What Lifting Weights Can Teach You About Life

Everything you apply in the weight room is a perfect analogy for life - everything. The iron is more than adding weight to the barbell. It is about discipline, perseverance, patience, and a lot of hard work. It builds character, a healthy body and a healthy mind. It teaches you to be humble and, even when everything else fails in your life, it is always there to make you feel a bit more human. Discipline and taking action, despite. Every kind of sport teaches you discipline. It teaches you that you need to do specific things at specific times and, if you fail to do these things, there will be consequences. Let's see, if you do not wake up at x time you will be late for work, if you are late for work you will get punished and ultimately, you may end up losing your job as a result. When dealing with the iron, regardless of the objectives, whether you want to gain muscle mass, lose fat, get stronger or simply improve your quality of life, you need to do things, to commit and to perform. You may follow a training program and go to the gym on the specific days you are set-out to go, but if you fail the discipline to have the appropriate sleep or the appropriate diet, for instance, you will encounter difficulties reaching your goal. You don't feel like training? are you feeling too tired? or [insert excuse here]? You do it anyway. You do it because you have to do it, you know it will pay off, you know that this is 'work' and this is a principle that stays with you for life - take action, despite. The Try-Fail-Try-Win cycle You are committed, you are all-in and yet, the results are not as you expected. You have counted every macro nutrient and calories, you have trained flawlessly and yet the results are not what you were expecting. Well, think about these things for a moment: that night you didn't sleep very well, the stress you were under to meet that deadline at work, the argument with your friend/wife/boss, the week where you took the bus instead of walking those extra 3 miles a day. Remember these? This, my friend, is called Life. External factors affect your objectives and you have no control over them - accept it. What to do? re-think your diet, adjust your caloric intake, adjust your programme. Try again. In a world of 'now' the iron game teaches you a valuable lesson - to be patient. Wanna be strong? get ripped? Let me break it down for you; it will take a lot of effort, and most likely, a lot of time. It may sound cliche, but this is not about the final destination, it's about the journey. And it should be the same about life, for one thing is certain, the final destination is 6 feet under. Humility and why success feels awesome "The Iron never lies to you. You can walk outside and listen to all kinds of talk, get told that you're a god or a total bastard. The Iron will always kick you the real deal. The Iron is the great reference point, the all-knowing perspective giver. Always there like a beacon in the pitch black. I have found the Iron to be my greatest friend. It never freaks out on me, never runs. Friends may come and go. But two hundred pounds is always two hundred pounds." - Henry Rollins The mental struggle to succeed can sometimes be overwhelming but fighting weakness is the best battle you can fight in life. Weakness comes in different shapes and sizes, it will always be there for you to fight against.The iron can knock you down pretty hard, but you will persevere, you will sustain, and you will train, train, and train some more.