Muscle SURPRISE! The key to physical, mental & emotional fitness.

My friend Camilla and I are riding in her car after a very intense, strength-building workout at Monkey Bar Gym (a gym that is very much like it sounds... do monkey-like exercises based primarily on body-weight and you'll get very fit and strong). Anyway, we're in the car and Camilla, who exercises mostly by jogging a couple of miles a few times a week, says to me, "I should do more of those kinds of exercises. They'll help me get stronger."

I reply, firmly seated on my high-horse, "Yeah, good idea. Actually, it's a training technique, I think it's called... muscle surprise." She starts giggling and I do too...because she knows it's not right, and as soon as it leaves my lips, I know too. Between giggles and gasping for air, she comes back with... "I think it's called muscle confusion."

Oh, right.

Now just between you and me, I love it when I make these kinds of mistakes. Somewhere in my brain I replaced the word surprise with confusion. Oh wait, reverse that. Anyway, it helps me not take myself so seriously. And leads to lots of laughing at myself with anyone near and odd enough to get it.

So back to muscle surprise. Camilla's driving, though I'm not sure how because at this point I'm laughing so hard my eyes will not stay open. We've started saying, "Muscle... SURPRISE! Happy Birthday!" while making noise-maker sounds, pretending that we're throwing a surprise party for someone named Muscle. I also say something about how it's a surprise for your muscles, like in one of those cakes you eat with a coin or tiny plastic baby Jesus and you get good luck for a year or whatever. (Is it a baby Jesus or am I making that up? And what tradition is this from anyway?)

Geesh. It doesn't take much to amuse us.

But as I reflect on this now, I think we might've actually been onto something. Muscle surprise can translate to many aspects of our lives. Biologically we're drawn to familiar experiences, so anything you do over and over again, your body adapts so that it's as easy as possible. Same is true for mental and emotional experiences, and this is counter-productive for any kind of change we may want to enact. Basically, if you want to get stronger, whether it's physically, mentally or emotionally, you have to SURPRISE! your system. New exercises, i.e. new experiences, will help us grow.

Just remember to strap yourself in or use a net for your first time out there on your surprise adventures.... Oh, and bring a friend who gets your sense of humor.

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