So I’m definitely a bit perverse because when I thought of calling this post “Does size matter” I made myself giggle.

Anyway…..

Yesterday Ryan and I moved…again…

I’ve literally moved at least every year for the past seven years and I must say, I’m pretty sick of it! (Although I must admit that every time I move I am inspired to write a post about something that happened, like IKEA last year…and this time is no different.)

Every time I move, I think about how grateful I am that I lift heavy on a regular basis because carrying awkward and heavy pieces of furniture up and down flights of stairs is by no means easy or fun.

Like yesterday carrying our gigantic TV stand, which takes up a whole wall and looks amazing, but is a pain in the butt to move.

The stand is taller than I am and most definitely weighs more. It is also extremely long so that it doesn’t easily maneuver through doorways or around corners. Ryan and I were even afraid that it wouldn’t fit through the front door of the place because of the stairs and a very tight turn at the top.

But we also didn’t really want to take it apart before we moved because then we would have to put the bazillion Ikea pieces back together.

So we risked it.

We managed to get it out of our first place and into the truck fine. We also didn’t even struggle with a few other big (and cumbersome) pieces that we feared might not make it down the stairs.

So of course we were super worried that the stand would be impossible to move at the next place since the walk from the truck to the apartment was double the length and up two long flights of stairs (and we’d had such great luck already that something had to go wrong….right?)

When we get to the new place, we first remove all of the boxes and lighter furniture…up and down the stairs.

There is no workout that exactly compares to carrying awkward and heavy things up and down stairs…

This is what the stairs looked and felt like when moving yesterday.

And then we got to the TV stand.

Ryan and I had debated on who should walk backwards up the stairs and who should push from the bottom.

I’ve heard before that the stronger person should go in the back and push up the stairs…So of course, I went to the back to push…

Just kidding.

But I actually DID end up on the back-end after we experimented with the desk, but not because I was stronger.

I found that being a bit weaker and shorter than Ryan, I struggled to lift as well in the very awkward position of walking backwards up the stairs.

My strength and height served me much better when I was in the less awkward position pushing up on the heavy furniture from the back.

Which got me to thinking about SIZE when it comes to lifting.

People often try to say that they CAN’T do something because of their size – They are too tall or too short. Their arms are too long. Or they are too heavy.

And while I usually get annoyed by those comments because really they are just simply excuses, there is something to SIZE.

How you are built can positively or negatively affect certain lifts and exercises.

That doesn’t mean you have an excuse not to be able to do a pull up just because you have long arms. Or that I have an excuse to not lift heavy awkward furniture just because I’m shorter.

But it does mean that I can’t compare myself to someone else more easily lifting the small box that I just struggled and dripped sweat over the minute before.

And that right there is exactly my point.

We can’t compare ourselves to anyone else because everyone truly is different. We are all different shapes and sizes and that does factor in to our workouts.

So stop comparing yourself to the woman next to you lifting. Stop comparing yourself to how fast she is running.

Start focusing on your own goals and what you CAN DO.