Learn What Step #1 is and then DO it!

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This morning, while training a client, I was reminded how language can mislead us or play tricks on our mental image of something we don't quite understand. As I was leading my client through stretches, I explained that the movements we were doing targeted our hip flexors and hamstrings and that ultimately the stretches could be used to gain flexibility to do the splits.

She smiled and said, "Oh! I would love to learn how to do the splits" and I replied, "Well, these stretches are a great start. Just keep at it and do these several times a week."

Her statement left me thinking about how often I hear people say, "I want to learn how to..." when the skill they are looking to learn isn't so much a matter of learning "how" but rather something that can only be gained by persistent training that develops the body.  Recently, at a consultation, a prospective student told me, "I want to learn how to do pull ups. I've tried to do them several times but no one has been able to teach me the technique for me to do even a single pull up!"

Certainly there is some form involved in physical skills and there are training techniques one can learn to hone them. However, most physical skills aren't all that dependent on the "how" as they are dependent on long-term persistent training of the abilities needed to master the skill.

While learning how to connect your Bluetooth speakers to your entertainment center can be mastered through a quick set of instructions, physical skills aren't just a matter of ten steps to completion. There is no simple trick that will suddenly make you strong enough to do a pull-up or flexible and strong enough to do the splits any more than a 30min instructional video on guitar playing will make you the lead guitarists for a band. These skills take physical development and practice. How much training is needed depends on the person's current level of skill and fitness. For example, someone already able to do several pull-ups will learn how to bolder a climbing wall a lot faster than someone who can't do a straight arm hang for more than a few seconds. Yet, when watching American Ninja Warrior on TV, many people are tempted to state, "I would love to compete in that! I just need to lose a couple of pounds and then I would totally do it!" Somehow, there's a tendency to forget about all that upper body strength, flexibility, coordination, explosive jumping power, and all the other athletic skills that take years to develop when imagining such physical feats.

I know that exercise programs sold on late night TV that promise to build incredible muscle mass in just 30 days and Youtube videos promising that you'll learn handstands in a few short weeks using their incredible 8 step system increase the confusion people have over biology of the human machine. Our bodies do change in response to training and they can develop incredibly fast.  However, they develop through training rather than by studying or watching more videos about the skill. Watching videos is a great tool for increasing your motivation to train more but you must still focus on the doing, if you wish to be able to do rather than just know how the doing could be accomplished, should one someday actually decide to do.

Instead of trying to master the intricacies of training for a specific skill, start by learning just one exercise, one song, or one training method and then actually DO it until you master Step #1.  You'll be one step closer to your goal without months of learning "how to" become a master at something you haven't taken a single step to do. 


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