It’s time to get out of your own way!
“I’m not fit enough for your class” or something along those lines of
“once I get fit, I’ll join your class and/or come to your gym”
Sound familiar? I can’t tell you how often people tell me that they need to get fit, before they can come get fit.
I think this response is couched in fear. There is fear of looking like an amateur. There is fear of not being an expert after your first couple of attempts. But let’s get one thing abundantly clear, we all have to start somewhere. Oftentimes most of us suck when we endeavor to try something new. Those folks that appear to have it all together or those fitness monsters that beast through a workout...all of these individuals started right where you are. They were consistent and they worked diligently to become what you see in the gym today.
Now that Ownit Rx has opened in West Oakland, part of my responsibilities are to recruit new members and I have been confronted with some version of the statements above. I am concerned that people believe you come to a gym once you’re perfect. How do you learn proper form on your own? How do you workout and really see gains when you are so concerned with how you look or being out of breath? Growth comes from being challenged.
You’re not always going to look good. There will be times you are out of breath and your finish not so pretty, but consistency will make the difference. Workouts that you once struggled with will ease over time, and it’s my job to keep building on those gains with each class.
The whole point of joining a gym or starting a fitness program is to become healthy regardless of your current level of fitness. You don’t need to “fit,” you need to be CONSISTENT. That’s the secret!
You want to be fit = be consistent in your fitness, diet, and lifestyle choices.
You want to be rich = be consistent in saving and spending choices.
You want to be an expert in a field = be consistent in your craft.
I, and everyone at Ownit Rx, clearly understand that everyone has limitations. This is where scalability comes into play. Any good general fitness program, be it Yoga, Crossfit, Zumba or what we do in our gym space in Oakland, has scalability built into the very DNA of the organization.
What is scalability?
Can’t do a back squat, then how about a goblet squat.
Can’t do a goblet squat, how about an unweighted squat to a box.
Can’t do a box jump, how about a step-up.
You see where I'm going? There is a scale for almost anything. We will meet where you are to help you get where we would like you to be.
Anecdotally, I would love to share a story:
Many years ago, when I was with another fitness organization just getting started. Michael came to one of my classes and admitted himself that he was a mess. He worked in tech, drank, smoked and had very little movement outside of daily steps.
Our first session, I was super excited to get him back into fighting shape and boy was I in for a surprise. We started the warm-up which I believe consisted of the following:
Row 500 meters or Run to the end of the block
10 lunges
10 squats
10 pass- throughs
10 samson stretches
Well, it didn't go so well for both of us. Michael was a blubbering mess in the corner, light-headed and vomiting. I was scared because I really thought I hurt him and bad. This moment made me understand scalability and it took a day or two for me to figure out how to meet him where he is at, not where I wanted him to be. So we came up with a plan.
For the next month, he was only held to answer for the warm-ups and the warm-ups only. If he wanted to do more he could, but my focus was the warm-up. After each warm-up , he would pack up his things and head home. He and I had to be comfortable about that, but something remarkable happened. He became fitter and eventually was able to finish a class.
Fast forward to several months of Michael’s training, an opportunity to enter a Spartan race came up for the gym. Michael was excited to tackle this arduous event which at the time was over 9 miles long and filled with approximately 20 -30 different obstacles. (Remember this is the guy who couldn’t finish the warm-up!)
Not only did Michael complete the race with minimal penalties,(there are burpees penalties associated with the race), but he enjoyed the race and had what most would call a good time.
The moral of the story is you don’t start off as a super athlete. You just HAVE to be consistent. Come get this medicine! We’ll make sure your prescription is scaled to meet you where you are and we’ll work together to get you to where you want to be.