Sometimes during a hard workout with Matt, when the weights feel heavy and I’m out of breath, I ask him, do you think I’m getting weaker? What’s wrong with me?
He laughs. You couldn’t do this last month. The kettle bell is heavier or the reps are higher or more exercises are put together or the speed is faster or the distance of the run between exercises is longer. It feels harder because it is harder, and you’re doing fine. Keep going.
I keep going in that workout and I keep going back next time because I want to get stronger. I trust Matt to push me, to take me beyond where I think I can go, beyond where I can go on my own.
In the rest of my life I also want to get stronger. I want to stretch and grow. I am open to a challenge. I show up for appointments and do my work. My trainer is made of my family and Michael and old and new friends and strangers. The workouts are often random circumstances. Sometimes they’re boring and repetitious. Something bigger than me designs the best, most growth- and strength-inducing routine for each moment.
So at the end of this week my hamstrings and shoulders and heart and mind are sore. I wonder if I’m getting weaker, but I know better. After a little bit of recovery, I’ll be stronger than I was a month ago. And I'll keep going.
