With fitness, comparison is the thief of joy
When it comes to health and fitness, comparison is something we all do to some extent, even without realising it.
Have you found yourself wishing your car was as flashy or as sporty as your neighbour’s? Or beaten yourself up for not running as fast as the person that overtook you? Seen a super slim Instagram influencer and sighed because that’s not how you look?
Like everything in life, comparison has its place, when used to evaluate specific data, like in a research lab, or deciding which flavour of ice cream you prefer!
On a serious note, and I thank my client Yvonne for bringing this up, a common issue I see when people are training is them comparing their physical abilities against other gym-goers and clients.
Judging themselves because they can just about lift a pair of light dumbbells whilst the person next to them is lifting 50kg on a barbell. If we choose to allow ourselves to think in this fashion, we can quickly become disillusioned and give up.
So please take this as a reminder that the maximum weight you lift is all good and well, but balance it with a pinch of caution and sense. Don’t compare yourself to another person and dismiss what you are lifting, every one of us is running a different race.
All of the following factors in, we have:
Different body compositions
Different genders
Different ages
Different physical backgrounds of activity
Different mindsets
Different levels of gym experience
Different history of illness and injury
Different genetics
Different work and outside life commitments
Different drives and ambitions
What one person loves, another hates, and what one person finds easy can be nigh on impossible for the next. A single mum working two jobs to make ends meet, while still finding time to be with their children, will find it incredibly difficult to match a student in their twenties with lots of spare time on their hands.
A father in his fifties who spends 40 hours a week sitting at a desk, and then hours commuting, will have different priorities than a single guy at 30 who works on a building site.
We each have to work within what we find possible in our own personal situations.
The point is not to compare ourselves to others, but to compare ourselves only to ourselves.
The goal should only ever be to be better than you were personally a month or year ago etc. The total number of weight you lift is irrelevant. I would much rather we focused on our lifts as percentages of our OWN weight when lifting, because that is a fairer comparison.
A 100kg person lifting 100kg is impressive to be sure, however, a 60kg person lifting 60kg is equally impressive when talking power to weight ratios - and that is what strength is all about.
So big yourself up when you manage one more rep than last week, or sneak a single kilogram on that barbell lift, and know that all you have to strive for is to be as good or better than you were before.
Congratulate the strong folks of course, but remember that they have been on their own path, a kilo or a rep at a time.
Be patient, and be proud of your own progress.
