Did you know we all have blind spots? The way the eye is designed we have a space that has no photo receptors and so we have a blind spot in what we are looking at. Now the brain being a.ma.zing. fills in the picture for us so we don't walk around with a black circle in the middle of our field of vision. It's not perfect and sometimes makes mistakes (there are some cool blind spot tests online you can do to see, or not see as the case may be, for yourself) but it does a really good job of making a picture whole so we don't even notice the blind spot most of the time.
The side planks happen about 15 minutes before the end of the work out. I have to use my left leg as leverage to get them done. I can do them on the left side, they are hard, but I can do them. On the right? Nothing.
Have you ever passed out? You know that moment right before it happens when everything starts to shut down? Your body knows it's going down and is shunting everything to your core and your vision goes gray around the edges. You end up with just a narrow field of vision. Tunnel vision. You can't see or notice anything around you except that narrow band. And then it either clears or you pass out.
Now at that point I'm already over an hour in to my workout. I've done my yoga, I've done a ton of arm workout and because it's Karen Voight I've already worked my abs in 5 other ways. And I know that after these side planks there is going to be another set of ab work that I can't make it all the way through as well. The side plank is like the warning shot to my ego that I am going to collapse in just a little bit in to a shaky, sweaty, pool of goo.
So between the blind spots that are always there and the tunnel vision that can creep up on you at anytime you aren't feeling your best it's kind of amazing we see as well as we do. And it's really amazing how much faith we put in to our clarity of vision. Even knowing we have blind spots and can suffer from tunnel vision we still believe what we are seeing is true.
It's incredibly frustrating. Couple that with the half pound I've gained in the past month of doing these workouts and I'm ready to toss the whole thing out the window. Oh and don't forget the added benefit of swimsuit shopping this past weekend and trying to fit my body in to the "standard" mold and finding that there is nothing "standard" about it. And...
Okay, you get the point right? Blind spots and tunnel vision. I get so focused on the side planks that I can't do that I forget to celebrate what I can do. For instance, this morning I switched my heavy weights from last week down to my light weights and picked up a set of heavier weights for my heavy ones. Bottom line, I'm stronger than I was. That last set of ab work I can't get through? I can get about 3/4 of the way there when three weeks ago I was at about 1/4. Even the dreaded side planks. I can "cheat" with my left leg as leverage. Couldn't do that three weeks ago. We get so focused on what we can't do, or want to do better we don't see what is really going on.
That's my arm post workout. See those lines? Those are muscles. Look harder, they are there! Now it's only bent and not flexed because if I try and flex it right then it shakes like a bowl of jelly. The muscles are tired. But they are getting stronger. And that's what I need to think about the next time those damn side planks kick my ass. I'm getting stronger every day. And every time I fail at finishing that last set of abs it just means an opportunity to get them done next time. Or the time after that. How ever many times it takes to get it done.
If I decide that I can't before I pay attention to what I can then I'm letting the blind spot and the tunnel vision rule my world. And who wants that? I'd rather fill in the blanks with what I want to see. So next time when I'm doing the side planks and they aren't going well I'm going to try my best to change that inner monologue from "And I STILL have 15 minutes to go!" to "Only 15 more minutes and then cool down. I'm almost done!" And eventually I will get to the point where I will reach the end and realize I did it all.
Don't let your blind spots ruin your day today. Fill in your own blanks. Widen that tunnel vision and see something positive around the edges.
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