My Journey With Health And Fitness – Finding Confidence

I am very excited. For 2 days in a row I have been able to do my beloved beach walk. Better yet it looks like I’ll get to do that walk for several more days. It just makes me feel good to be walking down by the water. Except the Canada Geese which are back and soon it will be gosling season. Fortunately by time that happens I will be back in Mexico and won’t have to deal with it.

I came to realize today that I need to find my confidence. I have been going to my fitness centre for nearly 2 years now and despite slacking off a bit during my last trip to Mexico (and having to take some time off because of that cold I had in December that clung on forever) I’ve still worked pretty hard. Yet I still doubt myself when it comes to using weights and the barbells. I know I am pretty strong but for some reason those weights really intimidate me.

Today we had to do squat lifts. This is where you place the barbell at the meaty part of your back between you shoulders, you push your butt out and sit on a bench and then you stand straight up (no leaning forward) using the strength of you legs. Trust me these squats are hard. We had to do 5 rounds of these and I as always was just using the barbell without weights which is about 35 lbs. On the 3rd round the only station available had 2 15 lb weights meaning the total weight would be 65 lbs. The trainer said to me, I think you can do this and I replied, you know what, I think I can as well. And so the last 3 rounds I was squat lifting 65 lbs and it didn’t kill me nor did I fail.

I’m not sure why I find it so easy to convince myself that I can’t lift those heavier weights. Every time I have tried it I have been able to do it. I just don’t understand why I don’t have the confidence to just load up the barbell with some reasonable weights and get it done.

And so my new commitment to my self is that from now on I will not lift a barbell without weights on it. I’m not even going to think about it, I am just going to do it. I’m am going to strive to prove to myself that I can get out of my comfort zone and still be successful.