How weight training will strengthen you for life outside of the gym
Gym training is the best kind of workout you can spend time on in order to get in shape. There is no other sport or activity that match the benefits of resistance training where you are using weights and your own bodyweight. Besides the obvious ones there are also bonus benefits in the form of self-knowledge and body awareness.
All this should be reason enough for most to want to start lifting weights if they are not already addicted to the iron game. But there is more. Body composition is a great reason to hit the gym, but there are also reasons that applies outside of the gym, in your everyday life.
In this article I will list and elaborate on some of these additional advantages that weight training will grant you.
Longevity
No other industry is as prone as the fitness industry to using headlines that promises fast results. The truth, of course, is most often the opposite: success in the gym demands that you make it a part of your lifestyle and that you are in it for the long run. You have to have discipline. And this applies for most things in life, at least those things that are truly worth pursuing.
Goal setting and the achieving of those goals
In order for gym training to be as rewarding as it can and should be you will have to set up goals. As a beginner you’ll probably enter the gym with large, somewhat abstract goals like “getting in shape”, “get more muscular” or “lose weight” – but as you develop so will your goals. At the gym you will learn how to analyse your own ideals, how to prioritize and how to formulate relevant and realistic goals. Even more importantly, you’ll also learn how to go about turning these goals into reality. If you make this a habit it will surely benefit you not only in the gym but in life in general.
Taking control
People who have never taken to weight training will often be of the opinion that looks, body composition, health, body weight and athletic prowess are all decided by destiny. They don’t feel that these things can be controlled. They feel like they have been giving a set of abilities and personal conditions that are what they are, now and forever, beyond their control. The gym teaches you otherwise. There is no better school in the art of control. This is the grand notion that forms the foundation – the very idea - of gym training: you are in control of your own body. And if you can actually change something so fundamental as your own body - how it looks, how it feels and what it can do - then of course this means that you can also control other things in life.
Quality awareness
Gym training teaches you to appreciate quality. You will know when you are looking at something that is hard to get, and you will appreciate the effort that has been put into it. It might be an impressive physique, but it might also be something else entirely. Most often the best things in life doesn´t come easy. Quality is something to marvel at and to strive for in all fields of life.
The insight that you yourself are your only true opponent
Maybe you have idols and role models that you aspire to match or surpass. Maybe you like the competing aspect of gym training. But the fact remains: the better you get at gym training the
more you realize that the only one that you are really competing with is yourself. This is also true in many other situations in life. In the gym we learn not to stare at the others, but to focus on the developing of our own strengths.
Knowing that there is more than one way to a given goal
Regardless of your goals in terms of body composition and strength you will learn that there are many different ways that might lead to the fulfilment of this goal. It is up to you to find your own ideal path to your goals. This insight can also be very helpful in your others endeavours, outside of the gym.
Talent is a nice gift, but hard work it what makes a champion in any field of life
You might have fantastic genetics, and this will give you a head start, but if you are going to fulfil your potential you’ll still have to work hard. Very hard. For a long time period of time. This is true at the gym as well as in art, career and work.
The best things in life can’t be bought
A well developed physique is a status symbol. It tells people that you possess will power, discipline and strength. It also tells them that you are healthy in a way to which there is no short cut. You can’t buy a truly great physique, it is something you must conquer. It is hard to acquire – but worth every moment you invest in it.
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