is not mine or my concern and another's fitness goals are different than what I am trying to achieve. We cannot compare ourselves, especially at the gym, because it will only set us up for temporary satisfaction and overall disappointment.

Actually, the answer is no but enjoy yourself as you set yourself up for temporary self-fulfillment.

The other day I was at the gym and glanced at the guy running next to me: he was nearing his fifth mile while I was walking at a pace of 4.0 on the treadmill. I immediately thought, he's obviously pushing himself harder than I am so after this I'm going to bike and elliptical for 30 minutes. Woah, what am I doing? I immediately put myself on an equal playing field as the person next to me. He obviously looks like a Cross Country runner, I am not, and I had a hard workout yesterday and was using today to take it easy. My workouts are catered to my own fitness goals and not the stranger hoofin' it next to me.

Yes, it's hard but we can't be sucked into the comparison game. Instead praise yourself that you just beat your mile record time by 30 seconds and who cares if the person next to you just ran a 5K. It's important to focus on our own achievements, big or small. Comparing ourselves, in and outside the gym, only leads to discouragement plus it's exhausting. What I discovered early in my softball career, no matter how hard I practiced there will always be someone stronger, faster or better than me. I learned to only push myself against my own limits and no one else's.

Use others' achievements as motivators but never as criteria in which to measure yourself. You are you and no one else. Be your personal best and you can never be disappointed.

Full Body Home Work-Out

Hi Everyone! I feel like it's been months since I last blogged. I was recently in Ireland for 10 days and the lack of WiFi and beautiful scenery made it difficult to sit myself down and type (I did post pictures on my new blog if you have a wee bit of free time). AND when I returned, I have been swamped with school work.   So my apologizes, I understand this is a 2-way relationship and I will work harder to do my half of the work. Trust me, it's me not you.

ANYWAYS. Since I haven't blogged in a while, I am anxious to tell you about my morning! I have been getting a bad case of gym boredom. I love the gym but a person can only stair step so much. I needed something to mix up my fitness repertoire.

So, I decided I wanted to strive to be the epitome of self-motivation and work out at home. I have had bad experiences with this and I tend to slack off after rep 2. To silence my inner couch potato, I thought I'd YouTube a workout video to motivate me. I landed upon the Holy Grail of online workout videos.

Fitness Blender is a website that offers FREE full length workouts. There's a ton and you can select videos according to what kind of work out you're looking to do. The videos are easy to follow and I enjoy the male narrator. Plus the video descriptions tell you what kind of exercises are included, the level of difficulty and how many calories you'll burn. This was my morning work out:

At first, you're thinking "psh, I should be teaching this video" but by the end you're whimpering through your sweat (or are those tears?). But in all honesty, t's a great work out and I like how you can mix and match different routines to personalize your own fitness plan. 

I'm sore but it's a good sore, the soreness of champions. Who says you need a gym to sweat it out?

The Early Bird gets the StairMaster

I always say: the early bird gets the french fry (who wants a worm?), but I have adjusted my mantra this morning. Today I have done the unthinkable... a day I thought would never come: I was at the gym before 8 am. Crazy? Yes, but life forced me againsted my will. I've have gotten to the point in my hectic college schedule that if I don't exercise in the morning then I won't have time the rest of the day. I feel like like a woman who works 8-5, goes home to make dinner for her cooking-illiterate husband, and then takes care of her 5 crying and pooping children. Maybe not exactly, but this is what a lot of people call life. And life is messy in which we have to adjust.

My way to adjust is going to the gym at 7:45 BUT there are positives to an early workout:

1. I got the good StairMaster, the one that has the working television. Score.
2. I was able to do my NIKE training ab work-out in the aerobics room without receiving strange looks because my phone is talking to me. 
3. and finally, I was able to attend my 9:30 class and know I didn't have to go to the gym afterwards... though I was probably that one "smelly kid" in class (and I apologize to anyone in a 3 ft radius of me this morning).

But to get to the main concern of this post, let me give some background. This morning I was oddly hyper and needed to let it out via StairMaster... below is the result of my energy burst, but let me remind you this is not a commonality for me (though it'd be nice).

Now, this raised a question... how accurate are the calorie counters on cardio machines? Did I really just burn an exponential amount of calories or is Life Fitness lying to me? Well, I've done some research and this is what I found:

According to FitSugar (follow them on Twitter @fitsugar, they always have great fitness and health tips):

The calories burned readout on cardio machines are not known for their accuracy. Some machines are even known to bump up the calorie readout by almost 25% (apparently the feel good factor keeps us using their machines). Furthermore, machines do not always take into consideration all the factors in individual fitness levels and the specificity of the exercise and they're not often re-calibrated after hitting the gym floor, so things can get off set with time. Basically you can (and should) use the calorie readout only as a guideline but not as the end-all-be-all of how many calories you've burned.

Sigh. I feel I've just been told that there's no Santa Clause. Though depressing, this makes us rethink those feel good donuts for a job well done at the gym.

There are ways to help increase the accuracy of your cardio workout: Enter your weight.

Want even more accuracy? Use a heart-rate monitor which will give generate atop notch calorie reading.

But as the take away from this post, don't define your workout by a number. It's like your when you weigh yourself. Sure, it's a number that can fluctuate but it does not control how you feel about yourself. A number can't define a person's being; focus on being healthy and reaching your own personal goals.

Indoor Rock Climbing: All Work & All Play

Re-post with a few adjustments!

I love rock climbing but hate heights (I'm a contradiction). Though I haven't overcome my fear of heights, I have learned to mange my fear and turn it into a positive experience. I now work at a rock wall, and enjoy teaching others and strengthening their skills. I's probably the only job I've had where work and fun go hand-in-hand. Ah, the rock wall is my adult playground.

When working, it's sometimes difficult to get students to share my love of climbing. I feel like that annoying salesman, but usually 1 of 4 things happen when I ask students to climb:

Me: "Hey! Would you like to climb?"

Student will either: 

(a) Pretend they don't see the 30 foot rock wall and will avoid all eye-contact;

(b) "I'll climb after I work out" (no, you won't)

(c)  "I'll fall" (I hope not or I'd lose my job)

(d)  "Okay, sure!" (woohoo!)

I'm not knocking on anyone who gives the wall a try...I admire you, but there are climbers (big muscly guys, especially) who try to pull themselves up the wall, all arms. They soon find out that it's not all about upper body strength (GTL won't help you here), but using a combination your legs, arms and keeping your body close to the wall . It's a great workout--the first time I climbed, I couldn't open the peanut butter jar for 2 days (I was like David from the Dentist: Is this going to be forever?) because I wasn't use to using specific arm muscles  It works your arms, legs, abs, concentration and mind. I always look at it as a puzzle and how I can solve it.

Climbing is not for everyone, but I've had numerous students try it once and absolutely love it. I won't let you fall (promise) and it's actually fun (double promise)

 

.. And when I do get to the top, I feel like a contestant on GUTS (Nickelodeon throwback) who just climbed The Aggro Crag (minus the falling foam boulders and Moe).

Challenge yourself. Rock climbing might not be your thing, but you'll never know until you give it a try. Always make sure you're wearing a helmet; harnessed in; and your bilayer knows what he or she is doing, then rock out!