It's Easy to Take Your Fitness to the "Next Level" When You Start in the Basement

I want to begin with a confession.

I am NOT an athletic person...nor have I ever played one on television.  When the Great Spirit was handing out athletic prowess and the natural ability to move with grace, ease, dignity, and a general tendency to remain upright, I was probably in the "free dessert" line.

Truth be told, and it's painful for me to write this, I was always the chubby girl (or the fat girl or the really fat girl) that hovered in the corner of the gym or playground.  It's not so much that I hated being active; I ran and biked and swam and skated and played...I just wasn't GOOD at any of it...I couldn't run fast, I couldn't jump high.  I usually dropped the ball, missed the ball, or was totally unaware a ball was actually being used.  I couldn't shoot a basket, do a wheelie, dive off the board, or cartwheel.  I participated, but bottom line, I pretty much sucked.

Now don't despair...I had friends and they DID include me; they DID let me play.  True, I was never the first or second round draft pick for teams but then neither was Aaron Rogers.  I usually got selected in a respectable tenth or eleventh round.  Let's face it...if you're picking teams for Red Rover the 4th grade girl with the 15 inch forearms does have market value.

Being "funny" also helped.  Family legend states that I began developing my sense of humor from the moment I started talking.  For most of us, our first words are Dada or Momma...mine was "really?"

From the start, humor was my defense mechanism.   It was what I did to offset the embarrassment, the humility and the frustration of not being good at any of the physical or sports "stuff" everyone else seemed to be so good at.  By poking fun at myself, I helped everyone else laugh about it as well, and that made them feel more at ease with my lack of athleticism and ability.  It added an element of fun.  And as long as I kept poking fun at myself, I didn't really have to improve. In the world of sports or fitness, failure became my expectation. 

All that changed last September when I joined Next Level Extreme Fitness. 
True...I have tried to maintain a sense of humor throughout the process, but this time it's different. Humor is no longer a defense mechanism that I use to justify my inabilities.  My willingness to laugh at myself is NOT functioning as an "excuse" for quitting or for not trying. Finding the humor in the impossible (and trust me...most days it is impossible), is helping me better appreciate what we are all being asked to do.  And this in turn is challenging me to want to improve.  It's helping me stick with it.  And I guess I'm hopeful that my insights, comic and otherwise, are encouraging others in the program to stick with it, too.

And that's why I've started this blog. 

You see, I can't believe that I'm DOING NLXF.  To my astonishment I am willing to get up VERY EARLY every morning in order to get to a 6:30 a.m. class that kicks my butt so bad that I need an anesthesiologist to get through the rest of the day.  And not only did I complete the first 10 week session, going EVERY DAY, FIVE days a week, BUT I signed up for a SECOND TEN WEEK SESSION. 

NLXF's impact on me is completely different from any other fitness thing I've tried.  And I want to know why...what is it about the program and the people in that program that not only motivates me to participate, but inspires me to push myself to that "next level."

So welcome to my blog.  If you are reading this, chances are you are also a member of the NLXF family. Or maybe you are thinking of joining NLXF.  Either way, I invite you to join the conversation.  Feel free to post your own responses, reactions, insights and experiences.

As for me, this blog is a chance to reflect on a very unique and special adventure.  I'm excited about the discoveries it may help me uncover.