Predicting The Future

I was teaching a TRX class of "transient" clients today, people I only get to teach a single class to while they are on vacation. I asked a woman to squat a little deeper, challenge herself a little more. By looking at her, she was average height, weight, cute little $$ workout outfit, matching shoes, coiffed hair. But as soon as I asked her to get out of her box and challenge the depth of her squat, before I could get the words out of my mouth, she said that "fingernails on the chalkboard", debilitating four letter word, "I can't". And she then followed it with, "I will never get back up."

Can't. Never.
Ouch.

I knew I would probably not see this lady again - or at least in the next six months. But there was so much I wanted to tell her that she said that was setting the stage for the second half of her life in two very short statements. 

"I can't."
Well, yes, actually, you can. Your arms are connected to two straps with handles. Use them. Use your legs. Use them both. Use your body. Use all of your might. Use it like your life depends on it. Because you know what, it actually does. And if you don't, you may...

"...never get back up."
And I mean that honestly. As we age and as we limit ourselves, what once was "I will never get back up" becomes absolutely just that: an individual who is not able to rise from the floor unassisted. There goes independence, functionality, and quality of life. And in addition to that, there is also research from a 2012 Brazilian musculo-skeletal test on 2002 men and women which correlates directly to mortality: the less assistance one needs to get off the ground correlates to a longer life expectancy.

Now I don't know about you, but there are so many things "out of my control" when it comes to life expectancy, that I definitely want to control those that I can control. 

If I tell myself I can't, guess what? I'm predicting my future. If I tell myself I "never will", then your second guess is also correct, it's not going to happen. And if I allow my mind to tell my body that something is not going to happen, then your third prediction is also coming true: my body is not going to respond or perform.

So there you sit. Stuck on the floor. You are now in your 70's or 80's, your kids live across the country, your neighbor is at work, and where are you: stuck on the floor - or in the chair, or worse yet, on the toilet. Remember back when you were working out in your 30's, 40's or 50's and you predicted this would happen when you insisted that "you can't"? Or in some cases, I hear 8, 10, 12 year olds predict it, too: "I can't do that."

My mom took a spill in her back yard a couple months ago. She was fine, just landed on her bum. But the worst, most humiliating, most painful part for her (and me watching all of this take place) was she had to sit there for almost an hour until someone heard her calling for help. Not medical help. Just "help" to get off the ground. It took three of us to slide a blanket under her bum, hoist her into a lawn chair, then get her to her feet. Never going to be you? Well, it may if you choose to not consider how the consequences of what you say and do today effects what happens in the next decade or two or three.

What are we working out for? Most of us are not cashing in a performance or professional athlete paycheck to get out there and workout (now that's an entirely different blog ;-). When it all comes down to it, as adults, we are really working out for longevity: to stay healthy, to stay mobile, to live long and able. 

So enable yourself now. You Can. Frankly, you Need To. Change your Mindset, Change your Attitude. Get Out of your disabling mental box. Get Up. Get Down. And Repeat. Again and Again.

Because You Can.