I Take Most of it Back - This IS Fun!

For years we have stressed to both novice and experienced clients that properly performed high-intensity exercise is not fun. Creating a muscular and metabolic stimulus is hard work and entails exertional discomfort, labored breathing, occasional nausea, and general systemic fatigue (albeit brief). Sure, it's probably not most people's idea of a good time; we tend to seek pleasure and avoid pain. Keeping your emotions under control, intellectually processing instructions, and maintaining your focus under difficult circumstances can be a tall order for even the most veteran clients. However, what if you changed your mindset? What if you approached each workout as a challenge, an opportunity to improve? What if you began each session with an attitude of "bring it on!"? You might just look at Total Results workouts as fun.

I know this sounds crazy, but take a step back and examine exercise through a different lens. What could be better than overcoming a challenge and accomplishing something meaningful? Part of the fun of accomplishing meaningful tasks is that they require effort. Think back to when you were little and you learned to tie your shoes. At first you struggled, but with consistently applied effort (and a little help from a parent or grandparent) you eventually learned how to do it. Obviously tying your shoes does not require the same level of physical or mental effort as does a high-intensity workout, but you understand the point. As author Ryan Holiday says in his 2025 book "Wisdom Takes Work," "No one can accomplish greatness in any field if they are not driven by love and fascination and genuine reverence." That fascination and wonder is what spurs you on in the face of something difficult, and it makes the end result more worthwhile.

Competition makes everyone better. This is true in athletics, in free market economics, and in technology. Most of us are more competitive than even we realize; who among us hasn't felt their competitive juices flowing from a backyard game of cornhole? We often want to know what others are doing so that we have a means of measuring ourselves. There is a competitive element to Total Results workouts, but with a twist. Here, you are competing against yourself rather than someone else. There is no meaningful comparison between you and someone else, unless you are an identical twin with the exact same set of genetics. Instead, find a way to make it a game; try to improve upon your previous performance in some way, whether it is something as objective as time under load or weight, or something subjective like better focus and breathing. Squeezing out one more repetition when you thought you couldn't will give you a tremendous feeling of accomplishment, and it is fun!

Holiday discusses a conversation between Nobel Prize winning physicist Richard Feynman and one of his graduate students. "Think back to when you were a kid," Feynman says. "When you were a kid, did you love science? Was it your passion?" "As long as I can remember," the student replied. "Me too," Feynman said. "Remember, it's supposed to be fun." Exercise is not fun every single minute, but on the whole it is still something that gives me immense pleasure. The entire process of instruction is fun, from the charting to the equipment set-up, to the actual instructing of clients during their workouts. It is an opportunity to help someone learn and achieve a level of fitness that they did not believe was possible. I see things through the eyes of my 23 year old self at times (when I first got into the business), and am still amazed that I have the opportunity to do this for a living. My own workouts are a highlight of my week. No, exertional discomfort and gasping for breath at the end are not particularly pleasant, and I do still experience some mild anxiety before I start. That is normal. I look at the workouts as non-negotiable; they must be undertaken in order to achieve continued health and physical independence. The fun is in rising to meet the challenge, but also in doing what you know most people are unwilling to do. As Hall of Fame wide receiver Jerry Rice once said, "Today I will do what others won't so tomorrow I can do what others can't." I am privileged to be able to workout every week - not everyone is as fortunate.

How do you define success? That depends on your values, but as six-time Super Bowl winner Bill Belichick says, "Success is not a solid, straight line." You will have your ups and downs, but keep it all in perspective and focus on what you can control. Most of all, you can control your effort and attitude. You can choose to look at your workouts as drudgery, or you can make your own fun and compete against yourself. It's all up to you!