After enduring a perfect storm of the holidays, followed by a trip to Ireland, followed by a nasty bout of COVID, to say I feel weak and out-of-shape is a massive understatement.
But it has made something abundantly clear: The toughest workouts aren’t the epic, multi-hour ones that you tackle when you’re in shape. It’s not the workouts with the most weight to lift or miles to run or obstacles to overcome.
The toughest workouts happen when you’re out of shape. When you’re at your weakest. When just showing up is a challenge.
Those are the toughest workouts. The ones where you’ve been stripped of all your tools. Your strength. Your energy. Your motivation. Your momentum. When you have to show up and move when all of your inertia is making you want to stay put.
In reality, the most inspiring digging-down-deep moments don’t look like some motivational YouTube video with some juiced 20-something slow-moing a hill sprint.
No. The most inspiring digging-down-deep moments often look painfully slow and labored, and often star someone who looks puffy and is just getting up off the couch.
