The fitness industry is wrought with lies.

Are these lies intentional? Generally not. Exercise science is still a fairly new field with very few proven facts, and the fitness industry attracts the more “extreme” minds among us; therefore, it’s quite easy to reinforce our beliefs without critically evaluating them. In my years of coaching, gym ownership, and massage therapy, there have been hundreds of lies from which I have had to protect my clients, but there is one overarching piece of misinformation that spawns many of these untruths.

The biggest lie you’ve been told about fitness is that you don’t matter.

Consider these three statements (all statements I have heard from clients, in some capacity, multiple times):

• “I really want to start working out, but I need to get in shape first so that I don’t embarrass myself.”
• “I hurt my hip every time I squat, but I can’t stop squatting because my trainer or training partners will judge me.”
• “I don’t want to start on a meal plan because I am afraid that I will fail.”

While all of these statements appear different in surface content, they all have one common theme: there is a box, and if I don’t fit into that box, then I am not worthy enough to make my own decisions.

What’s Your Fear?

Do you fear to start a workout regimen because you haven’t been active in over a decade? You are falling victim to a false narrative that only already-fit people deserve to prioritize their health and fitness.

Do you continue to injure yourself in the gym or make poor decisions because your surroundings or your ego tell you that you can’t change or modify your workouts? You are neglecting your right to a healthy, injury-free life. No matter what your ego, your trainers, or your friends say.

Do you refuse to start on a meal plan because you fear that you will fail? You are buying into the belief that every diet has to be extreme and that any personalization is “cheating.”

There is no reason that you can’t personalize your health and fitness regimen to prioritize your well-being.

Do you want to exercise or join a gym? Do it. Right now. Start as slow as you need to, and find people that support and understand your journey (anyone that doesn’t is probably a jerk).

Do you want to stay injury-free? Embrace the fact that modifying and scaling your workouts is an act of good judgment. Don’t let your ego, your friends, or your trainer (by the way, if you have a trainer that encourages you to do things that hurt you, find a new one) shame you out of keeping your body healthy.

Do you want to adopt a healthier diet? Use trial and error and find something that works for you. Remember that 100% adherence to a crash diet isn’t necessary or even helpful in improving your health. Take control and customize your nutrition around what makes you look, feel, and perform better.

You matter. No matter where you are in your fitness journey, start taking care of yourself. You’ll thank yourself for it later.

The post The Pain Free Truth appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

In treating anxiety, we have a motto: “If it feels bad, do it.” People with anxiety tend to avoid situations that lead to more anxiety. Avoidance reinforces the idea that you are fragile and cannot handle difficulty. In this article, I will cover some ideas that can help you push through plateaus in your career, relationships, and training.

Stand Up to Your Fears

My goal in writing this article is to show how experiencing difficulty can make you stronger and less fragile. This article is not about causing pain that does not lead to gain. Just as bad form does not help us achieve our training goals, we do not do things just for the sake of pain. This article is intended to help push you to do things you have been reluctant to try because of fear.

Let me start with a quick analogy of what happens when we avoid the things we fear. I was treating an eight-year-old girl who was scared of elevators. She would go to the doctor’s office on the ninth floor and take the stairs. Each time she approached the elevator and then diverted to the stairs, she reinforced the fear. Her avoidance told her body, “Phew, it was a good thing you avoided that dangerous elevator.”

“If it feels bad, do it. Push through those plateaus.”

The key to getting past these feelings is to face the fear. With the eight-year-old, I had her stand next to the elevator for ten minutes until the fear went away. Then she had one foot inside of the elevator. After about an hour, she was laying on the floor of the elevator, telling me how bored she was. We stood up to the fear until it had disappeared.

You may have experienced this the first time you jumped on a box or climbed a rope. The fear goes away after we expose ourselves to it.

Face Your Fears in Social Situations

Many people suffer from some type of performance anxiety. No matter where you are on the spectrum, facing your fear will work. Design the same strategy as we did with the girl who was afraid of the elevator. Instead of standing near the elevator, go to the gym and talk to people. Instead of riding the elevator, put yourself into new learning situations at the gym. Practice these skills at increasingly difficult levels until you have mastered them.

Make sure you also practice in extreme situations. Someone with fear of asking a girl out on a date needs extreme situations to make the everyday situation easier. Here are two common fears people have in social situations and how you can get past them:

• Fear of Looking Foolish – If you are afraid of looking foolish, the solution is to practice looking foolish. After practicing, your fear will be diminished as you realize you can survive. Wear a crazy hat (I have a crazy Pokémon hat I wear). Sing karaoke to difficult songs. Accidentally spill some water on your crotch area and walk around in a public place. After doing these extreme tasks, nothing will seem difficult. I felt afraid the first time I learned double unders, but the more I put myself up to the challenge of looking foolish, the less I cared about it.
• Fear of Presenting in Front of Others – Attend meetings and present information in front of groups. If you have a particular fear when presenting, practice it. I had some who had a fear of sweating drink lots of water, work out, and make sweat angels at the gym. After going to this extreme, his workplace presentations were easy. If it feels bad, do it. Practicing movements in front of others can help you avoid choking when it comes time for competition.

