Are you comfortable?

I have a large poster on the wall in my Queens Drive studio.  It is a photo of me getting whacked in the kickboxing ring during one of my training sessions.  The heading on this poster reads:  if it doesn’t challenge you, it doesn’t change you.

Wise words.  If I was paid a dollar for every person in a large commercial gym that works out within their comfort zone I would be a rich girl.  You know who I’m talking about:  the people who read a book on the bike or treadmill, the people who hardly work up a sweat and hog machines while texting on their phone.

If you are one of those people who go to the gym every day and amble along comfortably you will probably know what I’m talking about.  Have you reached your goal yet.  It doesn’t matter if your goal is weight loss, or strength, or fitness.  My question is, have you reached it yet?  Chances are you have been going at it for a year or more, and you still don’t see the results you were hoping for.

You see, this is where personal trainers come in.  They are trained professionals who know how to get the best out of you.  They spent a lot of time learning how your body (and mind) works, and they want to put that knowledge to good use.
  
And I will admit something to you, just don’t tell anyone:  I have my own personal trainer as well!  Without him I will simply amble along within that comfort zone of mine.  Most of the time.  I might not even find the gym in the first place because without that initial appointment I can find a million other things to do.  I run a full-on business after all, there is always something else to do that sounds like more fun.

So imagine I gave in to that temptation.  The temptation of doing anything but exercise.  I can predict what will happen.  Within 4 weeks I will lose my overall fitness.  After 8 weeks my muscle tone.  After 12 weeks my almost half century old body will show its age, and my stomach will grow. Boom, and right there you have an unfit, fat trainer.  Naturally slim?  Me?  Don’t you believe it, I have to work on it the same way you do.

So go on, you look comfortable.  Reach outside your comfort zone, and join me in a quest to improve your health.  Don’t expect your body to change if you don’t…