When it comes to feedback there is a recurring reminder I try to leave with the individuals I work with. “I want your feedback. I may not like it, may not act like I am willing to hear it, but I know I need it. Do not worry about my feelings. Your feedback is a priceless gift.”
Most of the time, feedback sounds like something someone else thinks you want to hear. It is rare to hear words that resonate as the truth. There is one place and time that is an exception. The truth is always given. One can try to avoid it, but it always confronts you. Nobody is immune. Strong, weak, veterans, and newbies, everyone has to face the music. The place I always know will tell me the truth is the gym. Ignore numbers and forget looking at others. Push yourself to the edge and you will get the feedback you are looking for.
Each week I get more feedback than I know what to do with. Initially all I could do was recover. Every part of my body ached. My joints expressed their rebellion through shakes. Muscles took the path of trembling. My body was rebelling. My solution was to raise the intensity of the workouts between training sessions. It was the only response that made sense.
As I watch a friend starting a path that seems eerily familiar, and it brings a smile. I think of my comments to his trainer and I realize I was an echo of psalm of yesterday; “Let them know what you think of them, blast them with your red-hot anger.” (Psalm 69.24)
To anyone, myself included, that is on this path, I would offer the following reminders.
Discipline means that you do it often. Once a week is not being disciplined.
Intensity is a good thing but it is not the only thing. Additions include stretching, working on weaknesses, and recovery in the steam room. Each has a place.
Real change comes with time. The trend is what counts; not the latest weigh in.
