BUCKLE DOWN AND GRIND

The thoughts below stem from reflecting on an exchange with a client… Just some things to think about when you are working towards a goal, fitness oriented or otherwise, and it comes time to buckle down and grind.

Anyone that has ever competed in a bodybuilding or a physique oriented competition knows that contest prep is hard… It takes its toll on you mentally and physically and the only way to succeed is to simply suck it up, push forward, do what’s necessary and keep grinding, no matter how tired you get or how crappy you feel…

An individual that I have been working with for a few months that is now in prep emailed me saying that prep is hard and she has been getting tired and cardio is too tough, so she’s been taking it easy this week and wanted to see if it would be OK to skip a few cardio sessions…

SERIOUSLY?!?!

Upon reading those lines I felt my blood start to boil. I wanted to throw my computer off the wall out of frustration. In my head I began thinking, what kind of attitude towards prep is this? Is this what our society has come to? Do we expect to succeed by only putting forth a mediocre effort? Have we stopped taking pride in hard work and perseverance in order to achieve our goals? Do we feel entitled to have our results just handed to us?

Before responding, I took a minute to gather my thoughts. I asked, “Why would you not train as hard as you can? Why would you not leave everything you have on the gym floor. When you think about “not going at full speed” or say you’ll “take it easy” or “skip a session” just know that there is someone else out there, your competition, that is not backing down, that is not taking it easy, that is not skipping cardio…that doesn’t care if anyone is watching or not, because they give it their all every minute of every day.”

“If you CHOOSE to not go hard, because that is what it is, a choice, then know that your results will reflect that. I can only do so much, but at the end of the day, when you look in the mirror, you only have one person to answer to, yourself. Can you look yourself in the eye and honestly say you put forth your best effort that day? That you did everything in your power to get closer to your goals? Next time you feel like taking it easy, think about how you’ll feel when the dust clears after the show, and you are at home and look yourself in the mirror and know that if you pushed your cardio a little harder, ate more closely to your plan or trained with greater intensity you would have been the one called out on top. Do you want to live in regret? Or do you want to live knowing that you gave it your all and there is nothing you could have done to be any better?”

These lessons do not just apply to bodybuilding (or physique oriented competitions). They apply to all areas of your life. Live with passion, live with a sense of urgency, live with purpose and live with the intent of making yourself a better, more complete individual every single day.

Sometimes, it may not be easy, and sometimes we may be faced with great adversity, but it is in these moments that we define ourselves. These moments build our character and help us grow mentally, physically and emotionally. Every morning, when we wake up, we have the choice to either let life run us or take control and run our own life… If you want something, go out and get it, because no one is going to do it for you.

~Kris Pisarcik 02/18/16