If it’s too hard you quit. If it’s too easy you get bored (and quit.) If it’s the right mix of engaging, challenging, with minor improvements that you notice, you will work through the difficulties.
This is true of anything. When we learn the alphabet, numbers, and how to tie our shoes as children. And later in adulthood, anything and everything valuable to us takes time to learn.
I had both saltwater and freshwater aquariums for many years – there was a lot to learn, but it was tremendously enjoyable, and the difficulties made the benefits more significant than the challenges. But this is about health & fitness for body & brain…
Many months ago, I welcomed the RMT Rope into my life. It seemed like a fun way to maintain thoracic and shoulder mobility as well as dive into the coordination challenges presented by the unique movements performed with the rope.
It was slow – but steady – going. There was just enough frustration with learning the skills and just enough progress with learning the skills that it enhanced my desire to keep practicing them.
First, I learned the relatively straightforward overhand and underhand “Race and Chase.” Then the “Matador Wheel.” Then things got tougher with the Dragon Roll and the toughest was “The Sneak.” The free training videos included with the rope were well done and exceptionally helpful.
As skills improved, I could put more physical effort into them (as is true of all exercise). Everything with exercise goes from a high skill demand & low fitness demand to a low skill demand & high fitness demand once the skill/technique is mastered.
I have only recently gotten comfortable with The Sneak. Too often you see people only post videos with these kinds of things when they are so good and fast at it that you cannot visually keep up with what they are doing, and it preserves the desperate need to look cool on social media to the world.
The reality is that the fun – and a lot of the brain benefit – is in the struggle to improve.
To get better at tennis or pickleball, you’re going to hit a lot of balls out and in the net. To get better at Stand-Up Paddling, you’re going to fall in the water at times. To get good at juggling, you’re going to drop a lot of balls before you don’t.
I have found a lot of value for both body and brain in the training and practice with the RMT Rope. Maybe you will too. Or maybe you will find something else that gives you the same spark of desire to practice and improve something.
Either way, I hope this inspires you to try something new and to keep working at it to get better.