Life Lessons I Learned at the Gym
Over my relatively short lifetime, I’ve spent a sizable percentage of it at a gym. Apartment gyms, work gyms, Gold’s gym, barre class, yoga class… the list goes on. Sometimes I love it, sometimes I hate it, but I keep going back. I was feeling a little introspective last night, and started thinking about a few of the lessons I’ve learned at the gym that have served me well in life. Here they are, and I’d love to hear your own:
Difficulty doesn’t equal permission to give up. The whole point of working out is to push yourself. If it’s not difficult, you’re not growing. There isn’t really much point to lifting a 2lb dumbbell every single day. You have to give those muscles a challenge. As soon as you hit one goal, you have to move on to the next one. Just because work is difficult or a friendship feels hard, doesn’t mean you get to throw in the towel. Pushing through it is what makes you learn, grow, and become a better person.
You don’t know what someone else is going through. Yes it’s annoying to see that girl texting on the treadmill next to you, walking at a snails pace, barely breaking a sweat. Maybe it’s because she doesn’t want to mess up her makeup, or maybe, just maybe, it’s because she’s recovering from an injury. Maybe she had a sprained ankle or a pulled hamstring. Just because she looks fine from the outside, doesn’t mean she is. It’s the same way with people. Maybe that person had a short temper because they’re dealing with something bigger. Maybe someone made that mean comment because of their own insecurities. It might not be fair, but cut people some slack. You can’t see what’s on their mind.
What feels good in the short term, isn’t always good for the long term. Hitting the snooze button, or grabbing that greasy pizza and sitting on your butt all weekend might feel great in the short term, but I promise it will not serve you well in the long term. It’s breaking a difficult bad habit, even when it’s tempting to say “just one more”. It’s not about once single choice, it’s about all of those little choices that add up to a lifestyle. It’s lots of “short terms” that equal the “long term” so be careful what you choose.
At the ripe age of 25, I’m by no means wise, but these are a few things I’ve learned a long the way. Now share your wisdom with me!
I often wonder what is going on with some of the people I see at the gym…especially ones in crazy outfits. Either too little clothing or like jeans…it’s hard not to make judgments when I really have no clue!
These are so great!! Love the advice!! Also, check out my latest post because I nominated you for The Sunshine Award! 🙂
Aw, thanks Cailee! I’ll check it out!
These are some great lessons Liz 🙂 I particularly like the third one. I’ve been struggling with my morning workouts these past couple of weeks and the few times that I’ve decided to sleep a little longer only frustrate me once I finally get out of bed. You’re right – while it’s nice to get an extra half hour or so of sleep, in the long run, I’m typically frustrated that I slept in. I’ll have to keep this third lesson in mind this week 🙂
I think the biggest lesson I learned would be #2. Until my first injury, it was those girls at the gym that would drive me crazy. I couldn’t help but roll my eyes at them (of course behind their back :() & wonder why they were even here. I know that sounds horrible, but it’s purely the truth. Once I became injured I understood. Taking it easy on the bicycle I would sometimes pull out my phone to text my mom or husband -it happened, and that’s the first time I really understood. The second time was when my mom called me with horrible news. I was in the middle of a LR on the treadmill and received the call (I used my phone for music from time to time). I literally stopped right there in my tracks & just listened to what all she said. So yes, you never know the reason.
Great post!
This is a good point. I try not to make judgement on people at the gym because you never know what someone is going through. Especially since I know lately, Im sure people wanna kill me/ are annoyed, but Im having a tough time!
I have learned how to adapt and that it’s ok to change. New challenges challenge me to constantly be better- and that’s a good thing!
Love this post 🙂 Your advice about ‘short term vs. long term’ is going to be what motivates me to make it to the gym this week – i’ll be thinking about you as i run a little harder than i did last week 🙂
Love this! Fitness has given me the gift of a fresh perspective on a lot of things outside of the gym, including all of these!
Number two is definitely true I have had people comment on the fact that I run/walked during parkruns for my first few and do you know what? It’s because it was damn hard for me, I struggled to run for a minute just under a year ago so I have come such a long way in that time. Screw you all those people who told me I was wasting my time I ran a 10k this year that I would never have managed 12 months ago I probably couldn’t even have walked it and I’m doing a 24 hour relay run next September what are you doing?!
Everyone is battling with things and everyone is also at different stages of their fitness journey – someone might have fought for years to get to the level they’re at now be kind!
Great thought provoking post.
x
Congrats on the 10K! That is such a cool accomplishment!!! And hey, everybody starts somewhere, right? Why not encourage each other through it!
I can totally relate to not giving up too soon. Usually when I get to a difficult spot in my workout, my mind starts to shut down and I really have to convince myself to push through. The same goes with friendships. I’ve learned that I find better success in those relationships if I put in the effort to get through tough times.
It’s definitely more rewarding when you work for it!