Progression
How do fitness, life, and sports correlate? Have you ever heard the saying; ball is life? I tend to talk about basketball or strength and conditioning in most of my blogs or speeches. However, it does not matter the sport or discipline, once passionately pursued. Why? Because everything teaches life lessons, if we are looking for them, then the concept of awareness comes into play.
Everything progresses whether we are aware of that progression or not. My high school basketball coach drilled in our head,” I have to make you do the things you do not want to do, for you to get what you claim you want to have”. Back then, I thought it was just a clever way to have us endure the torture of practices but later on, I appreciated its value and the value that he gave. That is along the lines of enjoying the process and showing his value. That same coach also stated, “You are either getting better or you are staying the same, and if you are staying the same, you are becoming worse”.
Progression can form through many different avenues, for instance, you want to overhead squat (arguably the most difficult squat variation). One could choose to go to the gym and go for it, as this approach may work for some, I’m on record saying I DO NOT RECOMMEND THAT METHOD. Why? Well, because it is not a proper progression. We could walk through the steps for proper progression here in this post, however, the idea is not about overhead squat progression but progression within itself.
Fitness has become a trend, I must admit, I also like fitness to be fun and exciting. Yet proper progression is not the fun stuff. And no matter how many successful men and women credit the boring stuff for helping them become successful, not many people adhere to that. I do not exempt myself yet, I am hungry to achieve all I can out of my God-given abilities.
So, my motivation (purpose) went through a progression and will continue to progress as with everyone else, I hope. Unless you are a zombie, chances are you are not because you are reading this blog! There comes a time when making the switch from the need to be entertained to doing what we claim to want e.g. (lose weight, maintain a healthy fit lifestyle) to being the entertainer.
What does it mean to be an entertainer? It does not necessarily mean from time to time, we will not need a boost. We need staying power. The ability to delay gratification, and stay committed even when it does not seem to be going as planned. The entertainer does not need to be entertained because they are usually the ones entertaining.
Some days I have to trick myself into going to the gym. Have you had that before? By the time you are in the gym, boom, you rock out an amazing workout. On some days, the entertainment gets down to the set level or even the reps’ level. Let’s see if I can do an extra rep on my last set, match the working load from the last session, or even dare to go a little further.
The progression starts in the mind, we can choose to allow ourselves to be controlled by the need for fun, doubt, and disbelief. Or we can entertain the idea that we are capable of whatever we allow ourselves to become!
Live life free friends and, stay fit!
J’Nathan Bullock CSCS