Are You A Pusher?

Watching the Olympics this week -- and seeing all these athletes push themselves to the absolute limit -- has got me thinking about the quality of my own workouts. My goal for August was to up the intensity on all my routines, including lifting heavier weights, adding reps or sets, adding running intervals to my walks and generally pushing myself to go a bit beyond.

But here's my dirty little secret: I don't like to push myself. I very much enjoy my comfort zone.

So here's what I'm wondering...when is it worth it to push yourself? And when is it OK to say, "I'm just fine where I am?"

I've been really pondering this a lot because my son has just started playing on a new sports team that's quite challenging for him. Being on this team will definitely bring his game up to another level, but it'll require a push and a stretch from his comfort zone. And as I gave him the "you can do it" pep talk and encouraged him to keep striving and pushing himself to get better, even though it's scary and hard and exhausting, one thought popped into my head.

You hypocrite.

General laziness aside, part of what's so comfortable about the comfort zone is that it allows us to avoid risking failure. We don't have to face the possibility that we might do our absolute best and still not reach the goals we set for ourselves. But is that really the end of the world? One look at this face tells me it isn't. The headline may read 'settles,' but the facial expression is all victory...and the maturity of knowing that sometimes, our best effort still might not get us to our goal. The victory is in the striving itself.

So this week, whenever I feel the urge to resist the push, I'll think of her and of my son, and feel inspired.

Comments

[MizFit]

Im not a pusher at all.
and not the laziness or the fear of failure but, and Ive been mulling this, the fear of fatiguing.

I workout in the morning and SO DO NOT PUSH because I dont wanna commence my lifeday already tired...so I do what will serve to energize me and not deplete.

lets hope this is just a phase...

M.

[Strong One]

A ship is safe in the harbor, but that's not what ships were meant for.

[Crabby McSlacker]

I have mixed feelings about "pushing."

I think it's an awesome thing to do periodically, but if it's constant it can make exercise a chore and something to dread.

I'm in it for the long haul, so I may pick individual workouts to go for it, but I also have plenty of "comfort zone" workouts.

But every now and then, it's fun to pump it up!

[Dara Chadwick]

MizFit and Crabby, I'm in touch with the conserve energy idea. Pushing it all the time leaves me exhausted, emotionally drained and generally unhappy. There has to be moderation, for sure. It's a tough balance sometimes.

Strong One, I've always loved that quote.