Your Story

Every drop of sweat, every rep, every set, every ripped fiber has a story. It’s an amazing, dramatic story full of incredible highs and insightful lows. The best part is that each story is your story. Your unique stories that is full of your moments that you cherish and learn from to bring to the next challenge. Some stories you tell your friends and family and some stories you keep inside and build upon. Stories make up the fabric of our lives and since the gym and working out plays such an integral and powerful role in our day-to-day actions, we need to celebrate our successes at the gym with stories about our progress and strength.

What is your story? Have you ever sat down and really thought about it? What do you want it to look like? Your story is the reason why you work out. Do you work out to gain a higher level of confidence? Do you work out to impress some people around you? Do you work out to gain strength in your body and mind? What about to find the best version of your physic? These are all valid reasons to work out and best of all, every single one of those reasons is the motivation you need to rise to the occasion and give it all you got in the gym.

My story has a lot to do with working out to look my best and working hard to become better at the exercises I would do in the gym. Growing up, I was always the chubby one in the group! I didn’t have the fastest metabolism like some of my other friends and they made sure I knew about it. What I didn’t realize was that being a little chubbier did also mean I was a little stronger. That didn’t set in until we all started to work out. Like most boys around the age or 16 or 17 (I’m sure this applies to ladies as well), I wanted to hit the gym to see if I could improve on my body and gain some strength. I wanted to get the big arms and toned abs to impress myself! Soon after we made going to the gym a routine and we began to set a routine of some sort, I realized I could lift more than my friends. I guess all those years of carrying more weight around gave me the strength I needed to push more weight than my friends in the gym. I became obsessed with the amazing feeling I would get after a great workout and the makings of a gym shark began. When all of my other friends found excuses to not work out, I was at the gym. When all of my other friends gave into their bad dietary habits, I tried my best to stick to a healthy meal plan. This lasted for a long time until one day I realized all the hard work I was putting in, actually led to the big arms and toned abs I was working for all along! I was actually known for being …big …but in a huge muscular way of course! How amazing! A new obsessing emerged which I was refining the transformation that took place and loving every minute of it. From that point on working out was not an option. I worked out on days I didn’t feel like it, days I didn’t eat well and yes even on days I didn’t feel well. It was not an option. I went to the gym during snow storms and on sunny days. It was a major reason for my confidence and self-esteem. I just loved the feeling the blood pumping through my veins gave me and the muscular look I had. That lasted many, many years because I realized the benefits of working out is not something that lasted unless you constantly keep the momentum going. It definitely was a struggle at times to keep my work out schedule consistent and I was not perfect by any means but I did try my best. I understood that I couldn’t just claim to work out or work out once a week and expect the results I would get from working out five times a week. I couldn’t just choose to be fit, I had to work out to be fit. This applies in all areas of life as well. The work ethic involved with being proficient at the gym, living a healthy lifestyle and being fit applies to everything you want to be successful at. It is the work ethic combined with your story that gives you anything you want in life. So this brings us back to the original question which is …what is your story? Are you living it or are your writing it? Who is the author of the events that are happening to you and around you? The answer is yours but remember memories are only a picture of your story so become the best artist you can. This means we should all be working to improve our stories daily. It can start with the gym. Working out can change your outlook which can change the outlook on your stories. Each one of your stories starts and ends with you and the best stories are yet to come. So continue to workout, stay focused and remember even though motivations to workout may dry up from time to time, going to the gym and practicing the principles of being fit will always bring you the results you want. Better stories always start with a better version of you which can be achieved by getting fit.