What does that even mean? I am sure we all have a friend or friends that come up with any excuse to not hit the gym, or better themselves with positive results. That all too common “back injury” or “I hurt my shoulder years ago” now they can’t do some exercise. Seems like everyone and their mother has had a major back or shoulder injury which is to be used as a built-in excuse not to lift. “I can’t do deadlifts because I hurt my back years ago.” “I can’t do squats because of [insert excuse].” The thing is, I understand that shit does happen, people get injured. But thing is, how many of these supposed injuries are even real? If it is 100% legit, there are workarounds to getting the job done and not using it as a crutch excuse. If you have had major back surgery, there are exercises that can be done safely well after the recovery period. Take the right precautions to avoid further injury.
Find an excuse TO hit the gym, use THAT as your motivation to go. For example, instead of using that years old shoulder injury excuse, say you know what, fuck that let me do some light weight and see how it feels. Build up that muscle group slowly over time and build strength. Don’t hit the gym and ego lift or think that you need to keep up with every one else. Every individual is at a different level. If you see that person hitting heavy weight, make that your goal. That’s what I did. I was pretty proud of myself years ago hitting 70lb dumbbell shoulder presses, saw a dude repping 100s next to me. I’m like, I want to press 100s. Now I do. I told myself within a year of witnessing that I would be that motivation for the next guy next to me.
Set results for yourself for a given timeframe. 6 months to a year is a reasonable timeframe for lifting. Envision those results in your head, and make it happen. Get rid of the BS excuses that come up, whatever they may be. We all have busy lives; kids, jobs, household duties, our favorite TV shows. What I always say is an hour a day is all it takes. Take it slow, results will come if you stay motivated. Work it into your schedule. Make it part of your routine, make it a habit, make it an addiction.
Not only can this be applied to lifting, this can be applied to anything in life. The saying actually stemmed from my being a sales manager professionally. My sales team always came up with every excuse under the sun why they came up short on sales. I would say to them, “Results Not Excuses”. Focus on the results and the excuses go away. If you come up short, apologize and ensure you focus on doing better the next time around. If you are late for a meeting or appointment, don’t give an excuse, continue on and make it a success. The results will speak for themselves.
Best practice is to think of all the excuses you come up with not to reach your goals, and just stop using them altogether. If you really want to make a change, commit yourself 110% and don’t look back. If you aren’t committed 110% don’t even bother, as its going to take your all to make you realize and achieve your full potential. Its not easy, nobody ever said it was.
If you really don’t want to make a change, don’t make excuses just tell people its not something you are willing to do or its not for you. But if you read this entire article chances are you want to make a change, so start today!
RESULTS NOT EXCUSES
Happy lifting!
Patrick Brouillette