Another great old saying and it refers to getting bucked off a horse, and that the best thing to do, is get back on again right away. If you don’t, fear builds up, and back in the day when horses were a primary source of transportation, carrying supplies and getting through life, it was important for another reason: you needed to show the horse that you were not afraid, and still in charge.
This applies to life and fitness as well of course.
Well, the dumbbells don’t think they are smarter than you or in charge, but the fear part is relevant!
The longer you stay off the horse (away from fitness), the more unfit you become and the harder it is to get back to it. There can be many reasons for that.
For me, after the crash, it was a combination of a lot of things.
I still cannot get my arm all the way over my head, so I was worried – would I be physically able to do all of the workouts?
I am also 25 lbs overweight, (that’s embarrassing, I’m the ‘gym guy’ for Pete’s sake!) I wondered about what people would think, about whether or not I could keep up, about how sore I would be in the coming days etc.
All of those thoughts were garbage.
It was awesome! The people in class were super supportive, fun and we had a great time!
I did fall behind on lots of things, and some stuff I just couldn’t do, so I did the modified version. I did lift a barbell over my head for three rounds and that in itself was a huge victory!
I was self-conscious about my belly, but nobody cared. That’s a universal truth: folks are too worried about themselves to notice or judge you for any minor things you have going on.
Was I sore after? You bet.
For four days my muscles were telling me all about the rebuilding that was going on. And I loved it! It’s a ‘good sore’ as I always say. It’s a rebuilding feeling of muscle regrowth and the waking up of function.
That’s the other thing about getting back on the horse – you realize it isn’t so bad, and it gets easier every next time you do it, until it becomes normal again and soon you and the horse are best friends.
Is it ever too late to get back on the horse?
No. At least not when it comes to fitness and health. Maybe with a real horse it could be, they tend to get stubborn as they get older. But when it comes to fitness, the greatest thing about the human body is that it always has the potential to improve. Always. I have seen people in their 70’s and beyond benefit directly and immediately from exercise.
So what do you say? Let’s go for a ride!
Scott McDermott is a personal trainer and the owner of Best Body Fitness in Sylvan Lake.
