It’s arguable that our lives nowadays are the most comfortable they have ever been. I think it will only get worse (by worse I mean ‘more comfortable’) in the years to come. Most of the new products or inventions are designed to make life easier or more comfortable.
In the fitness industry the term “comfort zone” is often thrown around and whilst I agree that you need to get out of your comfort zone whilst training, you also need to do this in other parts of your life too…
It’s not reasonable to expect that you can show up-to-the gym 3-5 times a week and be a complete ‘badass’ who can push themselves beyond their limits if you live in total comfort in all the other areas of life. The more comforts we consume as humans, the weaker we become as a race, in my opinion.
We have AC in our homes, AC in our cars, navigation systems everywhere, thousands of $$ mattresses, fluffy pillows, elevators …. the list is endless.
I also consume the majority of these comforts but I do try to do as much as possible to stay slightly out of my comfort zone as I believe it helps me to develop as a person and feel better generally (I also have an Assault bike next to my comfy mattress).
Some of the things I’m going to mention now, I challenge you to do them as much as you can or whenever you think of it:
- Take the stairs more than escalators or elevators – most of the times in large buildings it’s not possible to access the stairs as they are emergency only, however in almost all shopping malls there are stairs next to the escalators – use them!
- Cold showers in the morning, warm showers in the evening – I will write a blog about cold showers but for now use them purely because they suck and make you stronger mentally.
- Don’t always use AC in the car – put the windows down – even if it’s hot – you won’t die.
- Do the workout you really don’t want to – ‘cherry picking’ is always tempting. Doing the things you are afraid of, usually yield the most positive result. Show up and kill it!
There are lots more that can be added to list and if you have any I’d love to hear them in the comments. The aim is to sometimes ditch the comforts and realize they aren’t always needed. Choosing the uncomfortable path will actually make you fitter and improve your life.
Darren