The Mantra

Jim served as a Marine.  Hence, the military-style workouts he concocts.  I find myself just running (ok, sort of jogging) between exercises each day without paying a lot of attention to what I’m supposed to do next.  Following blindly, is more like it.  It’s hard enough to do the workout much less have to remember all kinds of things along the way.  This is the beauty of having a trainer, though.  They are supposed to remember for you…even when you have a case of “exercise dementia,” as Jim likes to call it.

It’s a phenomenon, I think.  An unexplained mystery of the universe that occurs the moment you walk through the doors of the gym.  I feel like I’ve left my brain outside as I look at a machine and wonder what in the heck I’m supposed to do with it even though I had just been watching the person in front of me finish.  Then, I hear the all to familiar voice of Jim bark, “Hey Kolette!  What are you doing just standing there!?”  I turn to look at him with a blank stare, waiting for him to tell me what to do.  That’s exercise dementia.

• ex-er-cise de-men-tia: n. a state in which a normally intelligent person becomes a complete idiot due to intense weight lifting, too many crunches on the exercise ball, being forced to complete 20 reps of mountain climbers after running a mile and a half or trying to decide which handles to use on the pull-up machine.

I thought I was relatively smart before I started exercising but it’s in those moments that I’m not so sure.  Ever had this happen to you before?  Is there hope for a brighter future for those of us suffering from exercise dementia?  Is there a cure….?

Oh, Jim.  Perhaps the only cure is to work hard enough to eventually reach the loftier place called “EXTRAORDINARY.”  Here’s his “mantra”- the quote of the day…no, the week….no, the month….

People who exercise with normal standards = ordinary.

People who exercise with my standards = EXTRA-ordinary.

Which do you want to be?  Ordinary or extraordinary?  Ordinary or extraordinary?  – Jim

I think you might have been waiting on pins and needles for me to post your mantra, Jim.  Well, all of your dreams have come true.  You have repeated it so many times that it is etched in our brains in spite of our exercise dementia.

And to demonstrate the mantra in action, Jason has created the following video for me:

So here’s to being extraordinary, everyone!  Whether you are doing step-ups at the speed of light or not, I know that we are so much more than just ordinary.

Have a fabulous weekend, friends.