Pushing Yourself

I have a pretty good routine of getting up in the morning and going to the gym 4-5 times per week. It is a great time for me to get the blood pumping. I try to do 30 minutes of cardio and 30 minutes of weight training. I am not saying that I am in great shape but I feel like I am doing pretty well...at least until last weekend.

I went on an "intermission" to a mountain cabin. The only catch with visiting this cabin is that in the winter you have to walk about 200 yards off the main road, uphill, through the snow to reach the cabin. This also includes carrying any clothes, food and other essentials that you are going to use during your stay. We arrived at the parking lot late (just as it was getting dark) and started up hill with a cooler full of food plus a bag of clothes and essentials. We soon found the snow to be quite deep and because of a recent warming trend, very soft. This meant that with almost every step you would sink "thigh high" in snow. This is too long of a story to get the point across, but suffice it to say, by the time we reached the cabin, I thought I was going to die! My heart was pounding, I was soaked with sweat and 24 hours later it was impossible to move because my muscles were so sore.

What had happened to all of my exercise and weight training? Wasn't I in "good" shape? I reflected on my strolls on the elliptical machine and the rides on the stationary bike. It seems that they didn't prepare me for the exertion of climbing up the mountain. I realized that my routine at the gym was not pushing and strengthening me anymore and that I had reached a plateau.

What about your self, work and your relationship rings? Are you just maintaining and doing the minimal in your relationships to just get by? Maybe you are not even maintaining (being a couch potato). What happens when difficult times come along at work and you are expected to dig in and exert yourself? Will you be prepared? You need to stretch and push and improve your skills, muscles and mind. Life in not about maintenance-it is about improvement. How will you improve? No pain, no gain!