DAY 55: Morning Motivation- Get Comfortable Being Outside Your Comfort Zone

When I was home for spring break last week, I got to see one of my best friends from high school. He’s a physical therapy major at LSU, so I always like to talk to him about suggestions to improve my workouts in the gym.

My friend told me that the way the body builds muscle is by making small tears in the muscle tissue so that it can expand. He says that when you push yourself to the limit, you actually tear your muscles, which is a good thing.

I have to say, I looked at him funny when he told me that it was good to tear my muscle tissue. However, I trusted in his reasoning because, after all, he’s the one who studies the human body as his major.

Coincidentally, I found an article confirming my friend’s theory on muscle growth yesterday. In his Ezine, Ron White wrote an article entitled “You Need More Weight”, in which he discussed the importance of departing from your comfort zone when workout out. He says,

“You see, when lifting weights your muscle is built when it goes beyond its comfort zone or literally stretches beyond what you have done before.”

While the anatomy of the body is fascinating, what I think is the most important thing to learn from this muscle growth process is that it is no different from how we grow or develop in anything else that we do. If we want to grow or develop a skill, you must work outside of your comfort zone. You can never really improve if you keep doing what is easy to you within your comfort zone. It is when reach past your current limits and set a new bar of excellence that we begin to fulfill our potential.

At this point, you may be comfortable lifting a particular weight because it is what you are used to. You know you can do it because you have been doing it.

Today, challenge your body by pushing yourself one step farther in your workout. If you’re up to the challenge, increase your weight 5-10 pounds for each exercise. If you’re not ready for a weight increase, increase the number of repetitions you do for each exercise. If you normally do 8 reps of bench press, push yourself to 10 reps today. Make sure you have a spotter though.

Get comfortable being outside your comfort zone.

TODAY’S WORKOUT:

Bench Press- 4 sets

Curls- 3 sets

Scull crushers- 3 sets

Pullups- 3 sets

Delt-21’s- 3 sets

Abs