The Power of the Buddy System

This is always a difficult time for people to keep working out and eating right. Everywhere you turn there is a plate of cookies and plenty of reasons to not take the time to work out.

I am as human as anyone else, have the same excuses and temptations, and just plain don't feel like working out sometimes. Add to that an injured shoulder and shin splints that just started creeping up and I've got more than enough excuses to put my workouts off until I feel like doing them again. That's just how it is.

One of the only things keeping me on track right now is knowing that other people are looking to me for guidance with their health and fitness goals. They say that life is 10 percent what happens to you and 90 percent what you do about it. If my example to my family, friends, and people I coach is to give up when things get tough, then that's exactly what I would expect to see from them.

There are also a lot of people who motivate me. People like Jesse, who I coach. Jesse has done three rounds of P90X and is in phase two of his fourth round. Every time he gets done with a round of P90X he jumps right back in and finds ways to work around a busy schedule. My Team Beachbody workout Buddy Lynn, who works nights as a 911 dispatcher. Working out literally paid off as she won the $500 daily prize this week for logging her workout in the Online SuperGym. Fred and Rob, who have shown me how fit and ripped you can be into your 50's. Fred just won the monthly Beachbody Challenge, transforming his body after a total hip replacement, and Rob is still running times in track meets that I wish I could run now. I've mentioned IceBandit before and my quest to match his Insanity fit test numbers. I did the fit test this past week and used his numbers as my challenge again. I don't know that I would have pushed myself nearly as much without knowing that he did it, and so could I.

I could go on and on, but these are just some of the people who are my workout Buddies. They inspire me and give me motivation to keep going and push harder. I know that peer support is a major piece of the puzzle to keep going when times are tough. Hopefully I help to keep my Buddies and people I coach accountable, because I know that they do that for me.

Happy New Year.