“Rise Up was revelatory. Yes— the process, the food tracking, the weekly pictures, the midway body comp testing all worked.
For me, the goals and numbers and accountability were supported by the caring community that is Results and THAT is what fixes people, what fixed ME and made the experience so successful.”
— RF Warrior Sarah
In the summer of 2016, my daughter started working out at Results Fitness as part of her team’s pre-season field hockey practices. At that point, it had been about 2 years since I’d been in a gym— I was still “working out” but it consisted of cobbled together runs, some workout videos and very infrequent bike rides. The most consistent thing I did was walk my dog every day, which I know he appreciated and I enjoyed but it wasn’t exactly fulfilling my exercise needs.
I had heard about Results before, through a triathlete friend who had rehabbed an injury there and raved about it. It took me until October to screw up the courage to make arrangements with their Office Manager, Mary (about the nicest human being on the planet and who truly set the tone for my experience). I started with 2 semi-privates and 1 private session/week, mostly because I was completely intimidated by group workouts.
By the time talk of the Rise Up program started, I was committed to Results Fitness (RF)— a lot of my strength had returned, my clothes started to fit like I wanted them to, and I felt the occasional return of some athleticism.
I wasn’t sure I liked the idea of Rise Up (goals, measurements, challenges, progress photos, food tracking) but it also interested me; in any event the previous years’ tank tops looked pretty nice and the price was a bargain. I’d also been staring at that damn wall (you know, the “if it doesn’t challenge you, it doesn’t change you….”) long enough to know that the fact that I was hesitating was a sure sign that I should, in fact, sign up.
Honestly, I liked the idea of the performance challenge (I found myself missing competition) but the idea of weigh-in and body comp testing (something I had told Coach Josh in my initial strategy session I DID NOT WANT ANYTHING TO DO WITH…) made me extremely uncomfortable.
I just didn’t want to know…I guess the bottom line is that by the time the Rise Up program started, I had complete trust that when the RF coaches said, “We’ve got your back,” they meant it. I knew I wasn’t going to be judged for my failures and when you’re not judged for them, you know what? YOU FAIL LESS…you don’t beat yourself up about it, because it’s just a blip on the screen and you move on.
I didn’t have to be 100% adherent in my eating, I could hit 80% and that was great. Need a glass of wine? Enjoy it, try not to drink the entire bottle but if you do, we love you anyway! That kind of lack of judgement also made it ok to be 100% honest, which I know is something Dr. Ryan hit on in the opening seminar. Honesty (with yourself, with others) gets Results. So, for me, that was in large part facing the numbers on the scale and on the stupid Omron (that I knew was packing on the bf percentage as soon as Matt told it I was over 50).
I also decided that if I was going to do this thing, I was all in. Which included progress pictures. And OMFG, I thought facing body comp numbers was hard… I think it took me a week and a half to finally send my first week pictures to Matt. I’m certain I made some sort of ugly noise when I hit send— you know, quickly and with my head turned away ‘cause somehow that made it less awkward…
Rise Up was revelatory. Yes— the process, the food tracking, the weekly pictures, the midway body comp testing all worked. Just like coaches Matt and Josh assured us it would. One of my goals, though not one I put up on the goal wall because it seemed dumb, was to get to participate in a group class. I couldn’t find time in my schedule to make group classes work unless I tagged them onto a semi-private session— so, I did a few doubles.
Yes, it looked kind of badass but the reality was that I tried to work against my anti-social self and absorb some of the awesomeness that is the Results Fitness community. I can work my butt off by myself or in a small group, but it was the group classes and the bigger picture at RF that really ended up mattering.
WORDS matter and I cannot tell you the number of times a random comment or a casual conversation (or the words on the RF walls) became foundations of my Rise Up experience. “Great job!” “You look great” “I keep telling your daughter, ‘your mom’s a badass, do you know that?’” “You’re strong!”
It’s the comments we make when we’re not really being intentional that sometimes matter most. I think all of us have had random comments tossed our way that hurt us and that we end up carrying around and giving far too much credence to. Not the case at Results— the positivity and support seep from everywhere and from everyone.
For me, the goals and numbers and accountability were supported by the caring community that is Results and THAT is what fixes people, what fixed ME and made the experience so successful.
I keep thinking back to Jenna’s blog post, where she mentioned something about how everyone is ready to hear different things at different times and that RF evolves along with you, which I think resonated for many of us who did Rise Up 2017…whether it was, finally, hearing through Coach Matt’s mouth something Coach Josh had preached for years, or finally facing and embracing the fact that you cannot out train your diet, or that we need to try try try to not let a ridiculous number on a scale determine our self-worth or our success, you pick up pieces along the way that feed your fitness journey and contribute to your long term health and happiness.
I developed a ritual during Rise Up that’s quick (and hopefully goes unnoticed,) but it really ties together what Results Fitness is about and what Rise Up has taught me. There are a few seconds when I walk in the door and re-read the “Welcome Friend, happy to see your face! Time to be a badass” quote and those words help clear out the noise I might otherwise bring in with me.
I take another few seconds when I leave Results to take a deep breath and acknowledge the hour or two I’ve just spent on ME before I head back to where life is about everyone but me sometimes (kid, aging parent, spouse, dog.)… I don’t take that time for granted anymore, ever.
SARAH’S THOUGHTS HEADING INTO RISE UP 2018
When I wrote this blog, I was fresh from the experience of Rise Up 2017 and only a few months into my time at RF. Now, 10 months later, I have a few thoughts heading into Round 2…this was BY FAR the best money I have spent on myself in years (apologies to Zappos and Amazon).
While the 8 weeks was, in itself, hugely helpful in all of the ways I wrote about, the payoff has continued every day afterwards. I learned a great deal about what works for me in terms of balancing life and fitness. AND, while it’s not always feasible or desirable to be as focused as I was during those 8 weeks, I make far better choices on a daily basis, and I am far less concerned about the consequences of the occasional bad choices (hello bottle of wine). If you’re new to Results Fitness or hesitating or think it’s not worth it, get over all of those doubts and sign yourself up. I can’t wait to revisit and refocus— bring on the fitness challenge!
