What Exercise Did For Me, And Why it Matters

A few years ago, I had the chance to work with one of my clients grandkids. They were visiting town for a couple of weeks and I told her to bring them to her sessions.

The boys came in the gym for the first time and sat on the bench with their heads down, quiet, and probably a bit nervous. I asked what music they wanted to listen to and I didn’t get much out of them.

We started the work out and they were still quite quiet and reserved. Now, both of these boys are not really into sports, and enjoy playing the latest video game more than sports – right now…

The workout was going okay, until we got to the finisher of some sled pushes. It’s like it brought out a totally different kid from each of them. They both got energized, and very competitive. By the end of the week, the boys were pushing 250 pounds on the sled, and asking for more!

***UPDATE – 2 years later, one of the boys came back and pushed 545 on the sled! – I told him he better make use of that power!***

I don’t know if the few trips to the gym will change anything in their paths, but I hope it does. Why? Because this is my goal, my mission, my “manifesto” as to why I love fitness – because of what it did for my life.

***UPDATE – one of the boys has since become a runner, joined his school running club and the other plans to go out for shot put and discus next year!***

I used to be a quiet, more reserved, and introverted kid. I had friends but was afraid to go out of that group. I played sports, but was pretty soft and not the most “hardcore” athlete.

R.I.P Hair – 2007

I also was (still am) a huge Star Wars “nerd”, comic book “geek”, and into playing “nerdy” video games like Starcraft and Diablo.

I started lifting my freshman year of high school for football. Besides how it felt when it started physically changing my body – more importantly was how it mentally changed me. The challenges of the workouts, and always trying to push myself to improve, and wanting to do more created a drive in me that I could relate to my sports AND my video games.

Like leveling up your character in a game to unlock a new superpower, I was leveling up my strength on bench presses and squats.

Building up muscles like the superheroes in the movies and comics was obviously a physical boost, but the entire process changed my confidence, personality and overall demeanor for the best.

I still love Star Wars, I still love Superhero movies, I frankly don’t have time for video games, but I also love weight training, challenging my body, and pushing some heavy sleds around.

This is why I love training, and why my mission is to get people to find something in the gym that they enjoy, that will change them physically and mentally, and improve their lives for the best.

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