By Most people stop when the burn starts — but you have got to keep going
I don’t know a lot of people who share the same loving sensation. You know, the one that most people dread in the gym. It’s the burning of the muscle as you continue to work it until the point where you can’t lift anymore. I’m not sure of any other way to train, apart from this very effective strategy. Recalling back many months before the Sydney lockdown, my physio tried to drum into my mind. “You know Ange; you don’t have to kill yourself during every single weight session.” There was logic to her words. The truth is that I LOVED the so-called “killing myself” during every session. I would not put it that way at all; I was not killing myself; I was progressing to become reborn again.
Being reborn to me is the following:-
- Triggering muscle to become challenged therefore accelerating the growth
- Psychologically proving to myself that I can do just one more rep
- Knowing that the burn signifies fat-burning potential in my body
- Proving to myself that even at my age (43), I can still regain my lost strength
- Building my resilience to weight and life in general, one rep at a time
Those who love weight training will resonate with at least one of these — and perhaps several more I haven’t mentioned (please do mention yours in the comments section below). When it comes to training with weights, we begin to love and embrace that feeling of pushing ourselves above and beyond the brink of no return. But, fortunately, we may never return to that place because we’ve outgrown ourselves just that little bit extra within the session. Over the years, this can accumulate to a lot more. Nevertheless, we keep ourselves committed to the cause and keep pushing what our so-called limits were previously. This analogy of weight training is so similar to life — I mean, we can constantly push ourselves every day, or we can stay stagnated as we’ve always been. However, I guarantee that most people want to excel and go above and beyond their capacity of yesterday. That’s what makes people experts in their craft and the master of their destiny. So next time, nod and agree when someone says to stop working so hard in the gym. You know all too well that that’s never going to happen. That thought never crosses your mind because you have big goals and dreams of how you want your life to be and what you want to look like. There is nothing inherently wrong with wanting to be better and have more. So keep going, and don’t stop the game of lifting. Most of us we’re meant for more and won’t stop until we get it. What are you training today? Let me know in the comments below (I did cardio today).