I haven’t been very good about updating this blog lately (again). I’ve felt that I must have something deep and insightful (or at least somewhat enlightening) to say about fitness or life if it is going to be worth readers’ time. But in reading other blogs — particularly fitness blogs — lately, I have realized a few things:
1. A lot of people are very poor writers.
2. Most people don’t have something new and exciting to say; they just figure out a new perspective from which to say it or highlight a very specific detail.
3. Sometimes that new perspective strikes a chord. Even if it’s not deep or incredibly enlightening, I can learn by thinking about something from a new perspective.
Case in point: I read a fitness blog recently in which the writer detailed his “laws of fitness.” It seems every celebrity trainer (or celebrity trainer wanna-be) has such “laws.” The “laws” are usually pretty similar, but trainers will latch onto something to try to stand out (like the amount of protein you should ingest or high intensity workouts or some new fitness trend). They come at foundational fitness principles with a slightly tweaked perspective in the hopes of striking a chord with readers. (Aha! that’s what this blogging thing might be about.)
So, in this 
particular rendition of the Fitness- Laws-According-to-Stud-Trainer one thing that struck a chord for me was that the mirror is more important than the scale. Clearly, as a trainer, I know that my clients should not be fixated on a number on the scale. Two people can weigh “the same” but look very different and have different fitness levels. I usually talk to my clients about body fat vs. lean muscle mass or, with women especially, how their pants fit. The former concept is not concrete enough for most people and the latter, I’ve learned from personal experience, is too arbitrary. How many of us have pants that have the same “size” on the label but fit our bodies differently? How can a person judge results or progress based on a inconsistent measure?
The mirror idea struck a chord for me. As I said, I know the number on the scale shouldn’t be the most important piece of data — so this “law” was not particularly enlightening — but the idea of encouraging them to look at themselves and see their progress is a new way of thinking about results for me to share with my clients.
I bookmarked Stud-Trainer’s blog. In addition to giving me a new perspectives from which to consider and share fitness, he has shown me that I do not have to have renaissance ideas before sitting down to write. I can just look in the proverbial mirror, see my progress and that of my clients, and share my perspective.