Prior to purchasing our own Bod Pod, Discover Strength regularly scheduled times for our clients to Bod Pod test at the University of Minnesota. My first assessment was almost nine years ago (September 2009) as a part of our first ever Body Comp Challenge. Since then, I have tested three or four additional times at the University of Minnesota and another 10 times since we purchased our own Bod Pod. I had averaged about one test per year... until recently.
In late December, I bought and read Ray Dalio’s new book, “Principles.” The book is a thought-provoking masterpiece; and it got me thinking differently about Bod Pods. Traditionally, I have almost “feared” a Bod Pod test and thus, I did them very infrequently. I love strength training and I love cardio, but if I did a Bod Pod test and had poor results, I felt deflated. So therefore, I avoided the test and the data point. In his book, Dalio makes a compelling case for “radical transparency” and facing the brutal facts. He says, “Realize that you have nothing to fear from knowing the truth.”
In our businesses, in our personal lives, and with our health (all examples that Dalio uses), not facing up to the issue or the reality, doesn’t change the reality. This resonated with me on multiple fronts. With respect to Bod Pods, I faced my fear and committed myself to performing one Bod Pod test per month for all of 2018. This morning I did my eighth Bod Pod test of the year. I’ve determined two important learnings from the regular tests:
- I no longer fear the Bod Pod. If I have a poor test (or my results aren’t what I hoped for), I’m not deflated or demotivated. I can simply adjust workouts, protein, rest, and total caloric intake over the next month.
- I always have the accountability of a test looming in the near-term future which has positively impacted my day to day nutrition decisions.
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