Elizabeth Herlan, a certified instructor, emphasizes the importance of
finding the right balance between working out for sheer enjoyment and,
“being a slave to the gym.”
Article updated: 3/30/2010 8:39:25 AM
Jennie Meharg, a certified personal trainer, considers motivation to be, “the most difficult aspect of personal training.” “The rest,” she says, “is science.”
In order to track progress and remain mentally engaged in workouts, Meharg instructs her clients to record their sessions in journals for comparison with other sessions in order to identify small improvements that may otherwise go unnoticed. Like Robinson, Meharg practices muscle confusion to move beyond the plateaus that everyone experiences.
But for sustained fitness, Meharg also counsels self-forgiveness when it comes to natural fluctuations in weight and levels of activity.
“Sometimes you have to step back in order to step forward again,” she says.
Elizabeth Herlan, a certified instructor, emphasizes the importance of finding the right balance between working out for sheer enjoyment and, “being a slave to the gym.”
Herlan recommends not overdoing any one activity. She offers an example from her own experience after years of running, saying that she reached a point where she became too concerned with covering a certain distance each day. “It became a chore and I just didn’t enjoy it anymore,” she says.
After taking a break from running, she remarks, “Now I’m ready to run again because I want to, not because I feel like I have to.”
Taking a break when necessary is not only okay, according to Herlan, but also helps prevent muscle injury from overuse. On days when going to the gym seems utterly unappealing, she advises, “Just give your body the break it probably needs and then get back on track as soon as possible.”
Article first appeared in SBQ Issue #12, January/February | 2010
