Training: The Mind

I got into a discussion (mostly listening) recently at work about exercise. A lot of people train for reasons that seem ambiguous and common. For example; a lot of people exercise for health reasons, they don't like the way they look (aesthetic), or their doctor or someone is telling them they need to exercise in order to add some amount of possible time to their life.

I find all of this hard to understand, because I wouldn't step foot into a gym for any of these reasons. For this reason people at face value often confuse me as a health nut, exercise guru, someone obsessed with the aesthetics and health benefits of exercising. I feel that this is also why a lot of people fail at ever changing anything physically, mentally, and emotionally through exercise.

The drive is not there. Just wanting to lose some flub around the mid-section, wanting to lower your blood pressure, or wanting to "look better naked" is going to result in less than ideals results over the long haul. It has to be beyond that I feel. Sure, there are those that become totally obsessed with a personal issue and will become persistent -- however, these are usually those that you see at the local gym doing the same thing day in and day out, year after year.

Like a mechanical organism, programmed to do one thing because "that is the only way" and in fear of transforming to their formal selves.

Training gives me a sense of self, it reminds me of my mortal barriers, that my body is still there. What I mean is that from day to day, the average person forgets about their body. It is sort of like when you get really sick you all of a sudden realize holy shit how awesome was it when I could breath clearly and my lungs were clear-- you realize you really take good health for granted.

Or, when you get injured and you lose the function of a limb, only then is the average person aware of the appendage. When you train, and train hard, you are constantly aware of your body. The very act of it being constantly torn down and built up, over and over, again and again. Sleeping good, sleeping bad, big appetite, small appetite, gorilla like strength one day, the strength of a mouse the next-- this dynamic process creates this self awareness of your body that is consistently in your face.

Training embodies a part of me, that is otherwise useless in current society. There is no true physical struggle anymore-- life is easy from a physical standpoint. Our hardships are mostly financial and social. I can walk into a store to buy my food, I turn a facet on to get clean water, walk into a doctor's office to get medicine-- necessities are in abundance granted that I keep my end of the bargain up and go to work and serve the system. This honestly leaves me in this unfulfilled state, where my primordial component handed to me from my ancient ancestors is left to rot and decay. Training keeps it alive, honed in, and trained.

Training resets the negative. I've commented before, training is often a religious experience for me. It is beyond a big squat or a nice chest. It is almost completely about my mind. The challenge is the fuel. The body is my vessel, it is a tool I use for my mind.