The Straight Dope on Pithy Motivational Quotes (Part II)

As we begin a new year & a running blogger's fancy turns to thoughts of goal-setting and motivation, I am reminded of the deluge of Pithy Motivational Quotes with which my social media feed and I will no doubt soon be assaulted. If you missed the first round of this last January, I'll refer you to that post for a recap of my position on the matter. Though this kind of sums it up nicely:

Without further ado: The Straight Dope on Pithy Motivational Running/Fitness Quotes.

Pithy Quote:

Real Talk: There is a pretty remarkable correspondence between those who TRAIN INSANE!!!1! & those who end up sidelined with an injury and/or a chronic case of burnout. The only reliable exceptions are 1) legitimately baddass, seasoned athletes who have gradually worked their way up over time to a training schedule that may look to outsiders like !!INSANITY!! but in reality is completely appropriate given that particular athlete's background and experience, and 2) people who are convinced their schedule is a lot more !!INSANE!! than it actually is. Also, there's an enormous spectrum between !!TRAIN INSANE!! and 'remain the same.' But I guess "Reasonable and responsible plan taking into consideration both current fitness/ability level and achievable goals, or remain the same!" doesn't quite have the same ring to it.

Pithy Quote:

Real Talk: This lady has clearly never been in an outdoor hot tub in January with a beer after six hours of skiing. (Also, sometimes workouts just make you feel like ass. That makes you normal.)

Pithy Quote:

Real Talk: Isn't the definition of insanity doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results? I mean, yes, as with most of this stuff, I see the tiny grain of truth they're getting at; day-to-day progress is not usually noticeable and it takes time to see measurable improvement, but if you really aren't seeing progress with a training plan or whatever over a reasonable time period, that is actually a very good reason to stop & see about doing something different.

Pithy Quote:

Real Talk: No, dude. Just....no. I mean I can see the first line if we're talking about racing or hard intervals or what have you, but if something hurts when you stop, either literally or figuratively, you probably need a) a medical professional or b) a good shrink.

Pithy Quote:

Real Talk: If this is true, I can only assume you only ever go on very, very easy runs.

Pithy Quote:

Real Talk: Again...I mean I see what you're getting at here, but I can't be the only one here spotting some real logical inconsistencies. Limits are by definition things you can't defy. That's why they're called limits. It's one thing to believe your limit was x, and then find out through hard work & determination that, no, in fact, x is not your limit at all. Which is awesome! But that is not a case of defying your limits; it is a case of finding that what you believed to be your limit actually was not, which is not the same thing. I also think that a big part of growing up and becoming an adult is pushing your boundaries and doing a little exploration in order to find out what, exactly, those limits are so that you don't find yourself unexpectedly crashing into them. (Been there. Done that. Not recommended.) Just because you've done that exploratory work and found some of those limits doesn't make you lame.

Pithy Quote:

Real Talk: No but some people really are obsessed tho.

Pithy Quote:

Real Talk: It's a nice little fairy tale (and an extremely American one) that anyone can BE anything and ACHIEVE anything if they just TRY hard enough (and, y'know, spend enough money). IT IS NOT EFFING TRUE. You are not, in fact, 100% completely up to you. There are certain things in life you can control, but genes are real and circumstances are real and all that is going to have an impact. What I find especially insidious about this one is the implication that, if you don't have a particular type of body and wish you did, obviously it's completely your own fault & you just haven't worked hard enough. Friends, this is bullshit of the nastiest stripe. For the most part, you can improve your health through physical activity, but there is no training plan on earth that can magick the set of genes a person was born with into different ones. We're all just doing the best we can with what we've got, here, okay?

Pithy Quote:

Real Talk: Someone has been going to entirely the wrong sort of restaurants. Come to dinner with me sometime, you poor deprived thing, & maybe we can work on this dysfunctional food-and-exercise-are-matter-and-anti-matter construct you've got going on.

Run across any other "runspirational" / "fitspirational" platitudes lately that kind of make you want to vomit? Because sooner or later I am determined to mock them all.