Often times the gym can be a place where many people feel uncomfortable, they are nervous they may get hurt, scarred about what other people think about them, afraid of failing. These are all very common and normal feelings you may have.
Our job as coaches is to help minimize those feelings. We are here to help you feel comfortable, to create an environment you feel safe both physically and emotionally, and to help you get the most out of your experience here.
However, it is hard for us to do that without truly understanding what it is like to be in your shoes and for most of us the gym is already a comfortable place, we do spend most of our days here.
This past weekend I was able to put myself in a similar situation many clients feel before they start at the gym.
I completed my first Spartan Race and to be completely honest with you I was pretty dam scarred before starting.
I felt uncomfortable before the race even started wondering around not knowing where to go and where to put my stuff. I felt like all of the 5,000+ people were going to be watching every move I make.
I was nervous I might get hurt, that it was going to be much harder than I expected that I wouldn’t make it.
Now the purpose of this blog is not to talk about the whole race but to talk about stepping out of your comfort zone sometimes in order to get better.
Most people are coming to the gym because there is something they want to gain out of it, whether its confidence in their own skin, strength for a sport, to just move better overall so they can continue doing the things they love, or increase their health so they have more time to spend with their friends and family.
In order to create that change we need some sort of a stimulus (different stimuli for different changes). In order to create that stimulus it often means stepping out of your comfort zone a little.
As time goes on you are going to become more and more comfortable with your program and the exercises at the gym, at that point in order to keep seeing change you may need to push it at times.
Maybe its time to start using a heavier weight, or add a few reps, or chose an exercise that is a little more challenging.
The key here is to still make smart choices where you are still safe. A phrase that I have learned from coaches that I love is “challenging but successful”.
Every now and then it is great to try to step out of your comfort zone both inside and outside of the gym. It will only help you grow and get better.
If you need a little extra motivation to step out of your comfort zone or help finding a good way to challenge yourself the coaches here at Core Principles are here to help, just let us know!
-Coach Pat
