There’s something about sitting relatively still for too long that is ironically tiring. Driving between Las Vegas and Northern California usually wipes me out. Traffic issues caused it to take 10 hours this time and my body was feeling it the next day. Of course I wanted to train but I didn’t feel either the energy or the motivation to do so.
In an earlier blog I mentioned that sometimes it’s best to skip a normal training day when you know it won’t be productive and simply do it on the next day so as not to waste it. But it’s a very fine line. I knew that in this case, training would be just the thing I needed. I knew that once I started, my body and mind would take over and know exactly what to do.
Monday evening, tired and achy, I knew it was time to go hit it. I took my pre-workout drink (BSN’s N.O. Xplode), mixed up my BCAA’s (Amino Build from MuscleTech) to sip on while training, and headed to the gym. As I stretched and moved in between my warm-up sets, my body started to feel normal. It was in familiar territory and it knew what to do. The soreness hid and the fatigue faded. It wasn’t time for excuses or self-pity. They all count, the hard ones and the easy ones. The weights don’t care and won’t get any lighter just because you don’t feel like doing it, so you might as well simply feel like doing it.
The gym was pretty empty for a Monday. I saw my pal Tori in there hitting it hard. She’s a fitness star waiting to happen. Hadn’t seen her in 3 months but that’s what this is all about. Seen or unseen, recognized or not, somewhere, someone is in the gym training. They’re doing what they’re supposed to do until they get where they’re supposed to go. You have to decide whether or not you will be one of them, be one of us. Because that’s what it will take. That’s what you must do for you!
The following day, the soreness and fatigue returned with a vengeance just like I knew they would. But now I could take that needed day off. It was my birthday. Not that I mind training on my birthday, I have many times in the past and they are always great. But this was a day that was better to be running around the park with my niece and spending time with my parents, sister, and brother in law than anything else. Yes, I had plenty of ice cream and cake with absolutely no guilt. I already know that I’ve leaned out a bit over the past few months and my sister commented on it as well. No special effort, just lifestyle and time. Do what you’re supposed to do first, and what you want to do second and you’ll find the right balance for success more often than not.
I’m still in town for a few more days. Planning to bounce down and train at Gold’s with a long time friend on Friday and it should be epic! Lot’s going on right now and the fitness industry has so many moving parts that even though I’m always working on something fitness related it always feels fresh and new. The various projects feed into each other and give off a shared energy. I use that in my personal fitness pursuit and use my fitness pursuits to drive my industry projects forward. It’s a nice combination.
The beauty of training is that it allows me to connect everything. Going to various gyms and seeing different people pursuing their goals also helps tie everything together and display a bigger picture. Every thing, place, time, and person is special. I am surrounded by special. I am surrounded by things that I never could have imagined when I first started doing pushups in my bedroom!
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