In the real world, that's a load of bullshit. There's many things that happen to us that are outside of our control. A man who worked at the same car plant for 25 years didn't choose to be laid off when the plant closed down. A family who has their house foreclosed on because a bank made an error can still be made homeless despite making all their mortgage payments on time. Tonight, some crazy arsonist could torch your home. In the real world, bad things happen to people who make good choices because of things they can't do anything about.
But when it comes to working out, that's the exception. In the gym, life is fair. The weights and the treadmill don't care about your background, how rich you are, or if you are politically connected. All they care about is the work you put in.
A person who is born rich and a person who is born poor can both exercise and get the same results. It doesn't matter if the rich guy has the best trainers or the finest nutritionists, if the rich guy isn't willing to put in the work, there isn't a money number high enough that will buy him strength or endurance. If a poor person trains his body, it doesn't matter if he can't buy the best gym equipment or trainers. He will improve. Athleticism is not something that can be bought on a shelf. You can't pay someone to work out for you. It's all on you.
It doesn't matter what kind of body you have, either. If you're not bedridden, you can work out. If your legs are broken, you can train your upper body. If you have a broken arm, you can do squats. So long as you aren't a quadriplegic there's something you can do.
Time is no excuse, either. I work full time, I'm a full time student, and a parent. Even if I had no one to watch my daughter (thanks, mom!), I'd take her to the gym with me, like this guy:
I might start doing that soon enough, anyway.
Henry Rollins wrote an excellent article about weight lifting in which he said that the iron reveals the truth about you in ways that people rarely do. Outside of the gym you can be an arrogant s.o.b. and cover yourself in false bravado, but inside the gym all of your shit-talking means nothing. The iron and the treadmill will tell you the truth about yourself. If you're lazy, they will tell you. If you're taking shortcuts, they will let you know. The only thing that will make you improve is by training and giving it everything you have. And when you do that, they'll make sure to tell you. You'll see it when you're lifting and running better than you ever thought possible.
Your best friends will always tell the truth about you, even when it pisses you off. In that sense, you can consider the iron and the treadmill two of the best friends you will ever have.
That's the greatest thing about working out. Life outside might be unfair as hell, but in the gym, hard work has its rewards.
No comments:
Post a Comment