Wednesday, July 14, 2010

Lessons from Weight training

In the gym today, I found myself struggling with one of the exercises. While normally, I start flagging towards the end of a set, today, I was struggling almost from the time I started. “All your fault for being so irregular”, I chided myself and somehow finished the sets.

It was only while putting the dumb-bells back that I noticed that I had picked up the 9-kilo weights instead of the 6-kilo that I normally use. No wonder it had been so difficult!

Which set me thinking- how many of our limits are real, and how many are self imposed?


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A drabble is a story told in exactly 100 words.



The photograph was taken off the internet- I look nowhere near as good as that Goddess does.

22 comments:

Anonymous said...

Rayna - That is a very profound question! When I read your post, I thought of lines from a song by the Eagles - Already Gone: How often times it happens that we live our lives in chains, and we never even know we have the key. Thanks for reminding me that we can do things we never would have thought we could do...

RHYTHM AND RHYME said...

Loved the drabble but there's a poser of a question. I 'll have to think about that,

Yvonne.

Lydia Kang said...

That's so interesting. Perception is a very tricky thing. I think I have all sorts of self-imposed stressor I put on myself that, if picked apart, aren't really real.
Great post! And good job with your workout!

Sueann said...

Great post and so true!!!
Hugs
SueAnn

Tina said...

Really good question. I immediately thought of placebo medications, and blind tests. I remember a wine tasting where they fooled us. They changed the prices on two bottles, and everyone picked the most expensive bottle as the best. Turns out it was an easily accessible wine, for $6.99...

Tamika: said...

You've got me thinking! I think I need to push myself harder, I'm definitely not putting all my effort forward.

Thanks for the swift, needed reminder!

Julie Musil said...

Ooooo, I like this question. Especially after you just read my blog post about high bars vs. low bars!

I do think some people set limits on their goals, thinking they can't go any higher than that. Maybe a form of setting up their own glass ceiling! Great question. (and that woman IS fit!)

Talli Roland said...

Great question! You got me thinking now.

I'm guessing quite a few are self-imposed. We often doubt our own ability!

Jemi Fraser said...

Wow - that's awesome. And true. I'm bad about putting limits on myself at times - but I'm working on it! :)

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

I'm sure most of our limits are self-imposed.

VR Barkowski said...

Thought-provoking question. I think sometimes we're so afraid of failure, we sabotage ourselves without knowing it. It's easy to say we're going to test ourselves, test our limits. But if we're making assumptions about those limits, how can we be sure they're not self-imposed? How can we know when we're working at "full capacity?"

The Yard Bard said...

I think quite a few of our limitations are self-imposed. Except jogging; that's my knee's fault...

So! Is it easier to push back those limitations by conscious effort, or by accidentally picking up the heavier weights?

Theres just life said...

Most of our limitations are self imposed I'm sure. If we would stop take a deep breath and look again we would find we make it hard for ourselves.

Patricia Stoltey said...

Definiely self-imposed. We build our own walls, too. I guess this is why visualizing ourselves accomplishing great things is so effective.

Anonymous said...

Many of our limits are self-imposed, or imposed by others. Just look at what kids do and achieve and dream of before society tells them otherwise!

I'm off to visit family in the UK so won't be able to visit you for a while. Be well! (Although I will be posting now and then.)

Hart Johnson said...

Nice-Natasha! It's so true. And the self-criticism for something when in reality it was because you were trying something HARDER--typical in many areas of life.

Natasha said...

@ Margot- that is such a lovely quotation. And after that experience, I do think it is true.

@ Yvonne - if you come up with an answer, or not, do write about it.

@ Lydia- we all do it, don't we? and often subconsciously. Have been thinking about stretch a lot recently, and I do think this happened just to show me the way.

@ SueAnn- it is, isn't it?

Natasha said...

@ Tina- all about perception, isn't it? Those wine drinkers must have been quite shamefaced when they were caught out.

@ Tamika- you should not really eb pushing yourself right now, should you? Hope you are keeping well

@ Julie- I loved your post, but never thought of connecting the two. But yes, they are connected, aren't they?

@ Talli- we do, don't we? And what a pity.

Natasha said...

@ Jemi- I think all of us are bad at it, because we have too much conditioning to overcome.

@ Alex- they are, aren't they?

@ Vera- precisely. Now, yes, I did struggle with the much heavier weights, but all these years, I have not even thought of lifting those, much less actually using them.

@ The Yard Bard- oh yes, when the body sends out 'stop' signals, it is best to listen. I personally think that if we make an effort, we still do it within limits- maybe it needs an accident to get us moving. And thanks for stopping by.

Natasha said...

@ Theres just life- thanks for stopping by. And it is us doing that, isn't it?

@ Patricia- I never really thought visualizing ourselves accomplishing great things worked. But now I think there is merit in that.

@ ladyfi- absolutely. Kids know no limits, and can do virtually anything.

@ Hart- oh yes, you should have heard me yelling at myself. Called myself a lot of names I would not want to repeat. But I am sure you know how it must have been!!!

Deb and Barbara said...

This is so true!! My husband just told me that he was trying to get his heart rate down at the gym as he was biking. He maintained his speed, but closed his eyes and imagined the beach. Before he knew it, the heart monitor was reading 10 bpm slower! He said it made him realize how true it is that stress is a critical part of heart disease. Not the same thing, but kinda...
B

Natasha said...

@ Barbara - exactly the same thing. Knowing that I have lifted 9 kgs in the past, I picked up the 7 kg weight this time, and could do it quite easily. It is all about what the mind can visualise.

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