Let's Put Exercise In the Proper
Perspective
By Donovan Baldwin
Many people will look at a professional athlete, an amateur
bodybuilder, a fitness trainer, or perhaps just a friend who is in
great shape and whisper to themselves, "I would love to be as fit as
that person."
They will stand in front of a mirroe and imagine what it would be like
to be that person, or at least that fit. They might even
become motivated enough to begin a fitness program.
But then, as with so many other things in life, the doubts begin to
creep in.
- I could never get that fit
- I couldn't look like that
- I'm too old
- They must workout for hours
- I just couldn't find the time
- People would laugh at me for trying
- It's just too hard!
- I can't do it!
While it is certain that anyone can and will benefit internally and
externally, physically, mentally, and emotionally from a regular
exercise program, most of the doubts that will stop the person from
succeeding are going to center about their firm belief that they will
never be able to achieve the ability to do the pure physical work
involved. Most people are going to feel that they will never
be physically able to do the number of pushups, lift the amount of
weight, run or walk the distance, or meet any of what they see as the
requirements to "look like them".
The job just looks
impossible for them to do.
This is where I would like to tell you about Gina.
I used to teach people to drive trucks. You know, the big
18-wheelers. Stick a 53 foot trailer behind a Peterbilt,
Kenworth, or Freightliner, and you have a vehicle which is nearly 70
feet long, 8 1/2 feet wide, 13' 6" high, and which weighs anywhere from
about 34,000 lbs to 84,000 lbs...or more if you're pulling certain
oversize loads.
Now, when you first take someone off the street, someone who has
possibly never even touched
a big truck before, and sit them behind the wheel for the first few
times, THEY ARE SCARED!
I have seen ex-cops and soldiers who have been in gunfights and battles
quit truck driver training because they were in fear of the pure mass
and size of the truck.
I knew an
ex-bounty hunter, who was used to kicking down doors, who came through
our school who was terrified of the truck!
Getting past that fear is often just a matter of putting things in
perspective.
When Gina first got in the truck, for example, she was one of those
with no previous experience, and she was scared. Her
background was that of wife, mother, and occasional Wal-Mart clerk.
On the first day with a student, I showed them around the truck without
a trailer (bobtail) and gave them a little driving and shifting
practice (how's YOUR double clutching?) in a secluded training
area. In fact, we had what we called the "shift track" where
we could actually teach students to go through some of the 10 gears and
how to turn corners.
The shift track was a little bit smaller than a football field, with
stop signs at two opposing corners so that students could learn to
start from a stop and take the truck around the corner. At
the other two corners they could practice downshifting and making the
turn on the move. Once they seemed to be in control on the
truck on the shift track, I took them to a nearby industrial park which
had mostly very wide corners and very little traffic and let them
practice their skills.
On the second day with a student, I took them back to the shift track,
only this time we got there AFTER I showed them how to safely couple to
a trailer and did a demonstration drive around a few streets
in the area towing the trailer. Then I put them in the
driver's seat, with that big ol' trailer hanging behind them, and
talked them around the track a few times.
Gina was up first.
As she pulled up to the first stop, I told her that I was going to talk
her through a left turn (which is actually usually a
bit easier than a right turn). As she sat there
behind the wheel, she looked at the turning area, shook her head
emphatically, and said...
"There is
NO WAY this truck will fit into that space!"
I had her pull forward slowly. She was obviously distressed
because she was SO CERTAIN that it was impossible to make that 70 foot
vehicle negotiate that turn. However, as she followed my
instructions while the truck moved forward at idle speed, we went thru
the process of the turn from picking the starting point, bringing the
trailer around, and, finally, closing out the turn.
Now, I won't take you step by step through the rest of her training or
even the rest of the day, but for a while, she continued to shake her
head at every turn, still finding it hard to believe that it was
possible to put that big truck into such a small space.
That was the perspective she had based on the lack of experience she
had with the process.
It simply seemed impossible to her, and, if it was possible, she just
couldn't do it.
A little over a week later, Gina had been driving a big truck all over
the Dallas area with me riding shotgun. She even took it
downtown, and she got to drive by the spot where President Kennedy had
been shot. She had cruised the Interstate and several tricky
little courses I liked to use.
It was now graduation day, and Gina and I had just returned from her
last ride around the area.
As we pulled through the gate, she asked...
"Can we go
over to the shift track for a second?"
I agreed, not knowing what was up.
Gina pulled the truck up to that first stop sign where I had showed her
how to make a turn a week earlier. She sat there for a
moment, staring at the turn, and then she began to shake her head
slowly, almost the same way she had that first day when she was SO sure
that it just wasn't possible.
For a moment, I was afraid that Gina, who had definitely had a hard
time during the training, had gone back to day one and was thinking
that this was all just too much.
After a moment, however, she turned to me, and then, in almost exactly
the same tones she had used previously when she was convinced the turn
was impossible, she said,
"There is
SO MUCH SPACE out there! That area is HUGE! I
cannot believe it ever seemed so small!"
Gina was not the first to have those same reactions. I saw
that many times with several students. It wasn't just as a
truck driving instructor, either. As a noncommissioned
officer in the U. S. Army, I often had to show younger, less
experienced soldiers things that they did not think would work, or that
they would not be able to do. A few weeks later, they were
usually showing other, newer soldiers the same things as if they had
been doing them all their lives.
NOW BACK TO
THE SUBJECT OF EXERCISE AND FITNESS
Exercise is really just a set of skills used to achieve
fitness. And, like any skill, at first it seems difficult,
perhaps even impossible to those who have not been doing it.
Also, like any skill, the person learning has to start small and
perhaps take baby steps...steps that might not look anything like what
the pros are doing, and steps that will not immediately produce the
results that we see in accomplished and experienced bodybuilders or
other fitness professionals who have been at this exercise stuff for a
while.
Like any other skill, progress will usually be the result of many
factors such as the opportunity to practice, the willingness to commit
to the program, and, particualarly in the case of exercise and fitness,
the genetic makeup of the individual. Just like there are
okay musicians, good musicians, and great musicians; or good truck
drivers and great truck drivers, it will be a combination of these and
other factors which will determine the ultimate outcome.
Not every exerciser, no matter how dedicated, will become an Arnold Schwarzenegger
or Cory Everson, but every dedicated exerciser WILL experience the
benefits of better health, reduced risk of many major and minor health
conditions, and increased ability to enjoy life to the fullest if they
DO commit themselves to a lifestyle of regular moderate exercise and
healthy eating habits.
Exercise has many far reaching effects, including improved
sleep, greater self confidence, higher self esteem, better health, and
weight loss, just to name a few. The effort to learn the
exercise skill, if you will, is well worth the effort expended.
Nobody feels surprised, you know, when they start a new job and feel
like a "newbie". However, we all have learned that after a
period of training, experience, and mistakes we will eventually reach a
point where we look and feel like an old pro. Fitness is no
exception.
Put exercise in perspective and begin the path to fitness and health
today.
About the
Author:
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Donovan Baldwin is a freelance
writer residing in Copperas Cove, Texas, and a University of West
Florida alumnus. He is a member of Mensa and is retired from
the U. S. Army after 21 years of service. In his career, he
has held many managerial and supervisory positions. However,
his main pleasures have long been writing, nature, health, and
fitness. In the last few years, he has been able to combine
these pleasures by writing poetry and articles on subjects such as
health, fitness, weight lifting, yoga, weight loss, the environment,
global warming, happiness, self improvement, and life. His blog
on health and fitness can be found at NoDiet4Me.blogspot.com.
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