No duh, is how I imagine most people reading the title of this article. Obviously your life is better when you are fit. However, I also imagine most people think of people like Rich Froning, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Chris Bumstead, or Tia Clair Toomey. I am not talking about the outliers in fitness. I am just talking about the improvements in life when you are physically more capable than your current state.
Fitness and Life
It is important to mention and define what I am actually talking about when I mention being fit. What I am referring to is a person’s ability to confidently tackle any physical task that is put in front of you. In other words, your ability to “do work” in short, medium, and long efforts. Also, your ability to lift heavy weights a few times, or light weights a lot of times.
You might think of shoveling a pile of rocks: light load, many repetitions, long time
Or you might think of moving a boulder that is in your yard: heavy load, few repetitions, short period of time.
Alright, back to the point for now. Your life is unequivocally better when you have more capacity to do the things that you need or want to do.
You will be more capable.
You will be more confident.
You will feel better.
You will be able to adventure more.
You will be a better example for your kids or parents.
You will be happier.
How do I know this?
I have seen it happen through the last few years of owning CrossFit Winnebago. We have countless stories of people coming in to the gym scared:
Scared of playing with their kids.
Scared of jumping.
Scared of running.
Scared to go for a hike with friends.
You know what happens then?
They come in and expose themselves to hard things, almost daily. The magic comes from these small, frequent exposures to hard things.
Member’s Life Is Better
I recently had a member share an experience about how his life improved because he was more fit.
The store involves fitness, rock climbing, his family, and a Saturday afternoon. This member has been with us for almost 2 years. He formally rock climbed over ten years ago, and has been only a handful of time over the last ten years. Life, Kids, a move, and other obligations all got in the way of one of his passions.
Fast forward to his CrossFit journey, this member took his family to the local climbing gym for a Saturday afternoon activity.
At the gym, he was able to climb what equates to being very close to the same difficulty of route he could do prior to taking 10 years away from the sport.
big deal, so what, why is this important for your Life?
This member credited his time and work in the gym with his ability and confidence to take on a physical task that he otherwise wouldn’t have.
The results:
- He feels more confident in his ability to do hard things
- He was able to set an example of hard work, confidence, and a willingness to take on a hard but fun task for his kids
- He also gets the little reward that tells him the hard days are worth it in the end.
Here is what you can do today.
You can choose something hard to do. Something that will take you outside of your comfort zone.
Here are some ideas to try:
- go for a walk in the cold
- do a short work out: 5 rounds of 5 push ups and 10 squats is a good start
- go for a run that is a little bit longer or a little bit faster than your usual run
- push your intensity a little bit in the gym
Otherwise, that is our job: help people improve their fitness and live a better version of their life.
