Heads Up Driving (and Training)

Even if I’m driving the the car, I will immediately delegate the part of my brain that cares about directions if someone else on board takes the roll of navigator. I won’t pay attention to street signs, orientation, nothing. It’s so bad that when we get to wherever we’re going, I often can’t even begin to retrace our steps back to our origin without help from the navigator. Usually, that’s when the navigator says, “Really? Were you even paying attention on the ride over?”

I’d call this kind of mental absence an efficiency tool. Going into autopilot when there’s someone else in charge of the turn-by-turn directions saves decision making energy, or at least I think it does. And, as long as my handy navigator is with me on the way back (or I can punch the directions in my GPS), I’ll continue my absent minded habit.

Imagine using this technique if your navigator wasn’t returning with you or without a cell phone to save you. It’d be a recipe for disaster and a guarantee to get lost.

Part of your fitness coach’s job is to be your navigator. Yet, if you’re going through the motions in class the way I drive with a navigator, you’ll likely get to where you’re going but two things are certain:

1. You’re likely not learning how to move as much as you are just following directions, and
2. you’ve built a dependency on your coach.

I’m confident enough that we’re good enough at what we do and that we still have enough left in our tool kit to teach you that I can encourage you to go beyond following directions. Learn the damn route! I don’t want you to need someone like me in the room for you to snatch a barbell for the rest of your life. In fact, speaking of travel, it’d be a bit silly (based on all the training you do) that you’d be clueless when left to your own devices in some far away hotel gym. Maybe it’s bad for business to say this, but I don’t want you to be dependent on your coach. In doing so, you’re ignoring the fishing lesson and you’re just eating the fish.

If you think you’re paying for us to work you out, you’re likely overpaying and under-benefiting. We’re educating you how to operate your own body’s machinery. Think of your coach less as another guy with Google Maps, but as a driving instructor. Learn your craft and hit the road.

 

Logan Gelbrich

@functionalcoach