Mental Strength: You Don’t Have It
April 2012
We walk to the incline press. Today is chest/shoulders day. I hate chest/shoulders days because this is my weakest muscle group. I’m kinda hating Daniel too ’cause he just called me out for 1) cheating on my diet (again) and, 2) not doing the 30 minute warm up (again.) He puts the weights on the bar and I’m just pressing away, fueled with righteous indignation. Why is he so tough on me? Why am I even doing this stupid competition? Is he like this to everyone or am I the only f*** up client?
“See that lady in the black shirt? She’s competing in two weeks. Do you think she’s ready?” I look at the Asian woman. Her arms are toned but her stomach is still flabby. Don’t get me wrong: by no means was she out of shape, but she did not look like she was ready for a panel of judges to compare her body against others.
“Oh, she’s not ready at all,” I say sympathetically.
“No. She’s not. She has lots of excuses, though. And there is another woman who started training the same time as her. They were the same weight, same height, same body fat. But the other woman is 10 lbs lighter, has more muscle definition, and is ready for the competition and this lady is not.”
I feel my stomach tighten and it’s not from isometrics. I complete the next two sets quietly and we move to the free weights.
“I’ll bet the other lady doesn’t have kids,” I say lifting the dumbbells.
“She has four, actually. Two are older and two are younger. She coordinates with their father so she can train.” I walked into that trap. I’m sure he knew I was going to ask if she had kids.
“Don’t take this the wrong way, Lisa, but the other lady has the mental strength to really focus on her diet and eat clean.”
Unlike me, he not so subtly implied.
Is there a right way to take that?
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