Complacency
One of the themes I wrote about last week was trying to get better today – every day. But let’s be real – that’s easier said than done. In fact, it’s virtually impossible mostly because we’re human. We fail, we have setbacks, and we just have some bad days. But even when we are killing it, there’s another natural response that has real impact on our potential— complacency.
Complacency can make me think it’s “ok” to break my routine . . .
It's difficult to not let complacency set in when things are going well both in fitness and in life. Sometimes complacency has meant that I can “reward” myself with something that is outside of my fitness regimen – either eating something I wouldn’t normally allow myself to have or skipping a workout I might have otherwise felt the need to do. As my routines have evolved, I do less and less of that for several reasons. First, neither usually feels as good on my body as it once did. I’ve become accustomed to eating a healthy diet, and anything I eat outside of the norm now usually affects me in a way that makes me realize it is not the “reward” I imagined it would be. The “reward” is simply that my body now recognizes when I put bad things in it. Likewise, skipping a workout almost never feels right. My body craves the activity, and the only way to “reward” it is to give it what it needs – not to take that away.
Complacency can make me think it’s “not ok” to break my routine . . .
Other times, complacency means that I can just keep doing what I am doing. No matter the setting, when we achieve success, it’s human nature to not want to rock the boat. Take my workout routine. Over the course of my fitness journey, it has evolved through numerous stages. I reached milestones in the beginning just by consistently showing up and then showing up even more. It was something to be proud of, and I was better than I had been before it. Having a regular workout routine improved body and my health, and making it a foundation of my life was an accomplishment. But once each routine became my new normal, I eventually realized there was more that I could do. At first, this was not something that occurred to me. After all, I was doing what I set out to do, so why change anything? But then I would notice that the big gains I had been making were slowing down. Accomplishments became smaller and less frequent. I experience this over and over again with each new fitness project I take on. It’s natural that the biggest improvements come in the beginning when there is so much room for it. Even keeping to the same routine yields better results each day for some time because “practice makes perfect” – to some extent. Practices makes me better, no doubt, but practice alone does not achieve perfection.
When the gains get smaller, repeating the same thing over and over again to get a different result becomes the definition of insanity. Thoughts set in that I may have reached my maximum potential. That I accomplished the limit of what I can do. Those thoughts are the result of complacency. It’s not that I can’t achieve more, I just can’t do it by being satisfied with my routine.
Recognizing complacency means I can address it in the right way . . .
This is not to say that I, or anyone else, must always reach for more. Complacency can be satisfaction with things that are going well, but it could also be an acceptance of things even when they could be better. I recognize that I’ve developed an incredible fitness lifestyle. I often work out seven days a week, incorporating a wide variety of exercises. Running, strength training, rock climbing, swimming, boxing, jumping rope, Peloton, rowing, and golf are all part of my regimen. There are mental and physical benefits to having such diversity in my workouts, and this program has been great for me. But keeping the pattern consistent for too long leads to each workout having less of an impact on my progress. I see it in my WHOOP data where the same workout I did a month ago earned a significantly higher strain than it does today. That means I’ve gotten better to the point where I exert much less energy for the same result, but it also means that I need to go harder today to get better tomorrow.
Comparing WHOOP strain levels on my last three 20-minute swimming workouts over the past three months. Interestingly, I attribute the progress I’ve made here (that each workout requires less strain) to my increased cardio from running in preparation to do the NYC Marathon this year. Left: January 7, 2025; Middle: February 12, 2025; Right: April 7, 2025.
The tension for me often feels like a choice between having fun and getting out of my comfort zone. Take climbing. Last week, I wrote about the competition I entered. While I didn’t have the results at the time I published the post, I got them later in the week. And since I have always promised transparency, I finished 16th out of 18.
Competition results from Gotham Citizen, March 29, 2025, Movement LIC (redacted)
That’s about where I would have predicted, knowing that there was a good possibility I would finish last. That I didn’t finish last doesn’t matter one bit, nor would it have mattered if I finished better. I walked away from the competition wanting to compete more and get to better. And I know that getting better means doing stuff that’s not as fun. Going to the gym and climbing is fun. I do it several times a week. Without any coaching or instruction other than when I discuss the problems with other climbers or watch their techniques, I hone my skills with repetition and have a blast doing it. It’s fun when I send a new problem, and it’s fun when I try something beyond my ability and fall. But sometimes the ability that I need is not one that comes from practice. It’s physical and mental, and it requires a different type of training.
So, here’s where I need to ditch some of the fun and get out of my comfort zone. When preparing my fitness plan for the day, I have to stop giving into to my urges and start listening to my gut. Rather than thinking I should go and practice more climbing when that’s not really getting me better anymore, I need to think about taking a lesson or doing more to get stronger. Neither may be how I want to spend my time, but if I am not satisfied with being satisfied, both are what I should be doing.
Now that I have the results of the comp, I have a baseline to beat. I’ll most certainly beat it even if I just stick with more climbing. But I won’t shatter it. That’s not enough for me, so I have to plan shatter it. That means more strength training, more coaching, and less fun just climbing for now. Only after I incorporate that will I have earned the fun.
But complacency isn’t just about working through athletic achievements. It’s about how we approach life in every aspect. Family, relationships, work, and friendships all require getting out of our comfort zone to make them flourish. Sometimes even at the expense of that fitness goal. The key here – and by here, I mean everywhere – is recognizing the complacency. Just because something is comfortable doesn’t mean it is right. I try to look at every relationship, whether personal or professional, and see how it can be better. The answer usually involves changing something up in its routine, just as it does with fitness.
One of my favorite posts I wrote for Legally Fit was, “Do one thing every day that scares you.” The literal scary stuff that the post covered included skydiving and climbing. But the message was not about jumping out of an airplane or climbing a 200 ft wall every day. It was about getting out of my comfort zone and becoming comfortable being uncomfortable. The scariest thing I can do every day is often just the thing that is outside of my routine. I know that my routine works, but I have no idea what the result will be when I break it up. Oh, who am I kidding? Of course I know! The result is almost certainly that I will be better for it, and it will avoid ever letting complacency dictate my progress. Who knows, it might also be fun!
Aaron
Blog note: I may take next week off from posting — not out of complacency — but due to work and family obligations.