But is it Hard?

There are a multitude of reasons why people don't regularly exercise ranging from constraints of time to physical sickness or injury to lack of motivation. There is one that I'd like to touch on right now and that is the people who don't exercise because it's too hard. I get that a lot lately. A number of my female friends and family want to lose weight and get into shape. The top two areas that they want to buff up are, without fail, their abs and their triceps. The most obvious exercise for both is the push-up. Unfortunately, they can't do them. So, I show a few exercises that will help them get to the point where they can do push-ups and get the conditioning that they want. Along the way, the "H" word pops up... "is it hard... it's too hard!"

Well, of course it's hard! It supposed to be hard! If it was easy, then it really wouldn't be worth doing! Now, I know that for some, some strength training is above their physical capabilities. I know that everyone isn't doing handstand push-ups on T's. That's not what I'm seeing when I hear about how hard an exercise is. I'm seeing people unwilling to take on a physical challenge.

The human body gets compared to machines frequently but it really isn't the best comparission. Machines regularly pushed their limit, break down. Their parts don't regenerate like human parts do. We are in a constant state of rebuilding and we need exercise to direct the rebuilding effort. Proper exercise places controlled amounts of resistance in order to induce stress. By doing this in a precise manner, the metered-out stress improves our ability to overcome physical challenges. It's an ongoing process too. As we become better at handling stress, we must place a little more stress on our body. It's a never ending cycle.

That's why proper exercise can teach a life lesson about any challenge that you face. One thing that I've learned is that challenges are a part of life. They're only going to be so easy. Any attempts to make them easier only serve to make them harder in the bigger picture. Take raising children for example. It's a challenge of your dedication and stubborness to raise well-disciplined kids. Still, if you neglect to do so, then they become enormously difficult raise due to their bad behavior.

Physical training is similar. Sure, I could skip my training. I could get fatter and more sedentary. It's far easier to do than to be well-conditioned. My tolerance to stress would drop though. The physical tasks that I have to do would become harder and would exhaust me much quicker. Eventually, I'd develop dengenrative conditions which might lead to disease which will make my life a slow, painful decline until death takes me. Which is harder in the long run? Thing is, you're in the exact same position as I and everyone else is. What are you going to do?