Do some of these motivational placards below look familiar?

I see a ton of fitness professions churning out post after post of well-meaning inspirational monologues. While a lot of what they are saying is true much of the time, it makes me cringe when certain maxims are placarded like black and white commandments. Words like “never” and “always” are usually included in the most glaring ones. Matt, what in the wide, wide world of sports are you talking about?

Let’s take “Never give up” for example. While it does certainly sounds positive, it seems potentially just as dangerous. Take someone searching for a fun active hobby. They try boxing and give it a fair chance. Upon realizing that competitiveness isn’t very intrinsically motivating or that the injury rates are too high for hobbyists, they instead never give up and waste years where they could have been pursuing something more appropriate and enjoyable for them. So I say “give up…sometimes…for the right reasons….”

Here’s another one: “if you aren’t sweating, you aren’t working hard enough”. Already I know you’re helping me break this one down. Is sweating the best indicator of effort? And does every workout need to be looked at with such sternness? This quote would discourage the crap out of a highly sedentary person trying to take the first step toward a life of movement. They think “why try if I can’t measure up” or hurt themselves trying. An enjoyable stretching or yoga session on a cool day all of the sudden has the joy sapped right out of it.

See how gray-scale things can be? While it’s comforting to have platitudes that predetermine every choice we make in life, it doesn’t work that way. “No pain no gain” can be very quickly dismantled with a situation where someone gets injured from not listening to their body. In the attempt to be mentally strong they made themselves physically broken. I would instead respond with “discomfort is necessary for certain types of growth, assuming done in a safe and educated way”. Certainly someone can make meaningful progress without pain. Like studying a favorite subject is enjoyable and nourishing. I truly pity someone who lives every day with that rule.

If you google fitness motivation quotes you’ll see common words like ‘grind, determination, attack, blood, grit, work, victory, struggle, fight'.  It makes it appear that the only successful/worthwhile participants in the fitness world are saying “Be obsessed or don’t bother” “There’s nothing enjoyable about exercise” “Get violent and unsympathetic toward yourself”.  I can’t help but imagine that the only people preaching this are bored students on summer break.  I would never admonish someone for chasing the fruits of a body that is frequently challenged, but to the hopeful newbie I believe it paints a much skewed picture that doesn’t illustrate how joyful, invigorating, even sacred movement is. 

More and more I see quotes that really understand how to influence someone without using guilt; and it makes me smile big. Here are a few that I saw.

 “Why are you in a hurry, are you building a lifestyle or looking for a shortcut?”

“I really regret that workout, said no one ever.”

“Fall in love with the process, and the results will come”

So, generally there are two camps of people who work out consistently a few times a week for years. 1. People who have found irreplaceable joy in movement and physical exertion, and 2. Those who use these activities obsessively as a crutch for their self-esteem (many of us including myself have fallen into this trap). Therefore you’ll find two distinct types of advice out there so…

• be careful who you listen to
• love yourself and take baby-steps
• follow digitally or train with Matt

Do you have motto's like this you can think of?