Excuses

STFU and get on with it

I was reading this essay today, wondering how I would write it now or if I was even motivated to do that. It's the 29th essay in the second edition of POISON, and it was in the REJECTS Zine before that, written in 2011. Blair appeared in the office doorway and asked if I wanted to work out and since none of the excuses listed in the essay were valid ... well, "I haven't eaten" was true but I often do a little fasted cardio at 4:00pm so I changed clothes and joined her in the home gym. I don't mind having my own words read back to me so I STFU'd and got on with it. One thing I do know is that if "First In/First Out" by Front 242 is needed to finish the last interval then it was probably just about right.

© Blair Speed … and when I look to my left I see all of the motivation I need.

I think about training every hour of every day. These days I consider the means mostly irrelevant. And that, combined with the ignorance exhibited by someone who comments on our “routine” or “method” and how they have been doing it, anchors me strongly on the side of attitude and character and curiosity when it comes to figuring how to help a student achieve his or her goals.

One common problem in this context is the tendency to make excuses before a workout or race according to expectations we put upon ourselves. We can either raise or lower expectations prior to effort and most people lower them—often unconsciously—to avoid disappointment or to give themselves permission to under-perform. If they lay the groundwork for failure beforehand everyone expects it, including themselves, so fulfilling the expectation is natural, and not a bummer. It might actually feel like a success since it was predicted. What a colossal waste … of everyone’s time and energy.

I used to actively hate it but now I laugh when a trainee shuffles into the gym and starts listing all of the reasons he can’t train up to the expected standard —hoping that one of the excuses will resonate with the coach or trainer and the session will be easier because of it. Shopping for answers is one of our least favorite traits in a student, but it happens, with words and posture, and if the coach is one of ours, all that shit falls on deaf ears.

I’m sore.

I’m hurt.

I didn’t eat.

I just ate.

It’s hot.

It’s cold.

I didn’t sleep well.

So-and-so said X.

So-and-so said Y.

I don’t have my special shoes.

Mercury is in retrograde. Blah, blah, blah.

In our space the student eventually exhausts the list without triggering the desired response. And realizes that there is nothing (excepting genuine injury and [possibly] chronic lack of recovery) that will let him off the hook — and I say “he” because females don’t usually suffer from this issue. So he laces up his shoes, punches the Man card, warms up, gets going and the day turns out to be just fine. In fact, the “off day” often turns out to be a really good day.

I would think he’d remember this outcome and how consistently it manifests. And in remembering, I’d think he might realize what a waste of his time and energy the excuse plane is, and, more importantly, what a waste of the coach’s time it is. But he doesn’t, so the same sad drama plays out over and over again. It’s tiresome.

STFU and get on with it.

Seriously, you’ll do just fine.

And more often than not, better than you expect.