Modify, Modify, Modify
I hope everyone had an amazing weekend this weekend. I spent nearly the entire weekend at home. Sometimes it just feels good to just stay home and not leave, besides to go to Target, where are my Target peeps at?! Holler!
It is Monday! Glorious Monday, said no one ever. Monday’s are hard, whether it be on an actual Monday or whatever other day your “Monday” might be on. Everything is a little more difficult on a Monday, getting up, working out, getting dressed… the list goes on and on. We can’t let that hold us back from our potential though. We have to keep on keepin’ on. We can do this! We have a great week ahead of us, I mean, it’s CHRISTMAS TIME! What is better than Christmas time?!
Today I want to talk about modifications. The word modification has a bunch of synonyms that help to define it; alteration, adjustment, change, adaptation, refinement, and revision are some of them. In Crossfit and I’m sure in other sports/exercise regimens as well, when you are not able to do a movement the way it is prescribed you have to modify it. One example for me is, I can’t do a regular push up. I can, however, put my hands up on a box and do a push up against the box. It helps to shift my weight so that I can get down and hit my chest, and lift myself back up. I adjust, I adapt, so that I can put forth my best effort and build my strength. Little by little, the box will get lower to the ground until I am strong enough to do a push up the way it is prescribed. Until then, I work where I am.
I think a lot of times we believe that because we can’t do something, we can’t do anything. “I can’t run because I have shin splints, so I don’t exercise at all because it will just make it worse.” Or something similar to that. Think of something you say you can’t do because of a limitation you have. Could you modify that movement to build your strength? Could you change the way you go about it so that it works for you?
The point of modifying isn’t to make something easy. You shouldn’t modify something to the point where you don’t feel the push. The point of modifying is to build your strength, get yourself enough outside of your comfort zone that you can improve, then when that becomes easy- revise and refine the movement to be just a little bit more challenging.
The great thing about modifying is that it can be applied on all levels of life. We can modify our work load so that it is easier for us to handle, but still challenges us to work hard. We can change the way we think about sympathy and empathy and be more empathetic when others need it most. It just applies to so many different situations!
All of this makes it sound relatively easy to modify right? Well, for me it isn’t that easy. The truth is, no matter how much I think about how one day I will be able to do things prescribed, I’m not always so hopeful. Some days, you get in to a work out, or into a groove at work and you just want to bust it out. You want to do it and do it full force! But it’s hard, and you have to learn to adapt. Basically, it sucks. I go home thinking, WHY THE HECK AM I DOING THIS? I suck. I am too noodle-y and weak, I’ve got no real reason to be doing any of this… then, I get up the next morning and do it again. Why? Some days, I don’t know. Some days, I really don’t know why I even try. Other days though, I get a glimpse of what modification is really doing for me. I see the centimeters of progress and I think, I AM TOTALLY BADASS. Which is true, I am. And so are you! So get out there and do work, make small changes, adapt, revise, adjust and get outside of your comfort zone. You might be sore, or tired at the end of the day but it will be worth it, I promise.
P.S. While you’re out there kickin’ butt and taking names, check out this song I found this morning that totally got me pumped for the day.
What do you modify in your life?
What do you do that makes you feel like a total badass?
I spent a little time thinking about your post and trying to figure out what things in my life I can apply this to. I definitely get overwhelmed with my cant's. My nights always feel too packed after work and so I tend to shut down on doing things that are good for me over the stress of doing them "well" enough. I want to go to the gym, but for some reason I feel like if Ican't do a full hour, it's worthless--I'm already trying to modify and accept that half an hour is still better than nothing. I would also like to modify the ways I interact with certain friends to better suit our current life situations so that we are still keeping up even if it can't be in the ways we used to. I'm glad you go me thinking about this.
ReplyDeleteIt can be really difficult to do things when you don't feel like you're doing your best. I get frozen when that happens to me, and I think that's where I get a lot of my anxiety. The fact that you're able to think about what you want to do and process it is a great start. Take the dog for a walk, use it as time to meditate and exercise. It will give you more time to think. You're awesome! Thanks for reading!
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