TLDR: “It doesn’t get easier, you get stronger”. I saw a sign up in a gym the other day that said this and I’m trying to decide if I like it or not. I think you can look at it a couple of different ways. I think depending on what it is, “it doesn’t get easier, you get stronger” can make sense. At the same time, I think saying “it gets easier BECAUSE you get stronger” is also accurate. Either way, the moral of the story is, YOU GET STRONGER.
The other day I was in a gym, and I was staring at the giant sign that says “It doesn’t get easier, you get stronger”. I had noticed it before and hadn’t put too much thought into it, but that day it was really intriguing me. I kept reading it over and over and thinking about different scenarios in my head that made the quote true and that made the quote false. I could make it both ways.
I don’t know the person who said this or who decided to print it on a giant poster and put it in a gym, so I can’t speak for them. Having said that, the fact that it is in a gym where people are generally working on becoming a stronger version of themselves, I have to imagine that this sign was put up to help to motivate people in that sense. If you have ever started a new workout routine (in a gym or not), you know how difficult everything feels at first. It’s hard to get to the gym, it’s hard to lift weights, it’s hard to use the cardio machines. You feel every muscle in your body being sore for the next couple of days and you start questioning “why am I doing this to myself?”. And then over time, it feels easier. And in my head I’ve always thought about it that it does just get easier. Which then we make harder and we continue on with that process. But I think the “motivation” piece behind this poster is that something that you did on your first day in the gym, will be easy in 6 months from now if you were to do it again, because you are so much stronger.
I think this applies to the gym, to physical therapy, to mental health, to day to day life, to everything. Things in general don’t just get easier. Think about reading, which is probably something you do every day in some capacity - reading texts, emails, posts on social media, books, etc. When we were kids, those letters and words were gibberish. Then we started learning and practicing and our brains became better at recognizing each letter, and then putting the letters together into a word and then putting words together into sentences and so on and so forth. That didn’t JUST get easier to read automatically. You put the work in as a kid for your brain to continue to grow and expand and learn and be stronger to help you to be able to do that task that you now use every single day. Reading got easier BECAUSE your brain got stronger.
It’s interesting though because sometimes feeling like things are never going to be easier can cause depression and/or anxiety and even a feeling of dread. Nobody wants something to be difficult all of the time. It’s like we as humans need to know that something is going to get easier at some point. My physical therapy is going to get easier for my hip over time right? I won’t always feel this way or this struggle when I go to do a movement that I could do 6 months ago with no difficulty - it’s going to get easier at some point. And it does - because you push your body and your muscles and your body adapts and gets stronger. If I was just sitting around doing nothing for my rehab besides hoping that things would get better and easier on their own, nothing would be easy for me at this point. You have to get stronger first and then the things that were once hard, become a little bit easier, and you can push yourself to a different level of difficulty.
I think it’s important to recognize though that things do in fact get easier - at least the way that I think about it. Yes, things get easier BECAUSE you get stronger. And then you can make them more difficult if you want. But at some point you can sit back and recognize the fact that something that used to be difficult to you is no longer difficult because of the work and effort you have put in. We don’t always need to be looking to make things more difficult - we can accept the fact that it’s okay that something is easy, because we took the time and energy to make it easy with that work we put in. Own the fact that yes, something got easier for you because you got stronger.
Keep in mind, I know that I am overthinking this sign at the gym. I know it was probably just meant to be motivational for everybody who goes there! This is the way my brain works when I see something like that though, because something motivational can also cause somebody to feel defeated as well, without meaning to. Your experience at the gym, at physical therapy, whatever it is, isn’t always going to be the same level of easy or difficult. It will be constantly evolving. Just know that we don’t always have to have something that is always going to be making something challenge - it is perfectly acceptable, and even recommended, that we accept the things that are easy and know why they are easy to us and enjoy that fact for a bit! Then, if you want to push yourself further into something that will start off more difficult for you, go for it! But take the time to recognize what has become easy for you because you have gotten stronger.
Anyways, is anybody else overthinking this sign as much as I am or do you think not a lot of thought went in behind it and it was just meant to motivate people to come to the gym and get physically stronger?! Let me know!
The moral of all of this though - is as long as you put the work in, you get stronger!
If you want to talk more about this concept and/or you need a physical therapist to help you through your pre-hab, rehab, or injury prevention or maximize your performance, do me a favor and email us today at livewithoutlimitspt@gmail.com and give us a follow on Instagram.com!
Thanks for being here!
Dr. Katie
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