Fitness Part 1: Stinkbug stance meets Vince Lombardi

I’ve met with a trainer, Jeff, four times now. They’ve been very humbling experiences. He's great and, I'm, well, not great.   Our first meeting was short and mainly for him to assess my strength and flexibility. The verdict:  things could be worse. Yay!


Then came the actual work-outs – they’ve kicked my butt, but imagine my surprise to find I could actually do them. So that’s the good news, I don’t suck. But boy, do I have a lot of work ahead of me.  Going into this I knew it would be a challenge, but I think I may’ve forgotten just how hard a serious work-out can be. Or, more likely, I never knew.  The work-outs have been grit and grunt, limb-quivering  affairs requiring every ounce of strength and determination I’ve got. Collapsing in a puddle halfway through a set of exercises in front of Jeff is not an option for me.  On the plus side, I have to focus and concentrate so hard that the time flies.



The bad news is “stuff” happens. I know this is not a news flash, but somehow I thought that drive alone would give me a straight shot to my goal.   But already injury, illness and weather have messed up my plans and shown me that the road to the surfboard is going to have some detours from the neat little map I had in my head.


Over the past few weeks I’ve had to contend with a strained back (gardening), a strain on my side (working out), a week-long cold (courtesy of my six year old), then one more backache from planting swiss chard (which will totally be worth it). I was all ready to dive in the pool and swim laps over Memorial weekend when rumbling thunder and the chance of lightening shut down the pool for half an hour. Twice.  No work out that day. When plans have fallen through I’ve ended up feeling defeated and anxious.


I don’t want to miss a work-out. I feel like I can’t. My goal is date specific – by early August I’ll be at surf camp and need to be ready. This is a huge challenge for me and, unfortunately, “stuff” is going to continue to happen that will derail my daily plans. I’m going to need a tough mindset that’ll help me push through all the physical, mental and emotional obstacles that’ll be coming my way this summer.


I’m going to adopt the psychological equivalent of a stinkbug stance. Used by beginners or experienced surfers struggling in a big wave, a stinkbug stance is the best stance to take to simply hang in there and keep moving forward. That’s what I need to do. When life interferes with my well-laid training plans and I’m feeling ticked off and defeated, I need to step into a strong, determined mindset. Times like that may even require digging back to my Green Bay childhood for a Vince Lombardi mantra or, better yet, a rousing rendition of the Packers fight song. Cause one thing is for sure, I too am a fightin' fool and I plan to crash that wave with all my might.