I was meeting a friend for coffee at Cranes in the City downtown yesterday and, upon leaving, asked for a refill to-go. After letting me know it would cost $0.50, the kind staff got it ready for me and as I packed up my belongings, I grabbed the to-go cup and took off. It wasn’t until I was almost back to the gym that I realized I didn’t pay for it!
While it was tempting to continue on (“it was *just* 50 cents”), I turned my car around, wove through the downtown construction, pushed against the wind and rain and walked back into the restaurant with my two quarters because:
1. Well, stealing.
-and-
2. How you do anything is how you do everything.
How can I be trusted and honest with large finances if I can’t be trusted and honest with the small ones?
How you do anything is how you do everything has so many implications, even for health and fitness.
Quite literally, our muscles get trained to follow a pattern…“muscle memory” is an ingrained brain-to-muscle response, for better or worse. How you set down that “light” 12kg kettlebell at the end of your swing or deadlift is how you’ll set the 48kg kettlebell down. How you do that squat with just bodyweight is how you will do it loaded. Are you paying attention to form even with what you might consider easy-peasy weight? Or are you writing a recipe for disaster by loading a dysfunctional pattern? It’s so important to train mindfully and groove the correct connection of brain-to-muscle so that you’re doing it right, even when light.
Do’s and Don’ts
-of setting down and picking up weight-
Could I pick up or set the light kettlebell down by curving my spine and flopping down nonchalantly – without risk of injury? Maybe. But if I groove that pattern with this light weight, it will carry over to my heavier lifts and undoubtedly cause injury.
Do it right, even when light.
Shoulders packed (down and back), chest tall, hips back, back flat,
bodyweight on heels.
Every.Time.
Our nutritional habits get ‘grooved’ the same way since our brains learn from what we do repeatedly. Every small decision makes your “nutritional habit muscle” shrink or grow. Every time you say ‘yes’ to chips on the couch, you’re embedding that pattern. Every time you say ‘no’ to the chips on the couch, you’re embedding that pattern. Don’t dismiss the power of those little moments and be encouraged that each time you choose to flex the muscle of #bebetter, you’re helping bad habits atrophy and good habits get swole. Or something like that. 🙂
How you do anything is how you do everything.
How will you show up in the small stuff today to ensure the big stuff reflects the *you* you want to be?
Cheering you on,
Jess + Team Valeo