Balanceophile

Disclaimer: The blog starts with a few lines of self-appreciation.

During my childhood, I was incredibly active and had high-level stamina. I was an all-rounder in school and college taking part in literally any activity and used to win in most competitions at school. However, there was one area where I was so terrible that I didn’t even attempt in college and it was sports.

In school, I used to take part in sports and one thing I dreaded was running. I was terrible at running and my parents used to (they still) make fun of me saying “we were searching you in the front and when we could not find you, we saw you being the last, jogging”. It used to hurt me but well, I ignored it every time it came up as a means of a laughter in my family. I tried throw ball, relay, shot put, long jump, etc., and succeeded in none of it. I felt disheartened but then realised that one cannot be good at everything.

Cut to my current self, who has realized that fitness should be one of the top priorities in our lives and that we need to have both aerobic and anaerobic activities in life to stay healthy. Hence. I progressively built a fitness strategy that works for me. Like a good lady, I wanted to share my observations and factors that assisted me in building this fitness strategy.

As usual, this is going to be a lengthy blog! Let’s get started.

1.      Compare myself to myself: I used to see people who are new to fitness (as compared to me) and crack the 5KM run so easily. I used to wonder how they got to do it at the first attempt while it took me months and several attempts to reach there. And then the realisation happened to me – stop comparing yourself to others. Everyone has a different body composition, lifestyle, upbringing, etc. This is exactly like comparing a fish and a monkey using their swimming skills. And then I saw one observation: I stay and slay strengthening exercises. Weight lifting is something that I enjoy, and excel specifically in lower body exercises. And bonus, gradually I am getting better at those runs with reduced time consumption.

2.     True intention + Honest effort = Surprising results: Here is a tale: One day, I was watching a show where the female lead lifted a 20 litres water can and fixed it on the water dispenser and exclaimed in happiness. That got me into thinking, and I wanted to be that female. That was the stage where my upper body was not that strong and this gave me the motivation. However, I didn’t go straight up lifting weights. I had to step up the fitness ladder gradually.

With a constant focus, I worked towards this goal slowly, starting with walking to exercises without weights to going to the gym and after 6 months, I DID IT! I could lift the can, walk about 8-10 steps, and then fit on the water dispenser. I tried again, and again, and I did it both the times. A note here is that I was someone who suffered from lower back pain. It took a whole lot of upper strength training to achieve this goal. While lifting the water can was my one true intention, working towards it was honest efforts, the results, well, I exclaimed like that actor did in the show.

Here is my next goal – Calf raises. I saw an Instagram post of the actor Samantha doing 100 calf raises. I am currently at 50 and aiming at 100. My true intentions change, but my honest effort remains constant.

3.      One day at a time: If there’s one thought I would stick by constantly regarding fitness is that it’s a journey, not a destination. Let’s go back to our childhood. Remember those days when we ate mud (well, now we eat mud pie), ran like there’s no tomorrow, fought as if we are amidst a war, and by the end of the day, didn’t feel a thing, even when we saw our knee bleeding, we cared less (some of us). We could do that because our body was used to those extremities and recovery was a damn simple thing.

Coming back to the present, can you imagine being the same? Mostly not due to lifestyle changes, food habits, work, etc. Hence, if you wish to be fit, you should start from the basics instead of paying a gym for a year upfront. Take it one step at a time. Walk, run, cycle, repeat. Allow your body to go through this process gracefully and let it get used to this routine. Then you gradually take another step.  

4.      Consistency > Effort:

You have heard this so many times, right? Some of you might even understand this, but finding it difficult to follow it. I hear you, let me share my experience. There are days I go on an intense HIIT with a combination of cardio and strength training. I will be full of energy and high-spirited with 30 jumping jacks and 10 burpees (really). And there are days when getting 20 minutes of cardio seems like I am pulling my body with all my strength to finish it. It’s not that I am facing fatigue or going through my menstrual cycle. It’s just one of those days and working out takes a lot of mental push.

This is totally fine, according to me. I tried, did my best, and more than everything, I was consistent. Being religiously consistent about moving your body when you think you can shall reward you in ways you wouldn’t even comprehend. Don’t consider fitness as a chore, rather, consider it as a mandatory entity for your body. Over time, it gets easy as the consistency factor subconsciously becomes a part of you. Here are some ways to help you start on the process of Consistency.

5.      Convert weakness to strength:

 This is a tricky one, a lot tricky to be frank. Now to the tale: As I mentioned, I was the last person you’d find in a running race. While I was laughing it out and defend myself in front of my parents by saying participation is half winning, I used to feel bad. I had to do something for this one. I tried to improve my running but little did I realise that I did nothing to actually improve it.

Cut to 2022, TCS 10K. The Whole Truth Foods was the official snacking partner, and I had enrolled in the run. The embarrassed little Aishwarya was worried sick, and fearful. I had to prove to her that I can run. To be honest, I didn’t expect to finish the 10K run. During the training phase, my aim was just to finish as much I can, push to the maximum limit that my body allowed.

The run day began, and I started my run. Here is my journey of how my run went. In a nutshell, I actually finished the whole 10KMs run.  After I touched the finish line, the little Aishwarya in me just shouted in happiness and I almost wanted to cry. That’s when I realized that hope is a strong word and it can get you through any turbulence in life.

After this, I did two more 10K runs. The third time, I had a goal to complete the run at least 5 mins early. Guess what? I finished the run 15 mins early. This incident made me realize that if every ounce in my body works towards making my weakness a strength, I am unstoppable. Right now, every month, I go on a community run for 5KMs because I need that affirmation in life. I want to get better at running.

While I had true intentions, honest efforts, consistency, etc., there was one thing that may have gone unnoticed — the power of my subconscious. This mind gave me the confidence to lift the water can, run 10K not once but thrice, and to lead a fit life with no heed to people’s judgemental talks. All the above factors indirectly fed my subconscious to push me in being active and lead a fit and healthy lifestyle.