Practice Makes Perfect

The gym can be a scary place.  You walk in there and there all are these fit people that have been working out for years and have perfect form, are coordinated, and just know what they’re doing.  I recently started a combat/boxing class, and the first day I went felt so out of place!  I was way uncoordinated and didn’t know any of the moves.  The class would go one way and I would go the other.  At one point when we did a kick (which was supposed to be forward) and I kicked backwards I hit the lady’s food behind me!  Talk about embarrassing.  My footwork was not matching my upper body work, and I know if you were there you’d be silently laughing inside.  But it’s ok.  Because you know what, I’m not concerned with what other people think about me.  I went there for my health, and I wasn’t going to be scared away by the people that have done the class for years.  I’ll be honest, at one point I did have a thought of, “should I go back next week or not?”  I realized that all these people had to start somewhere and the only way I was going to get better was if I kept going back. 

So I went back to the same class the next week.  I still didn’t nail the moves down but I was much better than the first time.  I could feel a difference.  And then I went back the next week again.  I was really surprised at how much I had improved!  I was getting a great workout, I was feeling my endurance improve, and feeling I had gotten a lot better because I went back the next week.  This time, I still didn’t make it through without messing up, but you know what?  Neither did any of the other people!  No one is perfect and everyone slips up a few times.  Don’t get down on yourself just because you aren’t at the level you’d like to be.  As long as you’re putting in your all and not giving up, you can’t ask much more from yourself.  You’re going to improve each time you do it.  Now this is where it gets good.  After the fourth class I went to, the instructor waited for me at the door, stopped me, and told me how awesome I was!  What?!  I didn’t see that coming.  She said she could see how much I had improved, how hard I was working to really put all my effort into the workout, and how great my form was.  Talk about motivation!  I’ll for sure be going every week. 

Bottom line: don’t be scared.  If it’s out of your comfort zone, that’s even more reason to be doing it!  Everyone had to start somewhere and you are just going to have to do it if you want to see change.  One of my favorite quotes is “You don’t suddenly become what you don’t cooperate in becoming.”  Your health and fitness isn’t going to come by just thinking about it or doing minimal work.  Your body changes when you actually push yourself.  Whether that be just joining a gym, going back to a workout you couldn’t complete, or taking it to the next level.  You can do way more than what you think you can.  And as we all know, practice makes perfect.