Every year I think long and hard about a new fitness goal or challenge for myself.
One year I did a Tough Mudder and trained for it with a bunch of friends.
Last year I focused on a very clean form of eating called GAPS. It really improved both my digestion and energy levels!
This year, I decided to work on some body weight exercises that I needed work on. The “Big 3,” I call them are push-ups, pull-ups, and 1 legged squats. I also wanted to add swimming to my program. To me, mastering these kinds of exercises is true strength. I don’t care how much I can bench.
My first step was to assess myself to establish a baseline. Once I knew my starting point I’d be able to develop my plan.
For accountability, I enlisted the help of my friend Gregg and brother-in-law John.
Shortly after the New Year Gregg and I tested ourselves on the pull-up bar. These were dead hang and perfect form. We didn’t want to let our ego get in the way. We’d rather face the harsh reality of where we were at. I was able to perform 7. I had a long way to go because my goal was 20 or 25 with perfect form.
After 2 weeks of training, I was at the gym where my daughter and I do BJJ. I’ve been subscribing to the mentality that if it’s important I should do it every day.
Since I hadn’t done my pull-ups that day yet I asked my 2 girls if they wanted to watch me do some before we went home.
They were excited and said they wanted me to do 20. Knowing I could only do 7, I hoped they wouldn’t be disappointed.
Chin-ups (palms facing you) are slightly easier than pull-ups so I did them that way. As I got up on the bar, the girls counted nice and loud each time my chin went over the bar.
With the motivation of the girls counting I flew past my max of 7 and went all the way up to 20. Was the form perfect? No, but 20?!?
You see, I would do almost anything for my girls. In essence, they are my WHY.
Since they were watching, counting, and expecting dad to do 20, I was able to dig deeper and do more than I even thought was possible.
We’ve all heard the stories of the woman who is able to perform some feat of superhuman strength like lift a car off of a child in danger. It’s the same type of thing.
The key is to connecting to your why even when it’s not life or death or a rare scenario like your kids counting your pull-ups.
We need to stay connected to our why on a regular basis. This is what will help us get up early to work out or get to the gym after a long day when working out is the last thing we actually want to do.
Billy Hofacker – Owner & Transformation Coach at Total Body Boot Camp – BS, CSCS