The Gym Is A Battleground

I can always tell which people in the gym will make progress faster than others. This judgment comes from years of personal experience and contemplation about the nature of the place itself. You see, for those who are serious about actually achieving worthwhile athletic and fitness goals, the gym is a battleground - a place to go and fight daily, and the war you fight is a war against your own weakness and laziness. The war never ends, and you must pick yourself and throw yourself back in the madness, day and after day.

Most of the people there don’t understand what they’re doing, and I’m not just talking about their exercises. Their entire mindset is all wrong. They think the gym is a place you just go to, spend some time in, and become healthy. They put in the time without thinking about what they’re really doing. How do I know? Because after years of annual-memberships at numerous gyms, I’ve watched and learned that most people in the gym aren’t much different from most people in society. That is, they’re average. They don’t work as hard as they can in the gym. They don’t take the time to think about what they want to accomplish, and they don’t fight like a warrior when they’re in there. The gym is a battleground - nothing else. You need to get your mindset straight when you go. Don’t just go through the motions. - learn when to focus on the pain, and learn to block it out when you need to. Go hard, or don’t go at all. I’m sick of people doing half-assed workouts. These people always look the same at the end of the year. I want to shake them and yell in their face like a drill seargeant. Matter of fact, that’s what people need. Personal trainers to get on their ass and push them farther. Maybe every gym should have a drill seargeant - that would set the picture straight for a lot of people who don’t realize yet that they’re in a fucking battle.

Gyms are too orderly. Too civil. Too sterile. I’m always surprised after leaving the battleground that I didn’t see anyone leaving or limping in pain, or even walking out with their chest out and head held high, the pride that comes only after winning, only after victory. Sometimes my mind loses its sense of reality and doesn’t understand why no one seems to be bleeding. Isn’t this a fucking battleground? Then where the hell is the blood? The cries of pain? Ok, I don’t expect to see blood. But cries of pain aren’t too much to ask for. At the very least, I want to hear something breathing hard. I don’t think that’s asking for too much. I want to hear someone’s heart beat so hard and so fast, like the beat of a drummer hypnotizing our legs into marching into battle. When I see and hear warriors in the gym grunt from the pain of exertion, I get hyped. The warrior spirit inside me stirs and, if I happened to forget that I was on a battleground that day, I’m reminded again of where I am and it all becomes clear again. But alas, that doesn’t happen very often. In fact, I hardly ever notice anyone in the gym. They’re too busy wiping off their blood making sure they don’t leave sweat anywhere, and doing their best to be invisible. Sometimes I think every gym should have a caged lion somewhere, growling and scaring the living shit out of people so that they remember that the world is a harsh place, and they better haul ass if they’re going to make it out of the jungle alive.

Now, I admit that sometimes I just go through the motions too. If you fight 300 battles a year, you’re bound to lose your concentration at some point or another. Sometimes you’ve lost motivation, or your mind is just weary and distracted from work, school, relationships, or whatever else is going on in your life. Listen, I get it. I feel like that too sometimes. But sometimes I also experience death and rebirth, and conversate with both God and the Devil all through the course of a 1-1.5 hour workout. These battles are spiritual, mental, and physical. The gym isn’t just a place to move your muscles around. It’s a battleground where all your skills and strength are tested, including your spirit and your mind. I hardly ever see anyone take this approach, I can tell by their faces. The face of a warrior doing battle just looks different.

If you want to have a better a chance of getting this kind of workout, you need to listen to something other than poppy music. Listen to something meaningful, something spiritual, something that jars feelings deep inside of you and reminds you of what you’re fighting for. Can pop music do that for you? Maybe. I wouldn’t know, I haven’t tried. I just know what works for me.

I admit I’m a bit of an elitist. I’m blessed with a baseline level of athletic ability and potential, and thus I have higher standards for myself. However, I’m by no means an exceptional athlete. I’m not the biggest, strongest, fastest, or toughest person in the gym, or in any gym. The difference is that I understand the gym is a battleground and when I step into the weight room or get on the treadmill, I’m prepared to fight. I don’t win everyday - no, that would be too easy. Sometimes I win, sometimes I lose. Mostly the result is somewhere in between - I win in some areas and lose in others. But the good thing about this kind of war is that its always waiting for you. You could take a break for 5 years from the war if you got tired of it. But the challenge and the fight will always be there when you need to test yourself again. This is a fight that doesn’t end - and a true warrior wouldn’t have it any other way.