Face Your Fears in Relationships

Courage comes in many different forms. For some people, talking to people at the gym can be difficult. Brene Brown talks about how making yourself vulnerable can be one of the most courageous acts we do. If you find yourself closing off to others, you can follow the same principles above to put yourself in more ‘danger.’ Watch Brene’s TED talk to learn more.

Face Your Fears in the Gym

Most readers of this website are probably willing to push to their limits. I see a guy at the gym who always builds up to the same heavy squat weight. His form is terrible, and my knees hurt watching him. Maybe for him, courage in the gym is not to push his limits. Maybe courage in the gym is to face his fear of not looking macho, drop the weight, and practice squats with proper form.

StrongFirst Team Leader Nikki Shlosser started a #onegoodrep campaign against the norm of poor reps. The goal of the campaign is to teach that doing one good rep with less weight is more courageous than doing heavy reps with bad form.

What Are You Going to Do?

Most people use fear to guide them away from danger. But much of what we fear is not actually dangerous. I try to train people to go against those false alarms and do the opposite. If it feels bad, do it. Push through those plateaus.

What have you been avoiding because of fear, be it in the gym or in life? The new year is a great time to set up new challenges. Let me know what your challenge is going to be in the comments.

You’ll Also Enjoy:

• Don’t Let Fear of Failure Get in the Way of Your Dreams
• Techniques for Controlling Competition Anxiety
• Train Your Mind: The Real Meaning of “Mind Over Matter”
• New on Breaking Muscle Today

Photo 1 courtesy of Jorge Huerta Photography.

Photo 2 courtesy of Recon Photography.

The post If It Feels Bad, Do It appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

Fear comes in many forms. For many, it is a muscular sensation of adrenaline coursing through the vascular system, prompting you to leap into action or run. For others, it can be immobilization or dissociation of consciousness. How does this relate to how you deal with fear?

Fear is often associated with uncertainty or instability. The fear is of not knowing an outcome or a fear of the unknown. To combat this, our mind create ways for us to maintain a simple life, repeating patterns that have proven, desired results. Think about it:

• Are you a creature of habit?
• Do you eat the same foods?
• Do you wear one outfit more often than any other?
• Do you take the same driving route to work?
• Do you eat meals the same time each day?
• What other patterns and habits do you have?

These are all examples of safety strategies. When we do X, we get Y results. Using the same pattern or recipe and we get the same results, every time. When we know what the outcome will be, we feel safe and secure because we are “in control” of our life experience. The unknown is viewed as threat or potential danger.

Maybe one day there is construction on your travel route that forces you to detour to an unfamiliar road. Think about your reaction. What was the first thought that came to mind? It may be about arriving to the destination late. But is that really the driving force behind an emotional reaction? I believe it has more to do with being forced to experience something unknown, at an in opportune time that you previously believed you had control over. In other words, the emotional reaction is a realization that we are not in control, which leaves us feeling vulnerable, like skittish prey.

How to allay fear:

• Avoid saying “I already know that.”
• Practice saying “I do not know.”
• Ask what you are fearful of deep down that produces undesired emotions.
• Ask, “Is this the true answer?” Continue asking these questiond until you get to a “yes” answer.

This is a great strategy to use when working in yoga poses. Especially arm balances or poses that require greater focus on remaining upright. It is common for yoga practitioners to have concerns or fears of falling on their head. This innate, primal fear is a protective strategy to keep our precious brain safe. Plummeting to your death or crushing your brain from flopping out of crow pose is highly unlikely, as in, not likely at all.

Asking yourself the question, “Is it true that if I fall out of crow, I will die?” introduces an element of incongruity between reality and the perception of danger. Stay with what is true. Crow pose is not what is thwarting growth and development in the pose. The association of the pose with fear is thwarting growth.

You are holding on to a lie. Let go of the lie, acknowledge the fear, and separate your self from it. Place the fear outside the body. I visualize the fear as a grey ball and literally place it off of my mat. I can pick the fear back up any time; it is an important safety strategy but has zero relevance in my crow pose.

Acknowledge fear, align with truth, and recite what is real. This will dissociate the emotional hold from the experience and allow you to move forward – in a pose and in life.

Fear what you do know, not what you do not know.

Photos courtesy of Shutterstock.

The post How to Set Fear Aside and Move Forward – In a Yoga Pose and In Life appeared first on Breaking Muscle.