I started a new workout program last night. It was my wife's fault, really. Tired of my numerous back problems from the last couple of years, she "encouraged" me to do something about it. Apparently, if a doctor says that I need to strengthen my core, it's optional. When my wife says it, it's a little bit more requisite.
The workout was miserable. I hurt then. I hurt now. While I consider myself a fairly active individual, the reality of the situation is that I haven't done many activities that are out of my comfort zone in the last 10 years. A few bench presses here, some shoulder exercises there, several miles of running or biking to mix it up. No squats. No lunges. Nothing that might, well, hurt.
No longer. Last night I was stuck doing side planks and split squats and Romanian deadlifts, all under the watchful tutelage of my loving wife. It appears that my days of relaxing workouts are over.
My goal in all of this, however, is not to be great at side planks and split squats. I could care less about my ability to do "lateral cross-behind lunges," whatever those are. There will be no test. These skills will not help pay for my children's college, widen my potential job market, or fix my car when it's broke. No, these are exercises that train, that help me to get to my goal of a stronger core, which is only a goal because I want to be able to pick up pieces of paper in my classroom or swing a wiffle ball bat without injuring myself. The onerous leads to the desirable.
Murray writes this in Wordsmithy: ". . . writers should fool around in their workshop with all kinds of writing. . . They should consider their forays into alien genres the way a boxer considers his pushups."
An aspiring writer needs to exercise, going outside of the comfort of familiar genres to struggle with the uncomfortable, stumbling weakly along in a string of disjointed allusions and cheesy metaphors until one day when they emerge stronger, better, and more complete.
Whatever success you chase, do your pushups. Do your planks and rows and deadlifts. And if you're a stubborn ass, ask your wife to make you. Chances are good you're going to run into onerous tasks that are way out of your comfort zone. They will seem like they are not directly connected to your goal. They may cause you immediate pain and lasting soreness. You will curse. But those people you don't want to deal with, those tasks that are beneath you at work, the favor that you can't say no to but really want to, those might just be getting you ready.
And you'll want to be strong on the day that success calls. Weakness will not be a forgivable excuse.
***This is my fourth post from Doug Wilson's book Wordsmithy: Hot Tips for the Writing Life. The links for the previous three can be found below:
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So how much CAN she deadlift? :) Cause she's pretty ripped...
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