The importance of being being comfortable increases as we get older. It is usually associated with our financial circumstances and our physical environment. The aspiration being that we can slide into retirement with enough money to maintain a ‘comfortable’ life style. Meals out, more than one holiday a year, a new car every few years and the money to treat the grandchildren. It is what we spend our lives working towards.

But comfortable can also be a state of stagnation. And social media is saturated with quotes suggesting that brilliant things can happen if you move outside of your comfort zone. Hence the use of a quote by an American author in my featured image. 

Where fitness is concerned training you need to move out of your comfort zone if you want to get fitter, stronger, leaner. If you do the same thing over and over again expecting a different result you are, according to Einstein, insane. So how do you remain sane. And how do you progress without feeling so uncomfortable that you just want to give up.

I started thinking about this after a chance conversation at my gym a few days ago. I was doing a class where, in groups of three, we progressed through six stations of two exercises plus a short rest. As I was enjoying my rest (20 seconds) I noticed that one of our three was doing a kettlebell swing with a kettlebell that was far to light for her. I commented that it was too easy for her. She laughed and immediately picked up the heavier weight. Now you have to weigh up how such a observation is going to be received. A number of months ago a man at another gym I go to tried to instruct me in what I was doing wrong. He was lucky to come out alive. I exaggerate. But I was offended and made it known that I wasn’t happy. But I felt that my comment to this woman was supportive, not critical. I spoke to the woman at the end of the class to make sure. She admitted that she had stayed at the lower weight as it was ‘comfortable’ but agreed that she needed to challenge herself. I hope that by my observation she felt she could do so with confidence.

It started me thinking about what feeling comfortable in the gym environment means. We want to feel comfortable going to a gym. So many people are put off joining a gym as they believe they are going to be judged. To old, to fat, to unfit. The reality is that everyone is so focused on themselves you won’t be noticed unless you are using a piece of equipment they want. And you want to be feel comfortable enough to challenge yourself. What if I try to lift that heavier weight but I fail? What will people think? Well nothing unless I drop it on my head. 

But where you shouldn’t feel comfortable is in the training you actually do. It should feel challenging and when it starts feeling easy something needs to change to make it challenging again. But it shouldn’t be so challenging that it makes you miserable and dread doing it. This is sometimes a difficult balance.

I spent years and a small fortune faffing about at the gym. I never got any fitter. I very rarely broke into a sweat. I could tell myself and others that I went to the gym but I was just wasting my time. I was too comfortable. So I stayed unfit and overweight.

It is only in the last few years that I have embraced the principle of progressive training. Sometimes I need the encouragement of my personal trainer to do so. But there is such a buzz and sense of achievement when I lift that heavier weight or run that little bit faster. 

And the principle of progression applies to everyone, young and old. There remains a view in society that as we age we should slow down, take things easy. Those that don’t are often viewed as eccentric or maverick. This applies across the board from fashion to fitness. Where fitness is concerned slowing down will prematurely age you. If anything you should up the ante (unless you have a medical condition that prevents you) if you are going to remain functional and vibrant.

Your comfort zone is a great place to be but it is also a place to escape from. I escape four or five times a week. I’m happier and fitter for it.