I love going to the gym. That was not always the case, but since I've been working out six days a week for the last seven weeks, I have a new found appreciation for what my body can do. I went from barely even able to hold a 30-second plank in the correct form to being able to perform an hour long HIIT workout on top of my 45-minute cardio sesh. However, there are 11 steps that one encounters when they go to workout.
1. Inspirational speeches from everyone you complain to.
For me, it always starts with the declaration of not wanting to go to the gym. Then one of my friends or one of my roommates goes on this long winded tirade of why I should go workout. This speech can range from being super motivational to telling me to get off my butt and workout because it's healthy. Both somehow have the same effect: I ultimately pull on my leggings and sneakers, head to the gym.
2. Starting the workout
Those first five minutes feel like hell on earth. They drag on at this snail pace. What feels like hours are mere seconds!
3. Invincibility
After you get past the initial start of your workout, it feels easy. A mile run? I could do this forever. 35 lbs. goblet squat? Pshhh, let's push for 60 lbs!
4. Reality Check
Oh, that feeling of invincibility that you thought you cultivated? Yeah, that disappears very quickly. You start huffing and puffing, sweat is dripping down your face, and you're all types of exhausted.
5. Acceptance
Usually, this is the last stage of grief, but this comes towards the middle of your workout. You begin to get into the zone. It's a reasonable level of invincibility, you're feeling pretty badass. This is where you get the real work done.
6. You've finished your hardcore workout
Despite all the resistance and whining, you walk out the gym with your limbs feeling slightly like jelly, but you're ready to conquer the world. You've completed one of the hardest workouts in your existence and made it look really easy the entire time. You did that! No one did it for you!
7. Your confidence levels rise
Even though no one outside of your group of friends really cares that you totally dominated your work out, you act like everyone sees you as Wonder Woman. If you worked out in the morning, you walk into your classes knowing that the first productive thing you did was get your butt moving. If you worked out at night, you walk into the dining hall knowing that you very much deserve that cheeseburger and French fries.
8. The pain
The day after? You're crawling to class and struggling to even pick up a pencil.
9. You want to give up
Three days straight of you working out and everything hurts. You want to quit, but you know that it's good for you so you drag yourself back to the gym.
10. You start seeing progress
Be it on the scale, in the mirror, or your overall performance. Something good happens with your body that makes it all worth it.
11. You fall in love
And the rest is history. You can't imagine your life without this fitness lifestyle!
