Some thoughts and discussions from me.
My Training Aha! Moment
I haven’t always loved lifting and working out.
In fact, I can remember groaning every time we had to run the mile in college volleyball, and thinking of weight training days as blow off days in practices. Now, I look back, and wish I would have taken those days more seriously. I wonder how much my sport would have improved if only I liked to deadlift then as much as I do now…
Of course, now I know that having strong glutes and being sufficient in power exercises would have made me jump that much higher when coming down on top of the ball, spiking it into my opponents’ court.
And now I absolutely love the feeling of crushing a heavy dead lift and feeling strong and powerful in the gym.
But it wasn’t always that way. I used to be one of those gym members who would walk in the door and make a bee-line to the elliptical. It wasn’t until I stumbled upon a fitness message board and joined a community of women who inspired me to give a go at lifting weights.
I remember picking up a copy of The New Rules of Lifting (not NROL for Women)and going through the program. It was in that first workout of the first program in the book, and doing the squat for the first time with an open mind. I felt inspired, strong, and empowered in that knee dominant move.
I had my training aha! moment!
I still respect co-writer of the New Rules books, Alwyn Cosgrove, and have bought each subsequent book in the New Rules series (for Women, for Abs <—my personal favorite, for Life, & Supercharged) but it was the very first one that caused my aha! moment. The moment I realized that resistance training was effing awesome, and it was going to change my life.
And it did! After (and while) completing that program, I read everything I could get my hands on about lifting. Then a couple years later I decided to get my personal training certification and worked to become a qualified PT.
Since that moment – that feeling – was what made me fall in love with lifting and enjoy and look forward to my workouts was SO rewarding, I wanted to make it my career to help others find that feeling.
I’ve mentioned before that when my clients and I figure out what their goals with me are, those goals become my goals. Some of them come to me absolutely hating exercise at first. For some, the gym is the last place they want to be, and the only reason they came to see me is either health or aesthetic reasons. And I feel for them – I really do. Here they are, coming to me begrudgingly, but willing to take that first step.
Then and there, I make one more goal, but this one is for me. My goal is to help them discover their training aha moment.
It could be something as simple as being inspired by someone in the fitness industry. It could be doing a set of push ups on the ground, being able to complete a chin up, have gained some muscle – and that’s BA, or when you finally see your body for what it can do. Or, it might just be a feeling while you’re leaving the gym after one particular workout.
Whatever it is, nearly everyone I know who loves fitness has their own training aha! moment. And if you haven’t experienced yours yet, don’t sweat it! It’ll come. My #1 tip is to keep making those in-the-gym goals. Instead of focusing so much – or even entirely – on aesthetic goals, like losing x amount of pounds or toning the arms, start focusing on what you can achieve in the gym.
PS – Last chance to sign up for my 8-week online boot camp! Sign ups go through Thursday at 11:59p OR until spots are filled – there are currently a couple spots left SOLD OUT!
Have you experienced your training aha! moment? If so, what was it?
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I love your tip about focusing on achievement, rather than the physical results. I find this is especially true for me when I first start back doing weights after a longer break. I ALWAYS experience a gain on the scales, my clothes are ALWAYS tighter initially and I’m always sore to top it off. I heard that it was due to the muscles retaining water in an attempt to repair themselves, but not entirely sure. I’ve had a few ‘ah ha!’ moments in the gym and with eating right, but have sometimes gone back and forth in my progress ans stress was always a big reason for me to discontinue working out. My main one was when I first started lifting heavier weights (I got a PT…the first plan I got was a generalized light weights plan from the gym)…and I started seeing so much improvements in the tone of my body, my strength, my overall energy, and the fact I actually ENJOYED my workout and actually got results!
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I think I had my moment reading the NROLFW book a few years ago. Before that, I had lifted dumbbells and done ab exercises about twice a week, but that was more for aesthetic purposes. Going through that program, I started to love the feeling of throwing weight around. A few months after that I did LiveFit, and that just solidified how much I loved it – it’s so empowering to realize that you’re actually pretty damn strong!
Sam @ Better With Sprinkles recently posted…WIAW: Finding Balance.
right on girl! i could relate to so much of this! i didn’t start lifting weights until university and that was pretty much my aha moment too. i felt so powerful and it gave me a feeling of confidence i never had before. great post – i always love your topics
Meg @ A Dash of Meg recently posted…Pork Chops with Roasted Onions, Figs, and Kale
I’ve actually experienced some AHA! moments this last year. For years I’ve told myself I’m not a runner. I hated it, I was slow (still am!), and I just was not built for it. About eight months ago, I decided to take another stab at it, and something just clicked this time! To date I have numerous 5Ks and two half-marathons under my belt with not plans to stop. That’s a really nice feeling!
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my aha! moment came after I got bad IT band syndrome and started lifting and cross training. I wish I had started lifting sooner. I must read those books!
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Hello Paige!
I have also experienced my aha moment before. Before to tell you honestly, I really don’t want to go to gym but now, my routine is to always go to gym and lift some weights 🙂
This is great Paige, so cool to read your story. I am not sure I have had an aha moment, as my running career has been mostly a gradual improvement to get to the level I am today, however, I have noticed that i have finally learned to listen to my body, and step back when I need to. I think that is because it has clicked that I need to train smarter not harder. Does that count? 🙂
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Awesome post!! I never used to lift, but last year i started doing body pump and i fell in love during the first class. at first, i could hardly complete some of the tracks, but now i’m consistently lifting as much (if not more) than the instructor. i’m most proud of my shoulder improvement, it’s always been hard for me to build arm strength, but i have been seeing some solid definition in the past few months!! and that makes me want to lift even more, which is awesome!