I was recently in the sweaty throes of a killer workout with my coach. My sessions are typically after a 10–12-hour day in an HR role that, by nature, requires me to give much of myself to the employee population of my company. Emotionally, mentally, and physically I am drained by day's end. I love my work and the people I get to do it with, but it’s crucial for me to balance this depletion with activities that replenish me. This is where my training sessions come into play. These workouts serve as a vital restoration point in my daily routine. In a world where giving of myself is a professional necessity, these moments of receiving become invaluable. My coach's dedication intertwines with my determination, ultimately leading me to a healthier self.
In a recent session, my coach was focused on developing my upper body strength through alternating kettlebell pull-ups. He informed me the kettlebell weighed 10 pounds. I had completed three demanding circuits of exercises when I was rounding out my final set. With just two pull-ups remaining, a feat I was determined to conquer, I was facing the ultimate test of my endurance. Anyone who knows me knows I always go the distance. I push through the agony and always cross the finish line; I may have to crawl across it but cross it I will.
But, on this challenge, I hit a wall hard. I barely eked out the second to last pull-up when my arms and upper body started to tremble and I felt the entirety of my strength evaporate, leaving me with muscles that felt like marshmallows. I struggled to find the energy to crush the last pull-up. Sensing my predicament, my coach, accustomed to clients encountering such plateaus, stepped in. He placed a reassuring hand on my back and then whispered in my ear, “You've got one more in you. You can do this.” Every ounce of my body wanted to stop, and I struggled to find the strength to pull up even a feather. But the moment my coach said I had one more in me, it evoked a moment reminiscent of Rocky, when Adrian tells him to go and “win”. It was game on. I turned to my coach and confidently said, "Oh no, I’m giving you two more," and nailed them! When I had finished, I discovered that my crafty coach had actually given me a 40-pound kettlebell, not the 10 pounds I had believed. Not only did I exceed my circuit goal, but I far exceeded it with a significantly larger weight. It reminded me of one of my favorite physical endurance quotes “Your mind will quit a thousand times before your body will feel the fear and do it anyway”. As I reflect on that intense moment, it's a testament to the power of our minds to overcome physical barriers and push beyond the limits we thought existed.
What made the change? It was someone who not only believed in me but encouraged me to believe in myself. It was someone who had navigated through the same arduous moments in their own workout and understood the exact extent of my potential. It was someone who was intimately acquainted with the contours of my resilience and yet had the boldness to press me further. My success was the result of the harmonious fusion of external support and internal belief. It was pushing past the physical discomfort and quieting the chatter of I can’t and listening to the roar of I CAN!
It’s been said that you can push past your limits or suffocate in your comfort zone. I’ll take doing the heavy lifting, getting uncomfortable, dealing with the messy, and pushing past the pain of “one more” and fuel the fire of progress than be caught at the cross-section of regret and mediocrity. There’s a reason we experience elation when we reach our personal summit. We know the grit, doubt, exhaustion, pain, mental gymnastics, sacrifice, and repetition, repetition, repetition it took to get there.
When I left the gym that evening, an amplified feeling of accomplishment washed over me. It’s an experience that’s resonated with me igniting a wildfire in my soul in my future workouts. With each subsequent session, the challenges have intensified, testing, and strengthening my endurance. It’s pushing the boundaries of my mental tenacity and commitment to my goals - an endeavor that I find utterly captivating.
Here’s to
being our own champions, to showing up in beast mode, never quitting, and
always finding the grit to push through one more kettlebell pull-up to victory.
