First off, I am so proud of my workout with Charlene this morning! A month ago, I went in knowing I most likely will not be up to par with my fitness as I was a year ago. Some things I surprised myself with, some things I had a real struggle with. But I had three goals that I wanted to accomplish working with Charlene that I really struggled with: I couldn't do a pull up, I couldn't do a one handed push up, and I couldn't to the push up then jumping onto the 10 pound ball. I told her I MUST be able to do these by the end of the summer.
Today after working on my legs and shoulders, she told me we were going to a load of push ups, which she knows I absolutely hate to do, as I have expressed here. I used to stay so focused on my Black Belt tests, with the sole purpose of not wanting to do push ups. Well we did a few difficult push ups, but I did everything. One in particular I have to keep my legs up on a bench and my arms on the floor, doing the push up on a downward angle.
When I first did this, I struggled with 10! But now I am doing several sets of 15-20. I mentioned to Charlene "Wow, talk about improvement!" She agreed. "Absolutely." As we walked over to our next station, I saw the pull up bar and asked Charlene if I could give it a go, just to see where I am at. She said sure and I went over. I held the bar and hung on without jumping into the first one, I wanted to make it as honest and real as possible.
I put my hands properly and heaved up for one. WOW! I did one more than last time! How about two? Pull up....two! Three? Woah! Pull again...FOUR!! Can I make it five? Sure enough....FIVE!!!!!!! I did FIVE pull ups!!! I couldn't do ONE! I may have done more if I tried, but I was just having a go for fun. Charlene said, next time, you gotta do 10! I said "Yes, ma'am!"
I was thrilled! That was a check point to see where I am at now, and where I can do later. I am debating how ambitious I should be by the end of August. 20? 25? 30? Wait a minute. Where did this motivation come from? Progress is the key to motivation! I tell all my students, martial arts and fitness, when you get better then you feel better. You feel better, you do better. You do better, you LOOK better! ;)
Input equals output. What you put into your workout is what you will get out of it. And you have to be open minded! Charlene has taught me, and I have taught Charlene. So as two trainers, we compare notes quite often as well, but I am always the one going to her with questions and advice when it comes to fitness and nutrition. And we also discuss some clients we may run into that are challenging too. I think I may have more patience then Charlene though because after she tries every which way to help someone, when that person doesn't want to help themselves, she just says OY!
But I understand the frustration because people pay you to train them, yet they know better than you? Charlene worked out someone once and her client said "You hurt me!" And Charlene was worried! She never hurt anyone before. But the next day she was fine. Charlene explained, "You're not hurt, it is not an injury, it's called a burn. You feel a burn when you workout, it's a good thing. Learn to love to burn." And she is absolutely right. There is different kinds of "pain" and a psychologist may tell you pain is in the mind, but let's face it: OUCH! That soreness is an OUCH, but it's a good ouch. It worked! That burning feeling is what you want when you workout. People complain and they stop, but then you don't get results. Remember that old saying "No pain, no gain?"
Then you get people who workout out, but then eat fried food, french fries and at 8:00 at night -_____- . If you truly want results, you have to put the work in. I understand the struggle, especially in the beginning. But if you want it bad enough, you need to put things out there and hold yourself accountable. Have someone HELP you with your willpower like I am doing. I know I could not trust myself at the beginning. SO I have FIVE mentors to help me! Charlene being one of them.
Because I want it so badly, I push myself and put myself in every situation that will help me achieve what I want and avoid the temptations. I get people who tell me "Live a little!" Well, when I do these things that keep me away from my goals, I am not living. I get angry and depressed. That is not living. So I will do what helps me live and stay happy. For me, it's staying in shape and exceeding expectations. When people say they want to get into shape, INPUT EQUALS OUTPUT. If you just want to sweat and you're happy, then great! If you want more results, then you have to do the work. LOVE the burn.
Someone told Charlene that they just want their fat to turn into muscle. For the record: FAT DOES NOT TURN INTO MUSCLE. Look at a chicken. When you take off the skin and you get the yellow, gooky stuff that you DON'T eat, that is fat. The meat part, that's muscle. The fat does not turn into muscle! Apples don't turn into oranges! That burn is getting rid of your body fat and then building your muscles. LOVE THE BURN!
With that being said, I tried one more of my goals which was the push up onto the ball. It's very risky, and I can be very reluctant to try, it's very challenging for me. I couldn't do any last time we tried. Today, I did three. Input equals output.....and it burned! YAY!!!!!!
Yours in service,
ANDREW TRENTO
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