Today I’m writing about myself. I enjoy reflecting on my clients and their stories, but today I can’t help but think of the workout I put together for my TRX-KB class. I’ve never felt my arms shake that much during a workout. I was on TRX doing chest press and I literally felt my arms failing me.

There is a lot of science in exercise. We know a ton about the body and its response to physical activity. But sometimes things just add up and you don’t know what is going on. I’ve done similar workouts for over three months, and this one was throwing me for a loop. It makes me think about my clients and how I respond when they aren’t quite “on.” Sometimes there simply isn’t an explanation. Even at 3:30, nine hours after my workout, I can feel the affect. To be honest, I’m kind of dreading the soreness I expect tomorrow.

Sarah sent me this message today.

I’m so excited that they are excited.

Working out is hard. Excuses are easy. When life gets in the way, when life gets difficult, many people find ways to skip the gym. Yesterday a client tested me that a meeting had been scheduled for him and he needed to reschedule. He and I meet three times per week. Wouldn’t it be easy to say, “the other two times this week will do. That’s enough for me.”

Nope.

He asked if I had any other times available. We made it work.

Wanna know an even cooler part? His wife trains with me also. She had a conflict also. And lunch plans. She changed the lunch plans so she and I could still train together. This husband and wife want to get it done!

I’ve said it before, life is a series of adjustments. I admire the people in life who take adversity in stride and make their adjustments to keep pursuing their goals.

“Where did you learn that one?”

Over the weekend I did some homework. I have quite a few clients that can’t do all the jumping and pounding of the typical HIIT workouts. So I decided to learn some new exercises in the battle ropes.

Dennis is one of my favorite clients. He’s 69 years old and he works out like he’s 39. I often complement that his motor runs high. No matter what I throw at him, his approach to our workouts is always the same: “Ok, fine. I can do that.”

Do you know the fastest way to increase people’s heart rate? Make them go uphill. Or up stairs. Here, Dennis is doing a core component of our workout. I have him do one or two flights of stairs (sometimes with weight, sometimes without) and rest accordingly before we repeat. Sometimes I overload him and he has to rest on the bench outside the staircase. But today, he crushed this set at the end of our workout.

Sports provide the perfect analogies for life. That’s why when I was thinking about the title for my original blog, I landed on Hans’ Game Plan. Each week, the Green Bay Packers have a game plan. They’ve scouted the opponent, they know their own team’s strengths and weaknesses, and the result is a game plan for Sunday’s competition. Coach McCarthy can’t prepare for (literally) every situation the team will face on game day. But he has plays he wants to run. He has defensive objectives to try to stop a certain facet of the opponent’s offense. If they have to run a 2-minute drill or get a 2-point conversion, those plays are mostly scripted. They have a plan.

Wellness should be executed the same way. What are your strengths? Where are you weak? What is your objective for next 30 days? The next six months? Where do you want to be in one year? You don’t have to have a marathon or Ironman on your calendar to justify this type of training. But the Packers take their opponent seriously, and they gave a game plan. Do you?

For this 30-day challenge, I have developed a game plan to strengthen my creative muscles. Through iPhone pictures and written words, I’m telling my fitness story here on my blog. I am going to tell the story of my clients at Pinnacle Health and Fitness.I’m sharing pieces of my training philosophy. I’m working on my fitness brand. The original inspiration for this is nanowrimo. But as a true artist, I know the rules and now I’m breaking them. I’m not a fiction writer. I’m an exercise specialist. And this is my game plan.