Last weekend I attended a fitness camp in San Diego for Miss Cathe Friedrich. She is my fitness idol, a woman who has made a living producing home workout VHS tapes and DVDs. I have watched her on FIT TV and video since I was 14, getting fit in my living room with my sister and also taking notes on how she teaches, instructs, and motivates. Cathe has an uncanny ability to encourage each of her students to work harder, longer, and to push pass what you had thought were your physical capabilities. In the three days that I had the pleasure of working out with her and the 100 other woman who have followed her since she exploded onto the fitness industry, it was clear to me that she was not just a fitness instructor and a master of exercise program development. Cathe is a fitness icon who has helped each of those woman discover their potential.
Amongst the 100 attendees there were extreme athletes, weekend warriors, mothers of 4, personal trainers, baby boomers, generation x'ers, recovering alcoholics, divorcees, yogis, woman who have lost more than 50lbs and woman who were just beginning to make fitness a lifestyle. Though we all came from different backgrounds, the common denominators were Cathe, fitness, and the desire to fit exercise into our busy schedules. Each woman had a personal story of exercise and possessed a unique interpretation of what health and fitness meant to them.
I never heard one woman say I work out for a 6 pack! And Miss Cathe doesn't teach baring her mid-section, though she is ripped and lean and absolutely FIT. It was comforting to hear her say "things have changed since I have had kids."
What I heard were individual stories of how these woman opened the door to their potential. That's what stuck with me throughout the weekend. Whether it was about getting up at 3:30am to fit a workout in before the kids woke up, or going to the gym during their lunch break and taking a Pump class, or coming home at night, fixing dinner for the family and then doing a Cardio Circuit DVD right before they went to bed, each woman made it a priority to commit to get fit. And it was not easy for these woman to exercise every day and prepare nutritional meals for the week. I was one of the only ones who did not have children or was not married. Though I do work long hours and six days a week, my struggle as a personal trainer to get her own workout in was quickly humbled by the many mothers of four who also worked part or full time. Talk about a perspective change!
Potential is possibility. It is the capability of becoming. It is a latent excellence that has yet been discovered and developed. Reaching your potential requires hard work, dedication, an unwavering commitment to the task at hand, realistic goals, a plan of action, and most importantly - as demonstrated during the first Step class of the weekend - heart. ( I am still sore from that class!) Potential is personal. We each have our very own interpretation of potential and how we will strive to be the very best we can be. It will vary day to day as well, even month to month, and especially year to year. Yet, what does not change is that each of us possess potential. It is just a matter of defining what that personally means to each of us.
How will you commit to get fit? How will you open the door to your potential?
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