Bright Side of Change

Two quotes as a frame of reference for this post.

Times they are a changin! - Bob Dylan

You can't control a situation, you can only control how you react to the situation - Fritz Pfister, My Dad

I love coaching! I love helping people, problem solving, and being active. I love coaching small group classes because I can help multiple people at once, crack dad jokes, and connect with the class.

I also love the community group fitness classes create. People are brought together in ways that invoke building of bonds. People are more natural, vulnerable, and uplyfting. They wake up early, they are on diets, they're very publicly making their body struggle to hit a lift, they're cheering each other on, and making endless jokes and small talk.

Though we cannot control the current situation, we can control how we react to it.

Though we are not gathering at the physical gym location, I urge a positive outlook for the for-now normal.

There are still early classes -- Bodymass holds a 630 a.m. virtual class (and noon and 6 pm).

• Bright Side: No commute to the gym, no packing a bag, no rushing to shower and rushing to commute to work. Cutting down on that harried, stressed lifestyle -- bueno.

• Bright Side Bonus: Bodymass' reach is now global -- anyone across the country can join and we can have tons of people streaming at once!

People are still struggling with the workouts -- Bodymass' virtual classes are a still the same difficult progressive strength training program, weights are just optional.

• Bright Side: You're "deloading" your joints by not using weights. You won't lose all your gains. You're probably going to feel great when you get back to heavy weights.

People are still on Bodymass nutrition plans to reach their goals -- whether that's to lose body fat, maintain lean mass, and put on muscle muscle mass.

• Bright Side: More of our members now have better access to nutrition coaching thru ProCoach, an app developed by Precision Nutrition, our trusted partner in nutrition. This increases our reach and increases members' ability to stay accountable and learn better habits in self-care.

People are still publicly cheering each other on.

• Bright Side: the Teambuildr lifting app tracks everyone and has leader boards, message boards, and an interface to help everyone stay connected about their lifts.

People are still making jokes and small talk -- it's just done virtually now.

• Bright Side: Instagram and group texts connect us from anywhere in the world at any time, regardless of physical location. My connection with the group isn't dependent on being at the gym at 6 a.m. and that's amazing!

I can still make dad jokes to the virtual class.

• It's OK that I can't hear the uproarious laughter, my dad jokes are for my entertainment anyway.