Download DB Drill #1.

Here is an example of 3 fitness center members performing a drill with a heavy cardiovascular load. All three of these employees exercise regularly and have spent time building up to this level of intensity. As you watch the video, listen to the exercisers. Don’t they look like they are having fun? Learning how to make exercise fun will insure you’ll keep it up for a lifetime.

This employee learned form from a trainer in a gym in Italy. When he got here to the Fritz G. Lanham Fitness Center in Fort Worth, Texas, he became a regular. He puts exercise into his lifestyle where ever he is, or whatever else is going on in his life. Notice his overall strangth. Notice his form. People with back delicacies should not perform this exercise unless cleared by your advisors. Look at what is possible if you make a decision to exercise regularly.

How do you know when you should exercise, when you should modify your workout and when you should  just suck it up and do it anyway?

Many of our decisions about exercise happen beneath the conscious level. Every time you hear yourself say the word, “should,” use that as a cue to practice training an emotional muscle. Strong emotional muscles will align your  behavior with your goals and keep you healthy. Strong emotional muscles will make it easier for you to feel happy and make regular and consistent exercise a lifelong habit. Weak emotional muscles rely on “shoulds and supposed to’s.” Strengthening your emotional muscles starts with awareness and practice.  When you hear the first “should,” ask yourself to report the facts just like a prosecuting attorney would do.

Example #1. The question is, “should I exercise today? Hmm…ok… well, let’s see…in the last 4 days this body has had pain spikes reaching 9.7 on a scale of 10, it has had to absorb powerful medicine it is not used to processing, it’s had less sleep than normal and it has not eaten solid food.  Should I exercise? If so, what should I do? If not, why not?

Example #2. In the last 4 days I’ve been too busy to exercise, I’ve eaten lunch from the vending machine, I started putting cream in my coffee again, I promised my daughter a week ago I’d take her to the mall, I had a fight with my boss and I’m tired. Should I exercise? If so, what should I do? If not, why not?

Example #3. In the last 4 days I have not missed exercise once. I ate 5 servings of fruits and vegetables 2 of those 4 days. My shoulder is really sore but I’m supposed to work shoulders and abs today. I hate to miss, I’m getting such good cuts in my arms. Should I exercise? If so, what should I do? If not, why not?

When you make a decision based on your own self inquiry, the congruence between your head and your heart provides an intelligence that is worthy of your trust. You can trust that your internal intelligence is smarter than your spouse, the military, the magazine, your former coaches or the guys you played ball with in high school. More important than any one workout is the emotional maturity that went into the decision about how, when and why you exercised in the first place. No matter what you decide to do about your exercise today, lose the “shoulds” and start training your emotional muscles. Nobody has your back like you do.

Stop punishing yourself with your workouts, or lack there of. Making a consistent change in your habits takes emotional maturity. Exercise is a good place to look for clues as to how emotionally mature a person is. Look at a person’s habits. Icksnay on the judgement. Just look at behavior. What is your goal, and what are you willing to do for the rest of your bloomin’ life, that is consistent with that goal?

If you could hear me, you’d know I was clearing my throat and looking you straight in the eye. I admit I’ve been guilty of saying things like this to myself too. We all do it. It’s human nature to want to continue doing things we used to do regardless of our current circumstances. It’s my job to advocate for our muscles. They are so highly intelligent they can send a high speed SOS directly to your brain. They can communicate. But their language doesn’t have words. They need you to interpret.

A professional athlete may choose to ignore a particular communication.  Someone in physical therapy may be coached to perform a movement despite pain.  There are times when other humans can help interpret our muscle’s language, until we can better understand it ourselves. My question to you is, are you listening? Are you trying to understand what your muscles are telling you? Or are you busy telling them what they should be doing?

It costs to eat “Fun Food.” This is how you pay.

When you say  “yes” to “fun food” and  you mean “no”,  you lose power  because  your  actions are not in alignment with what  you  want  for  your  life.  It  works  the same way with saying   “no”   when   you   mean   “yes”.  All   the   guilt  and frustration  slows  down progress. People don’t  make  good slaves. You must learn  how to dance with food. How to  eat what  you love without overdoing  it and how to eat enough of  what  is   GOOD   FOR  YOU   to   keep  you   healthy.  The concept of Eraser is a creative and  effective  way to do that. A brownie can’t stop you  from losing your  weight once you have  learned  the tricks  of  how  to  say “yes” or  “no”  to  a food, and mean it deep down inside.