A college athlete has to decide how to fill the void in their life when their college career comes to a conclusion. At 22 years old, I had spent half of my life ending almost every single day with a practice or a game but mostly practices. I had spent eight consecutive summers (high school and college) making an off-season plan to improve myself and sticking to it fairly rigidly and by the time I got to about 18 years old it was a non-negotiable commitment. Mondays - Fridays during the season concluded with training or competing. Saturdays and Sundays were about being intentional resting, recovering, or even putting in extra training. It is where my mantra of 'never miss' was birthed.
But then on a cold night in late February in the winter of 2000, it all stopped. My senior season came to an end, and I had a void in my life where training to be a better basketball player had filled. I was disoriented for a while after that. My athletic experience was not an unhealthy obsession but it was an obsession that coordinated my time-management and kept me focused. And it was gone.
Within a few weeks of the end of my collegiate career, I began directing my daily physical and competitive energies into strength training. I'm not a world-class body builder, powerlifter, or crossfitter, but I am going on 20 years of hitting the weights 5-6 days per week. In some instances 7 days per week. During the Coronavirus lockdown, it was two sessions per day, seven days per week.
I've spent an inordinate amount of time in the dark, early hours of the morning clanging weights around, sweating, straining, screaming, huffing, and puffing. It doesn't take very long to find the research-backed benefits of doing this almost every single day. The benefits that come to my mind are a boost in endorphins the heighten focus, energy, and your immune system as well as sleeping better at night. However, that is not the most important thing that I get from my commitment to strength training. I have learned a very important lesson that transcends physical benefits.
I SHOULD NOT LISTEN TO MYSELF.
That's the lesson. I train 5-6 times per week. I would say at least 50% and sometimes as high much as 70% of the time during the week, MYSELF DOES NOT WANT TO TRAIN. My alarm goes off in the dark of the morning and I know that sooner rather than later I will have to go face the weights. I do not want to. My joints and muscles are a little grumpy from the day before, my mind is spinning with the busyness of the day, and I'm still sleepy. Myself says, 'what's the point?' and 'why do you still keep doing this?' Here's what I've learned about not listening to myself...
MYSELF IS A TERRIBLE LEADER.
Not only do I have to fight myself off when deciding to workout, but then a whole new battle begins with myself on which exercises I should do. You see, there are certain exercises that are miserable to perform. And it is those exercises that always yield the most benefit. They are like the vegetables of working out. Myself hates those exercises. But I don't listen to myself because...
MYSELF IS GREAT FOLLOWER.
After 20 years of strength training myself as much as I have I can honestly tell you that I've never finished a workout and regretted it. Never. Even after the bad workouts where I never quite loosened up all the way, myself never said, 'well, that was a waste of time!' Myself is pumped because I forced it to do what was good for it and it realized it. Myself is lazy and entitled but it's not disobedient either. Myself does what it's told to do. When it does, it feels satisfied, content, and at peace with the fact that I am in control of myself.
What about you? Are you in control of myself? In what areas of your life is myself being a bad leader?
But then on a cold night in late February in the winter of 2000, it all stopped. My senior season came to an end, and I had a void in my life where training to be a better basketball player had filled. I was disoriented for a while after that. My athletic experience was not an unhealthy obsession but it was an obsession that coordinated my time-management and kept me focused. And it was gone.
Within a few weeks of the end of my collegiate career, I began directing my daily physical and competitive energies into strength training. I'm not a world-class body builder, powerlifter, or crossfitter, but I am going on 20 years of hitting the weights 5-6 days per week. In some instances 7 days per week. During the Coronavirus lockdown, it was two sessions per day, seven days per week.
I've spent an inordinate amount of time in the dark, early hours of the morning clanging weights around, sweating, straining, screaming, huffing, and puffing. It doesn't take very long to find the research-backed benefits of doing this almost every single day. The benefits that come to my mind are a boost in endorphins the heighten focus, energy, and your immune system as well as sleeping better at night. However, that is not the most important thing that I get from my commitment to strength training. I have learned a very important lesson that transcends physical benefits.
That's the lesson. I train 5-6 times per week. I would say at least 50% and sometimes as high much as 70% of the time during the week, MYSELF DOES NOT WANT TO TRAIN. My alarm goes off in the dark of the morning and I know that sooner rather than later I will have to go face the weights. I do not want to. My joints and muscles are a little grumpy from the day before, my mind is spinning with the busyness of the day, and I'm still sleepy. Myself says, 'what's the point?' and 'why do you still keep doing this?' Here's what I've learned about not listening to myself...
MYSELF IS A TERRIBLE LEADER.
Not only do I have to fight myself off when deciding to workout, but then a whole new battle begins with myself on which exercises I should do. You see, there are certain exercises that are miserable to perform. And it is those exercises that always yield the most benefit. They are like the vegetables of working out. Myself hates those exercises. But I don't listen to myself because...
MYSELF IS GREAT FOLLOWER.
After 20 years of strength training myself as much as I have I can honestly tell you that I've never finished a workout and regretted it. Never. Even after the bad workouts where I never quite loosened up all the way, myself never said, 'well, that was a waste of time!' Myself is pumped because I forced it to do what was good for it and it realized it. Myself is lazy and entitled but it's not disobedient either. Myself does what it's told to do. When it does, it feels satisfied, content, and at peace with the fact that I am in control of myself.
What about you? Are you in control of myself? In what areas of your life is myself being a bad leader?
Keep on, keepin' on, friends!
‘Bite Down and Don’t Let Go’ is a collection of writings on being intentional about life in a way that produces great persistence. Read about it more here.
Dr. Chris Hobbs is an educational leader with more than two decades of experience. He’s earned a few degrees and won some awards. He’s happily married to his high school sweetheart and they have three teen age children. Life is messy and complicated most of the time. You can follow him on Twitter for all sorts of inspirational thoughts and good laughs.
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