A Great Reminder

When I walk into a weight room, I’m usually full of confidence. I can’t stand people like me. People who think they know everything (I don’t, but I must be reminded sometimes), people who scoff at what others are doing, people who automatically assume they are the smartest person in the weight room.

Pride goes before a fall, so I keep these thoughts to myself.

This past week, however, I was told something ground-breaking from someone I have no doubt I know more than when it comes to things of the fitness realm. He’s an ER doctor, and of course, he knows body structure and human anatomy better than I ever will, but he’s never been a strength coach. He’s never corrected Olympic lifting form, never instructed a guy at how to perform a squat, never taught someone how to run faster.

But he taught me something last week.

“I do not want to be in here today,” I told him, as I reached for the chipped and rusted dumbbells I’d been dreading all day. “Everyone has those days. This is one of mine.”

“You can’t look at it like that,” said Saad, in his Pakistani accent. “I tell people all the time, ‘I’m going to eat today.  I’m going to breathe today.  So I know I’m going to workout today.’ If it becomes something I’m just going to do, rather than a choice between whether to do it or not, it no longer matters what I want. I’m just going to do.”

I thought about his statement later. He had it right. He wasn’t trying to be an athlete. He scoffs at those in the weight room he sees trying to lift 300 pounds. “Why they want to do that?” he’ll ask me. “What good is it for them to lift that much? Are they doing a bench press contest? I’m here to be healthy. I’ll look better because of it, but why am I going to hurt myself? For what?”

Someone like Saad can workout everyday with no problem. He works hard, but he doesn’t lift heavy. I still like to lift heavy, so I’m a big believer in days off. But Saad had a great point that I, along with everyone else, need to remember. Working out shouldn’t be an option. It should be a normal part of my day. If the choice is removed, I must accept it and go about my business. If I have no choice but to workout, my body will have no choice but to adapt.

I thanked Saad a few days later for his approach to lifting. It’s made be a better lifter. And its given me one less choice to have to make during the week.