Dei, you can do anything for 10 seconds.
Dei,
Somewhere between the floor and the torso held in plank position past one minute, there is a void yearning for failure. The arms attempt to give way. The chest leans. The spine begins to arch. The knees want to compensate. The man I entrusted my body to tells me the time and how much is left.
“10 more seconds. Come on, 10 more seconds. You can do anything for 10 seconds.”
I believe him and count to 15.
Much is unsaid about what goes on during personal training sessions. Upon hiring a coach, it is assumed that the hour(s) spent would be laser focused on executing the proper technique and smashing weight goals. Perhaps, in most cases, they are. For me, it has been a reeducation of familiar concepts. A subtle yet drastic reframing of definitive statements.
“Is it discomfort or is it pain? There is a difference.”
Trying to wrap my head around what is and isn’t pain, I receive the pair of 7.5kg dumbbells from him while being certain that he has more faith in my body than I do. He declares a target and I meet it. I meet it again. I meet the target before my left wrist collapses into his ready grasp.
“Just because something is hard, it doesn’t mean you are struggling”
He says this matter-of factly. I accuse him of being poetic. He beams while I pick away at the proverbial crypt he has chosen to store the meaning of this sentence. He is trying to tell me that I can lift more than I am willing to consider. He is saying without saying that he has faith in my growing capacity, even if I have yet to come to terms with it.
Most of all, my coach is teaching me that there is value in recognising failure and the moment that comes right before it. The void between these two points is where I’ll learn to balance risk and safety.
But that is a lesson for another day.
May your TV episodes arrive when you’re ready to consume and be consumed,
Melizarani
On repeat this week
“Men theorize about love, but women are more often love’s practitioners. Most men feel that they receive love and therefore know what it feels like to be loved; women often feel we are in a constant state of yearning, wanting love but not receiving it.”
- bell hooks, all about love: New VisionsRediscovered this old dance track that absolutely slaps
My father said
“Happy Mother’s Day to me.”