The Perfect Workout - An Elusive Postulation

One thing that I have learned from coaching football over the last two years is that things rarely go exactly according to plan. When you draw up a play on a whiteboard it may look great, but when it is executed in a game (or even in practice) it seldom looks just like it was drawn up. Sure, you have a philosophy and a game plan to prepare for an opponent, but successful coaches know how to go off script and adjust as the game goes along. In a sense, the same holds true in exercise. Both the client and the instructor may have a vision in the days or moments leading up to the workout of how the things will unfold, but we all know that there are variables in life that will impact your preparation and focus. In theory we may strive for perfection, but we must understand that it will remain just beyond our grasp.

"Life is difficult." That is the first sentence of the book "The Road Less Traveled", written by M. Scott Peck. I started reading the book after hearing former Alabama football coach Nick Saban talk about it in a lecture that he gave several years ago. The author, who passed away in 2005, was a psychiatrist who wrote extensively about personal and spiritual development, and the first line of this well-known book perfectly encapsulates what we need to understand about the nature of life or undertaking any meaningful or worthwhile endeavor. Life is difficult, and it is not meant to be easy. Any significant accomplishment in your life was likely the product of effort, focus, and a drive to succeed. Dr. Peck goes on to say that, "When we extend ourselves, when we take an extra step or walk an extra mile, we do so in opposition to the inertia of laziness or the resistance of fear. Extension of ourselves or moving out against the inertia of laziness we call work. Moving out in the face of fear we call courage. Love, then, is a form of work or a form of courage." Interestingly enough, he also makes reference to exercise in the book, stating, "No matter how dedicated we are to spiritual development, we also need rest and relaxation, exercise and distraction."

If we expect to find perfection in a workout and do not achieve it, we will become discouraged. One question I often pose to new clients is, "How do you define success?" The answer to that question will help me to understand a client's mindset and how best to instruct them. I believe one should focus more on the process than the outcome of an exercise or a workout. The process is something that is more within your control, while the outcome may or may not be. Hall of Fame basketball coach John Wooden, who led UCLA to ten national championships in twelve years, never talked to his players about the score or about winning the game. Rather, he focused on teaching and preparing his players to be the best that they could be. He was never obsessed with winning or losing; instead, he would be happy if the team played well and would be upset if he felt they did not play as well as they were capable. The score was not important, and Wooden's mindset was process-driven, not results-driven. Wooden was way ahead of his time in terms of praising effort, when most of his colleagues suffered the highs and lows of worrying about wins and losses. Total Results exercise is really no different. Confidence is built, and achievement occurs as a result of putting in great effort and doing the right things session by session, week after week, and month after month. A workout is as much a mental experience as it is a physical undertaking. If you focus on the process, the end result will take care of itself.

How you handle adversity speaks volumes. Life will throw challenges at you that you may or may not be ready for, and how you respond to those challenges will tell the tale. Very rarely in life are we going to feel 100 percent, and you can't just show up for workouts when you feel inspired. I will share a personal anecdote about my workout on January 8th, 2025. I was physically prepared: I had slept well the previous few nights, my nutrition was good, and I had not consumed any alcohol in over a week. Mentally, I was great, except I forgot to bring my workout clothes to the office! This has only happened to me one time that I can recall in 25 years in the business. As a result, I worked out in dress slacks, a t-shirt, and wing-tip shoes; far from optimal, but I still managed to achieve something meaningful. In this case, the stage was not set for a perfect workout, but the outcome was still positive. Sometimes, you just have to grind it out.

We strive for perfection knowing that it is unattainable, but we hope to fall short of perfection and achieve excellence. Seldom will a client go up in time under load or weight on every single exercise of a given workout, but that certainly doesn't detract from the effort that they put forth. Sure, I have had conversations with clients after workouts when they tell me they felt like they were totally locked in and hit all the right notes, so to speak. More often than not, they simply buckle down and give everything they have, regardless of the outcome. That is all that anyone can ask of themselves.