The other day I had been training for an hour and i noticed a guy training beside me for a while. We gave a few nods to one another as we selected our weights and at one point I muttered “have you finished with those 22’s pal”. Our training intensified. I felt pretty good that day and this guy was obviously a veteran of the free weights area. We ended up simultaneously grunting out each rep which, to the other side of the gym, must have sounded like a porno you order on Wish. We were scraping ourselves off of the floor by the end, obviously being spurred on by each other. He turned to me, smiled and said”Why do we do it to ourselves?”
I get this question a lot. I usually just smile and say “I dunno. I’m getting too old for this.” But on that particular day, I said….
“Training can help boost energy levels, self esteem, sleep quality and mood. It helps us combat health conditions and diseases including strokes, type 2 diabetes, arthritis, depression and cancer. Research also tells us that performing regular exercise reduces our chance of becoming seriously ill from Covid.
Resistance training not only helps us in the now but we are giving ourselves the best chance to be as independent as possible in later life. It shapes our body through increasing bone density and muscle firmness and keeps us from wanting to eat and drink poor food choices because we are proud of our goal setting and our achievements and we don’t want to destroy our good work.
I become a better dad and husband after training. My mindset is in a much better place because I feel strong both physically and mentally. People meet friends while working out and a gym can be a place of sanctuary and a social hub.
I can wear T-shirts and feel proud of my body. I sometimes tense my bicep and say ‘Hello Mr Bicep’ in the same voice as Phoebe did to Chandler in Friends. I could even squeeze into skinny jeans if I were into that kind of fashion because after a few squats I think my ass looks like Beyonce’s. It probably doesn’t, but I don’t care because I think it does and it is my body and I have to live in it every single day and if I think I’ve got a good ass then I have a good ass.”
As I stood towards the mirror and twerked my booty whilst giving it a firm slap, he walked away shaking his head. I’ve not seen him since.
Never Give Up PT 