Nobody celebrates zero to one

I realised something this week that I probably should have worked out months ago.

Since May I’ve tried a lot of things with this business. Group classes out on the field. One to one sessions in my garage gym. Online plans built around people’s actual weeks rather than their imaginary ones.

I built a website. I built an app. I’ve posted things that landed and plenty that sank without trace.

And the question I still couldn’t answer was the simplest one. Why?

“I love coaching” is true, but it isn’t a reason; it’s a preference.

Then two reviews came in and answered it for me.

Jess: “I was pretty nervous about booking a PT and to start doing more strength work.”

Jade: “I was extremely nervous to join a group exercise class.”

Both of them led with the nerves. Before the training, before anything else. That’s the bit that nearly stopped them coming.

Jess had always run but never got into strength because she found it hard and boring.

Jade walked onto a field in Whickham not knowing a single person there.

The hard part was never the training. It was turning up the first time.

Zero to one. No PB, no medal, nothing anybody claps for. Just a person doing something they’d been dreading for weeks and finding out they were fine.

So that’s the why. A million people into exercise who weren’t before. Might take the rest of my working life; doesn’t matter.

And whatever you’ve been putting off, it’s worth remembering the first go is the hard part. Everything after that is repetition.

A quote worth sitting with

“The miracle isn’t that I finished. The miracle is that I had the courage to start.”

— John Bingham, No Need for Speed: A Beginner’s Guide to the Joy of Running.

Bingham took up running in mid-life, an overweight couch potato by his own description, and has spent the years since writing for the people at the back of the field.

The Saturday Standard

Zero to One Hundred

No rest built in and nothing technical to hide behind. You can see the whole thing written down before you begin, which is exactly what makes it uncomfortable.

Break the big sets before you need to. 100 squats in sets of 20 with 10 seconds between them will beat going to failure at rep 45 and standing there negotiating with yourself.

Scale the pull-ups to ring rows or banded reps if you need to. That’s not the test; finishing is.

What’s happening with me

Feeling a little inspired? Act on it. Come and join a CommFit class in Whickham. Book your first class free at stuart-white.co.uk/group-classes.