Functional fitness training is great for improving your physical health, but the more we know about stress and emotional health, the more we see that the whole darn thing is all connected.
Exercise relieves stress, improves symptoms of depression, promotes emotional well-being, etc.
Which got me thinking... maybe it could work the other way. Maybe working on my emotional health would help me with my Handstand Push-Ups!
Hear me out, 'cause I know that just sounded all kinds of crazy.
I recently took a pretty amazing personality test that my friends and I have gotten WAY into.
It's called the Enneagram.
The Enneagram is an eerily accurate test, and it shows you areas of personal development that will allow you to become healthier, as well as directions to stay away from to avoid becoming dysfunctional.
There are lots of tests out there (enough googling will turn up a free one), but I took the RHETI Enneagram test at www.enneagraminstitute.com, and it seems to be well respected.
The result?
I am personality type #3., A.K.A. "The Achiever."
Which means I have this ugly part of my personality that makes me care a whole lot about what others think of me, and that I can get SUPER competitive.
If I'm behaving like an average, or unhealthy 3, I'll skip workouts that I know I won't do well in (particularly HSPU). I'll feel embarrassed if I have to scale a workout. I'll criticize the form of others to explain away my shortcomings...etc.
If I'm taking steps to become a healthy 3, I'll be more self accepting, humble, able to laugh at myself, and authentic.
In short, I'll have the type of attitude that will allow me to show up on HSPU days. I'll accept that I have a weakness to improve, and humbly heed the trainer's advice on how to scale appropriately, and improve.
...and you thought I was crazy to think a personality test could make my HSPU better :)
Anywho, here is where I stop talking about me, and let you do you. I'm a 3. You may not be. You may have some entirely different emotional hang-up that is affecting your life.
You may take the Enneagram test. You may have another way of taking steps toward personal development. The point is this: IT'S ALL CONNECTED!
We need to remember that showing up and doing work isn't ALL there is to being healthy. There's nutrition, stress management, spiritual soul care, relationships, work-life balance, etc.
I think we'd all do well to take some time to look at ALL our weaknesses, and put in some work to make our ENTIRE self more functional.
That's all for now. Shoot us an email if you take the Enneagram- One of our favorite things is to geek out over our numbers!
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P.S. We normally try to tie our blog post into the need for fitness gear, but we're having a really hard time here. We do however sell jump ropes, and other stuff we hope you'll love :)
Click below to shop around, and see what you see!
