The Gym is My Teacher

The gym is the great communicator. The gym is always honest. I may be having a good day, or it may be a bad day. The gym doesn't care. 200 lbs. is still 200 lbs. If I could lift it last week and I can't today, I did that. To myself. No blame. No circumstances. No oppression by powers outside of myself. I fucked that up somehow. And ONLY I can fix it.

I spent a lot of time when I was younger trying to lift heavy weights like the strong guys. I spent a lot of time trying to do lots of sets like the big guys. I was neither strong nor big. Ultimately, I had to start at the bottom and build slowly over time, just like in real life. Success came not from doing what others did, but from being honest about what I was doing and pushing myself a little beyond my comfort zone every day. Success was delayed, but not by much. Progress was attainable when I measured it over time.

This principle of slow steady progress over time, of consistent effort and a willingness to try something a little harder than I think I’m capable of, has born fruit in other areas of my life as well. My education, my career, my relationships, all started at the beginning and have required, and continue to require, my conscious effort and willingness in order to progress.

I have had to learn to listen to myself and my body, to learn to know when I am truly at my limit and when I am just being weak minded or lazy. These lessons have come a little at a time. I can’t count the number of times I felt tired and incapable of getting through a workout, have gone to the gym anyway and then set new records in weight, reps, and/or intensity. The lesson? I've been quitting on myself and leaving growth on the table through laziness, a lack of discipline, and the desire to feel comfortable or inspired. It begs the question of how many other areas of life I have sold myself short due to my insistence on feeling “ready” or “good enough” before accepting the next challenge.

In the gym progress is not linear or exponential as I've been conditioned by culture to expect. I, like so many others, was always looking for a quick reward, which inevitably cost money and benefitted someone else’s bottom line. It was an effort to avoid the discipline required to make it to the next level. No. In the gym progress is incremental and determined almost exclusively by what I do when nobody is watching or applauding me. Did I get my workout in today? Did I meet my macros? Did I even track them? This dedication to consistently taking care of the details can only be the result of a commitment I’ve made to myself; a commitment to really test myself and to be the best that I can be FOR MYSELF. If I’m reliant on others’ praise to get shit done I will fail every time.

Equally revelatory was the realization that my discipline in the gym didn't matter if the rest of my life was a mess. What applies to one, applies to many, and so, if my diet is shit, so is my training, my effort at work, and my attitude towards life. I have to give 100% in every area if I want any area to be 100%. There is no halfhearted effort in relationships or work and wholehearted effort in the gym. The inverse is also true for me. If I’m not making time to take care of myself by going to the gym then my relationships and employment suffer.

I want to be the best human being that I am capable of being and this requires slow, steady, disciplined progress towards a goal.

What are you doing today? I’m going to the gym.