The other night I was talking to my friend's teenage son about working out. This was spurred by my 6 year old daughter demonstrating "standing" ab-crunches that I had taught her. My friend's son had been working out for the past few months, primarily to build muscle. He knew that I worked out regularly and asked whether I did an exercise that worked your core using a single dumbbell. As he demonstrated this exercise, I admitted that I didn't, but that I would do dead lifts using dumbbells (the exercise he was describing looked somewhat similar). His response was, "Wow, that's hard." My initial reaction was one of surprise. While challenging, I did not consider doing dead lifts as "hard." It then dawned on me that perhaps, the fact that this 40-something-year-old woman was doing dead lifts, was rather inspiring to this teenager. For me, this realization was validating. I work out at home, early in the morning, many times before my family wakes up. So my workouts are done "without anyone noticing."
As much as my friend's son may find inspiration from what I do, his reaction has inspired me to keep on working out, to stretch myself, and see what I'm capable of doing physically. So for that, I'm thankful to this teenager.
As you strive to improve your health, get through another strenuous workout, and make healthy dietary changes, think about who you may be inspiring. That may be the motivation you need to keep on going to reach your goals.
Image courtesy of FreeDigitalPhotos.net.
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