Enough

We all have a sweet spot.  (No, not the candy aisle.)  When we figure out how much to push ourselves in a workout without going too far, we make progress.  Progress is the yardstick we need to remember.

If we’re not working hard enough, stuff stays the same.  The scale doesn’t budge.  We give those ten pound dumbbells nicknames because we know them so well.  We know that the third treadmill from the wall is the good one because it’s the one we always use to walk at the same pace for the same amount of time.

If we’re working too hard, stuff breaks.  Sometimes it’s a literal break—there goes that ankle or shoulder or knee.  Or maybe we are always always always sore and we groan every time we go up or down the stairs as a result.  Worse, we might get demoralized.  We don’t go from zero to marathon in a week, so clearly we are failures and we don’t want to do it anymore.

The sweet spot means that every month or so we meet new dumbbells, or get a little faster, or go a little farther, or master that formerly impossible Zumba routine.  The progress might be so gradual that it takes a while to realize it is happening—hey!  My fingers touched the floor in my forward bend today!  Wow!  It’s time to get some smaller pants!

We need to push, but lovingly, gently, and reasonably.