So I set a goal for myself that was a little ambitious. Okay, it was a lot ambitious: 100 burpess in under 5:00. Yeah it was daunting but I wanted the challenge and I had read another trainer say that NO ONE got their 100 burpess under 5:00 who was unhappy with their body composition results. Cool. I’m there. I also know from my experience that tying a body composition goal to a performance goal is a great way to get you looking great. You focus on the performance and the body results just follow.
But in pursuing the goal, I got off track.
I started my burpess with 100 and timed myself. The first time was already the fasted I had ever done. I started well. Two days later I did them again and got a slightly better time. So far, so good so I started doing them every day. It was really, really hard and I felt sick a few times, but I stuck with it. The times came down slowly and I thought I was making progress.
So one Sunday I wanted to knock out 100 for time just before dinner. We had ordered pizza and I had my wife film me just before it was supposed to get here. The pizza came early, which meant I only did 10 or so burpees but I looked at my form and was disgusted with what I saw. In pursuit of an ever faster time, I was really sacrificing my form. The form in my head that I thought I was doing was NOT what I saw on the camera. All that progress and the self-esteem that came with it got thrown out the window. I felt depressed. The times I was getting didn’t show the whole picture.
So what to do? I could just quietly forget the challenge I made to myself even though I had made it public on my Facebook page. Heck, personal challenges come and go, right? But I couldn’t do that. It didn’t feel right. So instead, I went back to my form by slowing things down and doing the burpees in sets.
My form has improved but of course, my time now sucks. I added about 1:30 to my time. But that’s okay.
The point of all this is to put integrity back into the process. Like me, are you half-assing something to get a better time? Are you cutting corners to beat other people when you know you should be doing it better? Is that having integrity in your fitness?
Taking this route ain’t easy by a long shot. I’m sitting here feeling uncomfortable about all this. The burpees just got a whole lot harder and can I REALLY get them under 5:00? Well, maybe and maybe not. But maybe I can feel proud that I did them the way I want them done. And maybe that’s worth more at the end of the day than just a fast time.
Happy training.