I’m A Winner Every Day I Show Up

It’s that time of year when life is hectic and when I find it hard to shift gears, and get my head into my workouts. It’s hard enough to just show up, but then to actually have a good workout when my mind is thinking of all the things that need to be done, it can make any workout a challenge.

Then I got to thinking. I need to just focus on one thing and one thing only – just showing up. Even if I’m just going through the motions and I’m not “feeling it”, it doesn’t matter. Consistency is the most powerful aspect of fitness. Inconsistency will always be the biggest obstacle. So, if I can just keep showing up, I can be a winner no matter how I perform.

Every workout doesn’t have to make magic, it has to make movement. I just need to keep my body moving and keep my routine going. Yesterday was the perfect example of this. I was in no mood to workout. I wanted SO bad to just run home and curl up on the couch and pout after a crappy day.

When Life Happens, I Have 2 Choices:
1.) I can let life affect my workout OR
2.) I can let my workout affect my life.

As badly as I didn’t want to workout, I put on my new Bose headphones from Reebok (1st time every using them!), cranked my music, and hit the weight floor.

I’d like to say that was the end of my bad mood, but it wasn’t. I started my workout with lat pull-downs. Here is basically how my workout went First Set: “Not feeling this”. Second Set: “This is going to be a crappy workout”.  Third Set: “I hate working back”. Fourth Set: “I wonder if I should just blow this whole thing off”.

Then came bent over rows, then a crummy phone call that almost had me packing my bags. Instead, I walked back out on the floor to finish. Off for some Hammer Strength pull downs, “Why am I here?”  then lat rows. “Ok, Back done. Glad that’s over”. Now on to chest. Bench press begins. I feel strong, but at least I’m over the hump and I’m not stopping. I continue on with 3 other chest exercises – all less than amazing. Finally, I decided I should get in a little cardio too. It was slow and lame, but at this point I realized I am a rockstar for just showing up and doing it despite how I felt. THAT’s when it hit me. Just showing up can be pretty impressive on a day like that.

Who really cares about how fast you run or how much you lift? Not many people. However, someone that shows up day after day, dedicated and determined to get, or stay, fit no matter what life throws their way. Now, I think there should be a gold medal for that!

So in the end, I walked out of the gym a champion – and you can too. Keep Showing Up.