LESSONS LEARNED FROM MS FRIZZLE

 

 

I bet some of you may not have known this, but one of the most valuable scholars on the topic of achieving physical transformation was affectionally referred to as “the Friz”.  I am, of course, referring to “Ms Frizzle” of “The Magic Schoolbus” fame.

 

Seen here, close grip benching 405lbs

 

Allow me to tell you a story gentle reader.  COVID had descended upon us.  It was the spring of 2020, and I was informed that, suddenly, the academic education of my child had become my and my wife’s responsibility, as children would no longer be attending school physically.  My wife and I are both college educated, with masters degrees in political science related field.  My child was quite young.  We could muddle our way through math, absolutely crush social studies, I was a hellacious Physical Education teacher…but then came “science”.  And despite “science” being in the name of my bachelors and masters, I was WAY out of my element.  So…we outsourced.  We went with “edutainment”, and in doing so blazed our way through “The Magic Schoolbus” on Netlflix.  And during my very first observation of the program, I heard the most fantastic quote ever that will ensure the success of any trainee pursuing physical perfection.

 

“Take chances, make mistakes, get messy!”

Sometimes we do all 3 at once!

 

F**k me, we let our kids watch this stuff?!  SHE’S GIVING AWAY THE SECRETS!  And on that note: how sad is it that this secret was being shared on a children’s television program from the 90s and there are adults out there who will grow old and die and NEVER realize the power of this sentiment?

 

Take chances, make mistakes, get messy: you could have no better guidance on how to achieve transformation: physical, emotional, mental, spiritual or otherwise.  One does not change by doing what they have always done: that is stasis.  Maintaining the status quo gets you exactly that: what you’ve been getting up until this point.  The assumption is that, if one is pursuing physical transformation, it is because they are UNSASTIFIED with their current situation.  One does not seek to change that which they are satisfied with.  And so, if we acknowledge that: why is there so much FEAR when it comes to taking chances, making mistakes and getting messy?

Did he take a chance, make a mistake and get messy?  Absolutely.  Be he wasn't afraid..

 

Why are so many trainees absolutely PETRIFIED at the perspective of doing something “sub-optimally?”  Such to the point that they will outsource their decision making to a bunch of people who have FAILED TO ACHIEVE THE VERY GOALS THEY HAVE?!  Hey, look, I slum on a lot of forums, primarily because I have the attention span of a ferret on triple espresso yet also obsessive tendencies that compel me to lock in on one topic forever.  As much as I hate training, I love interacting over it, because its such a part of my life.  But the sheer statistical truth of the matter is that all forums are going to have a significantly greater percentage of the population that is NOT succeeding than succeeding.  Very often, the successful people stop hanging out because…they got what they needed.  They learned the secrets and are good to go.  The people that remain are the new blood that are in search for the answers and the very few diehards that, due to some compulsion, remain and answer questions.  THIS IS NOT A GOOD SOURCE OF INFORMATION.  The signal-to-noise ration will be horrible.  These places are for education: not entertainment (future blogpost to follow on that one), yet trainees will be so afraid of making their OWN mistake that they’ll just let a stranger make it for them.  HUH?!  How is that in any way better?

 

EMBRACE the joy that is dissatisfaction: when we are truly unsatisfied, ANY change is a good one.  This gives us full license to “take chances, make mistakes, get messy!”  What’s the worse that could happen?  We already don’t like our situation: A change will be good.  If it’s a positive one: even better.  But god forbid we do something and regress: NOW we know what DOESN’T work.  Do you have ANY idea how incredibly valuable that knowledge is?  There are dudes out there who won’t decide on a training program for a YEAR because they don’t know what DOESN’T work.  If you stuck with a training program for a solid 12 weeks and then evaluated it, you could know at least FOUR different ways that don’t work by the time that dude tries his FIRST attempt to discover that.  And hell: you might accidentally find one that works within those 48 weeks and just decide to stick with it.  What a novel concept.

And some are good to just make one mistake and repeat it for the full year...

 

This quote from the Friz is so amazing because it speaks to so much.  Action and experience: INVALUABLE assets to physical transformation.  Without action, change simply will not occur.  One must go get messy.  From mistakes, we gain experience, and from experience, we discover how to affect the transformation we want to affect.  And both the action and the experience necessitate taking chances!  There is NO reward for failing to take a chance: not for someone who is truly dissatisfied with their current existence.  If your status quo is worth protecting, then protect it, but if you are seeking a means of transformation, the Friz has outlined the 3 things you need to do.

 

And essential to this process is removing the ego.  When we make mistakes in our process of taking chances and getting messy, we do not take it personally.  We LEARN.  What went wrong?  WHY did it go wrong?  What was the outcome of the wrongness?  Was there ANY value added from this process?  It cannot simply be “I suck” or “This program sucks”: WHY do we and the program suck?  The only bad mistake is the one we don’t learn from, otherwise, they are BLESSINGS.  Every injury we receive as a result of taking chances and getting messy is an opportunity to grow in MANY ways.  When I blew out my ACL, my dad commented on just how big my upper body had gotten the next time he saw me, because I got to spend a LOT of time and energy figuring out how to maximize that new opportunity.  I learned SO much.  Chasing after a 275lb keg press by eating everything that wasn’t nailed down taught me a LOT about nutrition when I went on a multimonth fat loss cycle to undo the damage.  Oh, and I also hit a lifetime strict press PR before that, so that was a great mistake to make. 

NSFW for language...can't control what comes out sometimes

 

And what’s funny about that is I will keep picking up injuries and ouchies and I’ve been training for 22 years.  And so far, it doesn’t look like I’ll stop soon.  So THAT’S the kind of longevity you can get in this game while getting hurt a bunch from making mistakes, which means that I had 22 years of opportunities to take chances, make mistakes and get messy and, in turn, I learned SO much.  You dudes that are worrying about taking chances because of the fear it will affect your longevity in the game: all you’re doing is wasting time.  You have SO many opportunities ahead of you: if you “waste” 6 months on something, you won’t even experience the impact of that loss 3 years from now.  Yet, if you spent those 3 years and 6 months doing the same thing you’ve always done because you’re afraid to take chances, make mistakes and get messy, you will be SO far behind what you could have been.  You’ll be 3 years and 6 months removed from learning, growing, evolving and transforming. 

 

Take chances, make mistakes, get messy.  If elementary school kids can figure that out, you can too.