Yesterday one of our athletes that we rarely see came in to lift. He has been inconsistent at best, making the gym once a week maybe. Slightly alarming considering he needs to make the jump this season from Midget to Junior. Last week he made it in three times, which is a 200 percent increase in average attendance. He is on pace to match that number this week provide he showed up today. Although not overly impressive it is a start and personally I am pretty happy with it. The flip side of him making it in is that has been coming in Thursday, Friday, Saturday. Really not the best split for muscle growth or recovery. When my boss saw him and heard the days he was coming in he started to launch into a lecture on spreading his workouts out for optimal recovery etc. At which point I felt obligated to back up Mr. Consistency. "Let the kid eat his Pop tart, at least he is having breakfast now"
I cannot remember exactly where I heard this line, I think it was Jon Torine, the Indianapolis Colts strength coach but the source is irrelevant for the story. When I heard it originally I tended to disagree, why put garbage fuel in your car if it is only going to go half speed. But, when this situation came up in my personal interactions I couldn't help but side with the author, at least the car is moving. It may not be going 60mph but 30mph is a lot better than 0.
The lesson I took from this? It is important to take steps, even if they are baby steps. Try and commit to one thing until you do it without thinking about it. After that becomes habit take it a step further and expand on the original adjustment. If the first three weeks are spent eating a pop tart for breakfast instead of skipping it all together that's fine. The next three weeks have toast. Then oatmeal. Then eggs, fruit and yogurt. You will get there eventually even if you have to start with the pop tart.
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