The Second Step

They say that taking the first step is the hardest.

I think that’s completely false.  The second step is so much harder than the first.

The second step means you’ve made a conscious decision to move forward, to press ahead. You made the decision again in your brain to do something, thus starting the fascinating process of mapping our mind in what we’re doing.  We are aware on the second step, more alive. And it means if we stop now, the decision is ours.

Today was Day 2 of this crazy, insane journey I’m taking with my health and fitness. That means I made the same decision to get my butt moving and complete two workouts. As expected, I was a little more tired today than yesterday. The excitement is wearing off already. But I’ve taken so many journeys in my life that this no longer phases me anymore. I’ve also worked out for so long now that I know getting some exercise immediately energizes and awakens me.

I chose to do Insanity Max:30 first today, just to see if there was a difference in my energy level. There sure was! I didn’t max out until the very end (29:00) on those last dang power jumps!!! Tabata means 20 seconds on, 10 seconds off. This makes the difficulty level of the exercise bearable because we all can wrap our mind around doing anything for that short amount of time. It worked for me as far as increasing my maxing out level.

I have to compare Tabata Power to another workout I did religiously for a year and a half called Pure Barre. (And when I say “religiously” it was because I treated it like a religion; it was an obsession.) If you’ve ever been to a PB class, you know how it goes: warm-up, thighs, seat, seated core, mat core, bridge, cooldown. The movements are small, isometric, and intense. The goal is to literally have you shaking as you pulse/tuck/squeeze the last 10 reps of each exercise. (Imagine a room full of women at a barre with all their thighs shaking … that’s what PB is.)

To get myself through those tough moments in a PB class, I would have a tool chest of things to get my mind around being able to finish each exercise (a lot of them were expletives!). So doing Tabata Power and getting to the end of each 20-second move was like opening back up that tool chest, dusting off the hammer, and banging away to reach the end.

My upper body is my weak link and I did do the modified push-ups, so perhaps you could say that’s really where I maxed out. But I did no other modifications and was doing fine until those last power jumps! I will get you my pretty, and your little dog too!!!

After a sea of sweat was starting to profuse from my body, I went on to Sweat A from P90. I was a little worried that my shirt was going to be completely drenched when I was done, but since this workout is geared toward beginners it felt like a nice way to slow down my heart rate and get a steady pace going.

The workout has one section of moves that is repeated all over again, taking about 23 minutes. They are cardio based and get your body moving, but they do have strength components in the moves as well. The modifications are great and Tony has simply put together the perfect first workout for anyone. I can’t say enough great things about the progression I’m seeing in Tony’s program and how it is so accessible to ALL!!!

That was my second day of this craziness. I was thinking about all the people out there that started something yesterday and may have already given up today. Per usual, synchronicity was at play because this quote popped into my world:
“Just don’t give up trying to do what you really want to do. Where there is love and inspiration, I don’t think you can go wrong.” ~ Ella Fitzgerald

To all the people that have quit or are thinking about giving in this early in the game, on day two, on your second step of the journey: DON’T.

Don’t be the old you.

Don’t be your past.

Don’t be your fear.

Take a deep breath and try again.

Press play for five minutes. Just five minutes. That’s all.

Eat one meal today that’s good for you. One meal. That’s all.

Drink one extra bottle of water. One bottle. That’s all

Don’t give up trying. Don’t give up on becoming the person you want to be. It’s a process and nothing happens overnight. Even I had to remember that today with this blog. So slow down, breathe, and put that one foot in front of the other. You can’t go wrong.