As I sit in my office, behind the shutters in reception, contemplating the next blog post and listening to a sensational “MistaJam live Ibiza 2017” mix on YouTube, my first thought is…
WHAT’S THE POINT?
What is the point in this weightlifting thing we do?
It can take up our time, it can take up our thoughts, it can bring out our vulnerabilities and it can cost us money. Make it make sense. Sometimes…I can’t.
I am fortunate enough, or maybe unfortunate some might say, to have experienced the very highs and the very lows of the fitness industry. In my own small world, I was an overnight bodybuilding success, to quickly becoming the guy that “bottled it”.
I suffered immensely with the constraints of bodybuilding. I struggled with the over analysis of every choice I made; could I have done more to be a better bodybuilder that day?
I struggled with the inflexibility of the ‘sport’.
I struggled with not being happy with the journey I was undertaking.
I struggled knowing I was putting my health at risk unnecessarily.
Yeah, you guessed it, I struggled.
I eventually picked up the courage to end my bodybuilding misery and set about looking for pastures new.
It took some trial and error, along with some soul searching, but I eventually stumbled my way back into my love for weights.
I tried duathlons, I ran half marathons, I tried what today would be coined as “Hyrox” style training, but they all couldn’t give me the inner calm a weight training session brought.
Like most, my best inspiration comes during or after a training session. The blood is pumping, endorphins are cursing through veins, and the empowerment is overwhelming.
The eureka moment had arrived one cold Monday morning in 2022. I finally knew what the point was. The point was I do this to make my life better.
There is an unquantifiable value that training brings into lives.
It’s there when you feel down, it’s there when you feel up. It’s there to help give you the energy to improve your career, it’s there to help you organically make better lifestyle choices, it’s there so you see the world more positively. Training is there to make YOUR life better.
Without this blog post sounding like a pity party, sometimes you will experience episodes of “what’s the point?”.
That’s okay. It’s natural. To question is a positive skill. To become introspective is a positive skill. What’s not positive is training because you feel you must. An inner pressure, an inner demon, beating at you because you haven’t hit your PR today, or because you “pussied out” of a heavy lift.
Master your mind and you will master yourself. If there is one piece of advice I can give FF members this year, it is to train to make your life better! Train because you are the master of your own ship. You are in control, and you will make your life better today with a workout!
2024 – the year of training to make your life even fucking better.
Happy New Year HQ.
Jack
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