The fitness world has exploded with thousands of new and upcoming techniques and gurus who have created their own "best practices" method of getting fit, strong, and sculpted. Here's a list just to name a few: Insanity; P90X; CrossFit; Jazzercise; Yogalates; Brazilian Butt Lift Workout; Kettlebell training, TRX training; Zumba; Metabolic Resistance Training; Paul Chek; Mike Boyd; Functional Movement Screens and Gray Cook/Lee Burton; and the list could go on forever.
For as many methods as there are, there are just as many reasons why each and everyone of these techniques could be the best thing ever for you. Obviously there is something to the fact that you actually need to like what you do for movement, but wouldn't it be nice to also know that whatever you are doing, you are doing it right so that you aren't spinning your wheels?
I've been caught up in this thought for the last week or so. We just launched our first 90 Day Reclaim Your Body Program and as we neared the start I was overcome with the fear that I wasn't going to do it right. Even as one of the contributing partners in creating the program, I was still overwhelmed with the sense that what I was doing wasn't good enough, it wasn't going to work, and that it wasn't going to be exactly what my clients needed. This program has required hours upon hours of Erica and I's time, we have poured over various texts and articles and methodologies, we have interviewed multiple women to make certain that what we are delivering a product that will fully support and teach them exactly what they need. But my need to do it RIGHT was getting in my way of seeing everything I was doing that was awesome. Erica likes to say something like this when attitudes like this come up:
"Don't let perfect get in the way of great"
We don't know who first said it, but even thinking "don't let great get in the way of good"...is still pretty darn awesome. The idea that we have to do it RIGHT often translates to "we have to do it perfectly". Too many times we are stagnated with fear rather than courageously being vulnerable enough to do it wrong..and end up doing something even more amazing in the end!
Ken Robinson, a leader in the development of innovation and human resources said, “If you're not prepared to be wrong, you'll never come up with anything original.”
Now I am not saying you go out and do something crazy with your body or do a bunch of "latest fad" techniques and go get yourself injured here. What I am saying is that your body needs to move, and if you aren't moving because you are being held back from doing it wrong then hear this...Do It Ugly. At least until you can get the momentum to pretty it up and get more fancy. What we are looking for here is momentum otherwise defined as: mass in motion. Trust that when you commit to the process of consistent movement, your body will crave more and you will find the curiosity to seek out how to keep doing it better and better...and maybe even get it "right"!