...iF yOu bUiLd iT, tHeY wiLL cOmE...

This morning I went in to the gym to cover the 9AM class. Anyone that knows me, knows that I talk...A LOT...sometimes too much. Not much shuts me up, and when I am very quiet...it's a clue that something is wrong. So in my usually chatty way, I was talking with the two people that were in there training. I was saying how I'm sore, because I started a new program and yesterday was a "heavy lifting day" of Back Squats, Press, and Power Cleans. They asked a few questions about what I'm doing and I told them what my plan is. I also explained that I am doing things differently. Yes, I have yet another NEW plan...different from the last new plan...but the thing that is MOST different, is that I am NOT changing it again!
I was telling them that I was going to treat MYSELF more like I would treat a client that I am training, because so many times I do things that I would never tell them to do. I was also telling them...but really reminding MYSELF...that it takes time to SEE results and that just because you work hard for 3 or 4 weeks and don't magically transform into something else, it doesn't mean what you're doing isn't working or won't work in the future. It takes time.
I thought about this as I ran after wards. I thought about what my Mom and Dad always told us growing up..."Your body is a temple. Take care of it accordingly."...and it made me think that building a house is similar to building muscle and gaining strength in some ways. Houses are not built in a day. Architects draw up plans. Many different contractors come and do their job one by one. The pipes are layed and the foundation is poured. Once it is ready, the frame starts to go up. Piece by piece...day by day...a patch of dirt becomes a home with a yard...but it doesn't happen overnight or in a few weeks. It takes months of hard work. You don't give up and start over after a few weeks because a perfect house does not suddenly appear. If so, you'd never have a finished house.
Everyone knows the famous line from "Field Of Dreams"..."If you build it, they will come." People didn't show up to the farm the first day they started building. I remember when we were building our house. At times, it seemed that things progressed so fast, and other times it was a painfully slow process. Eventually, we got what we wanted...a finished home that we could live in and enjoy. And it is the same in the gym. Sometimes we see quick or major progress...and sometimes we suffer setbacks or don't see results as quickly as we would like...but the only way to get the body you want, is to keep working. You have to create a solid foundation and build up from there. If you work hard and don't give up...if you build upon what you have...eventually, the muscles...the results...will come.

~Marsha