Comparing Yourself to Others

Hey, guys. Today I wanted to write about the importance of not comparing yourself to others, whether you're in or out of the gym. This is something we all face as athletes, but also in our everyday lives. As humans, we naturally use comparison as a unit of growth. We compare ourselves to others, which to an extent, is completely normal. Often, this keeps us on our toes- in competition, for example. However, as naturally as it may come to us, it's not always healthy.

 

The problem occurs when we begin to compare our "start" to someone else's "middle". I remember the first time my boyfriend took me to the gym (probably about two years ago) and I experienced a traumatizing comparison moment. He insisted that I try the lying leg press without any weights at all, although I had already made up my mind that I couldn't do it. I was terrified, so naturally, I dropped it on my first rep and immediately crawled out from under it in shame. I then saw another girl put two plates on each side and nonchalantly rep out her sets. I was so embarrassed that I literally started crying on the spot. How could she get THAT much weight, and I couldn't get ANY? My boyfriend then explained to me that he was almost positive she had been in the gym for a while and had worked her way up, just like I would if I kept trying. Of course, being the stubborn female I am, I didn't believe him, so for the longest time I never stepped foot near that machine, and instead used the seated leg press, which I knew I could do. One day, a couple months later, I was teaching my friend how to work out, and she asked about the machine. Terrified, but determined, I climbed under the leg press. I mean, I had been using the other machine for months and worked my way up to about 100 lbs- so I HAD to be able to do 45 on the lying one, right? RIGHT. I did it. I had worked my way up to the "big girl leg press", as I called it (and still do :P). I was on my way to being the girl I had seen months ago, repping out 200+ like nobody's business. And now, I AM her.

 

Anyways, the moral of this story is that you never know anyone else's story. You don't know how experienced they are, or how genetically inclined they are, or anything about them. You cannot define a person by how much more or less than you they can lift. You should never be discouraged when you get on a machine and have to move the weight down; you should never feel superior when you have to move it up. Honestly, the only comparison you should make is to who you were yesterday. That's it. I know it's difficult. I got discouraged today because I was struggling to bench what someone else was getting easily. But then I reminded myself that if I keep pushing myself, I'll be there one day, too.