Progress

At my personal training session today, I got frustrated trying to pick up a new compound move that involved a squat, a lunge, and lifting a 4kg dumbbell. It felt like a fairly complex move, lift with one hand while the opposite leg does the lunge, don’t bend your arms, keep your core engaged, squat deep… deeper… lunge deep… deeper… And so on. There were too many aspects to learn, and I kept stopping and getting annoyed. But my personal trainer reminded me I am totally capable of this. As he spoke to me, about how strong I am, and how I know more than many other people in the gym floor, etc. I just stood shaking my head. I can’t see it. I just don’t have the confidence to see it.

But.

When I really, REALLY think about it, my frustration about learning a new compound move is exactly the same as the early days of doing lunges. Think about the parts involved in a lunge – step forward, got to be wide so you have to get your stride length right. Bend with one knee, don’t let your shoulders come too far forward. The other knee should be bent low towards the ground, nice and deep. Back straight, eyes forward, core engaged. And back up. That’s quite complex, really, when you break it down – which is what I do. Now, though, I’ve done lots and lots (and lots and lots) of lunges over the past year or two, and it’s much easier just to DO it, with decent form, without thinking it all through. Now that I’m used to how my body should be feeling as I do them.

So what do I learn? Well, I learn that even if I DO have trouble picking up new compound moves, this trouble won’t last if I persevere. And there it is. That word again: Persevere. So what if my progress is snail’s pace, and frustrating? It’s still progress. What part of this am I not getting??