Fitness is impartial.
It doesn’t care who you are, where you come from or how much money you have. It’s indifferent to the color of your skin or your sexual orientation. Fitness is achievable by all, regardless of circumstance.
However, it’s not necessarily fair.
Some folks are predisposed to fitness, others are not. The same way some are born with good health and others are not. The same way some guys are 6’3” and I’m 5’9”.
You won’t ever look like the Instagram fitness models you follow. The same way I’ll never look like Arnold Schwarzenegger or run as fast as Usain Bolt. Certain folks are simply more gifted than others.
All we can do is work to be the fittest version of ourselves. To be as strong or as fast or as fit as we can be, independent of others.
Too many people forget that.
In today’s “me-first”, instant gratification society, people aren’t willing to put in the work. They expect to be handed everything on a silver platter. They expect others to do things for them. They expect to be placated and coddled and told how great they are, just the way they are. They expect everything to be equitable and fair and evenly distributed when life is everything but.
This is why many of us don’t achieve the level of fitness we desire. Fitness isn’t given or bestowed or conferred.
It’s earned. With blood, sweat and tears.
So then, how do we earn our fitness?
1. Realize it’s all on you
If you’re in good shape, you probably maintain good habits.
Chances are you forgo late night binge drinking for the occasional beer and an early bedtime. You’re probably consistent with your training week to week. You most likely associate yourself with other like-minded individuals who share your passion and drive.
And most importantly, you understand it’s ultimately on you to get things done. No one else.
Don’t get me wrong, outside influences do have their place. I appreciate a good Jocko Willink motivational video to get me going. I need David Goggins to scream “Stay hard!” at me from time to time.
But at the end of the day, it’s your ass you have to bust in the gym. It’s your responsibility to eat right, get enough sleep, and prioritize training.
The sooner you accept this, the sooner you’ll make progress.
One of the reasons fitness carries such respect is because it indicates the type of person you are and the values you hold. People respect fit people because of what it takes to become and stay fit.
There just aren’t many people in the club.
The CDC claims 71.8% of people are considered overweight, with 42.4% of those folks considered obese (2015-2016). Fit people are few and far between in today’s day and age.
If you’re fit, you’re resolute. It takes an unwavering spirit to not only perform the physical tasks required, but to resist temptation that hides behind every corner. Like those damn Krispy Kremes that keep eying me from across the room.
If you’re fit, people won’t take you lightly.
If you’re fit, you’ll say a lot without having to say a word.
But most importantly, if you’re fit, you’ve proven to yourself what you’re capable of when the rubber meets the road.
2. Put in the work
Gad Saad, famed professor at Concordia University, had a great quote on The Joe Rogan Experience recently, when asked how he deals with his detractors in the academic world:
“I trade in the currency of creating knowledge and then spreading knowledge,” to which he notes how this has helped his popularity skyrocket in non-academic realms, such as Joe Rogan’s podcast.
Fitness trades in the currency of hard work and spreading the message of hard work. Fitness can’t be bought, bartered or negotiated with. Fitness demands determination, consistency, and a willingness to step outside your comfort zone.
“All progress takes place outside the comfort zone,” says digital artist Michael John Bobak.
And for progress to take place, you’ve got to put in the work.
Good news is, putting in the work isn’t complicated. It doesn’t require a masters in nutrition or a certification in exercise science. It requires a little bit of movement and a willingness to change.
You don’t have to spend hours obsessing over the perfect training protocol. You don’t have to spend hundreds of dollars on shitty “influencer” workout programs that are unnecessary and probably unsafe.
Tried and true methods work perfectly well, that’s why they’re tried and true.
Focus on metabolically demanding compound exercises that work multiple muscle groups at once. Clean up your diet. Make cardio a part of your routine, whether it’s walking your dog or running a local trail or biking to the store and back.
And whatever you choose to do, do it to the best of your ability.
Hard work is what separates the strong from the weak, the “men from the boys” so to speak. Hard work lets us put our head on the pillow at night and sleep soundly, satisfied with the day’s performance.
People who work hard have purpose. People who work hard have principle. They don’t wallow in depression and self-pity. In a world so loud, they’re focused, committed and willing to do what’s necessary to achieve their goal.
Put down the remote and pick up your gym bag.
3. Understand you don’t get rewarded for trying. You get rewarded for succeeding
Trying (and trying hard) is essential for our growth and development as people. Remember what I said earlier about comfort zones?
But trying in and of itself isn’t rewarding. What’s rewarding is finally succeeding. And succeeding is rewarding only because of how hard you tried. Because of the trials, tribulations and failures it took to get there.
We hold people back if we reward them simply for trying. We hinder their maturation as individuals and productive members of society. We don’t allow them to attain their full potential because they don’t have incentive to ever reach it.
Imagine telling someone, “It’s ok, you didn’t quite meet your goal, but you tried. That’s good enough.”
My god, think of the disservice you just did to that person.
We should encourage people to try. We should entice them with the prospect of success and the rewards that will follow. But you shouldn’t get an award for trying. No participation trophies here.
Imagine if Steve Jobs told his team 75% completion on the iPhone was good enough.
Sometimes our fitness goals elude us. Sometimes progress slows and development halts. It’s part of the game.
Imagine if you just stopped there. Not very rewarding is it.
Now imagine you kept going. That you pushed through whatever barriers lay before you. That you said to yourself, “I will not stop today,” and continued on.
It may take weeks, months, or potentially years to reach your fitness goals. The journey may seem insurmountable. Losing those last ten pounds or posting a new personal best might be akin to climbing a mountain in a snowstorm.
But when you stand in front of the mirror at your goal weight, when you set that new personal best, a wry smile will cross your face. You’ll experience achievement like you’ve never experienced it before.
You’ll be appreciative of the pain and hard work you endured. You’ll be grateful you had to fight and claw and scratch for where you are at this moment in time. It makes finally reaching the summit that much better.
You know what it took to get there, and you did it yourself. No one can ever take that from you.
You’ll realize as your body changed, you changed as well.
You’ll have said a lot without saying a word.
“Success doesn’t come to you. You go to it.”
Get out there and earn it.
Scott Mayer is a runner, thinker, curious observer and certified personal trainer.
Photo courtesy of Jakob Owens on Unsplash