Today was the beginning of one of the hardest weeks in my fitness world:

LUNGE WEEK

It’s the week where each of the classes I teach completes 300 lunges over the course of their one hour of torture working out with me. They love and hate it all at the same time. I had the idea after my own personal trainer and friend in college made ME do them and I was sore for days upon days. After teaching for almost 5 years now, my body still hasn’t gotten used to it. It’s a challenge each and every time. By the time I get to my 4th class this week my legs will be begging for lunge week to be over.

The coolest thing about it though, is it never really seems as bad as it sounds. I mean, think about how anyone would react standing in a room with some crazy energetic short girl with a microphone at the front telling them they were going to complete 300 lunges over the course of the next hour. Skepticism is an understatement.

But I set the class up so that they tackle this monstrous goal one little piece at a time. I like to think I disguise it so they don’t even notice, but I’m not THAT good 🙂 We start with just a simple set of 25 lunges on each leg. Between each set we do some upper body work. Maybe some core. There are 6 different sets of lunges, all different types. We work all the muscle groups in between. And by the time the class is over they have accomplished something that seemed impossible just a short hour before. And most of them, despite the hate they have in their eyes for me, have a smile on their face.

I tackle a lot of my life’s problems this way. Many times I find myself standing at the foot of some God-awful (side note: where does that description come from???) mountain staring up at what seems like an impossible task. I groan, probably louder than the people in my classes do, and I scoff at the injustice of it all. How dare I be asked to do something so hard! How could I possibly do all of that? What do people think I am…some kind of Superwoman?

I’d be lying if I didn’t say at times I’d rather just not climb the mountain. In fact, there are times I’d prefer to set the mountain on fire and just walk away while the mountain and all it’s problems and obstacles burn down behind me.

Somewhere along the way I learned that major tasks in life really aren’t that major if you just put them in perspective. 300 lunges?!?!? No thank you. 25 lunges? Well…ok…I can do 25 lunges…

To-do lists can be overwhelming if you look at the whole list. But if you just look at the top two items, well that’s not so bad. Losing 100 pounds is totally and completely daunting! Losing 10 pounds? Doesn’t sound as intimidating. Running a marathon is scary as H-E-double hockey sticks. Running a couple of miles (13 times…) doesn’t seem as crazy. Granted, I still haven’t been able to work up to that one yet…maybe someday my math won’t be as good…

We’ve all heard the cliche “One Day At A Time”…and as totally cliche as it is, it really does fit. Why must we feel we have to tackle the whole world, our whole lives, every crazy little thing all at one time? Why not just tackle the small portion we are equipped to handle right now and let the rest wait until we’re ready for it (or trained up to it…if you will)?

They say most people don’t chase after large dreams and goals because the task or journey just seems too hard or long.

Well, I certainly didn’t wake up one day and do 300 lunges.

I started with 25. I celebrated the victory.

And then I found…I was hungry for more…

Filed under: Uncategorized