Fitness is Freedom

Everyone who joins the gym does a one-on-one meeting with a coach. The third and final thought-provoking question that we ask prospective students during their ‘Intro Session’ looks into the future. The question may be phrased something like, “If you could wake up tomorrow and you were perfectly on top of your fitness game, what would that look like?”

Of course, there is no correct answer. In fact, there are a number of different kinds of desires that lead people to DEUCE Gym. All of them are perfectly valid. Furthermore, it’s perfectly normal if you can’t rattle off hyper-specific goals. While those are fine just as well, very few students comes to us specifically wanting to lose 3.5% body fat, be able to run a sub-6:40 mile, or get their LDL blood panel levels under 100mg per dL. Most people just want some version of looking, feeling, and performing better.

I found myself wondering what my answer to this question would be today. After all, I don’t have any current desire to compete in anything at the moment. I’m not looking to re-qualify for the National Championships in strongman. I’m not a competitive CrossFit athlete anymore. So, what’s my ideal?

My answer is simple. I want to explore my peak performance to the level that I could say “Yes” to anything life presented me. I’d never want to be unable to participate in a voluntary or involuntary activity my life presents because of a lack of physical ability. Voluntarily, I’d like to be able to go on the longest of hikes, white water raft, or help a friend solve a physical task. Involuntarily, if I was put in danger, I’d like to survive an encounter with a worthy adversary.

While my goal is extremely general, it does make for some remarkably specific experiences. In fact, I was able to say “Yes” to a jiujitsu practice, and have been able to immediately be a problem for opponents because of my physicality, for example. I nearly won a home run derby amongst current and former pro players. I’ve been able to pick up both skating and surfing quickly, and I successfully gave a car door a run for its money in a bicycle accident only to come out surprisingly unscathed and was able recover in record time. I attribute all of these specific feats to my fitness that keeps me in a general ready-state.

After all, we do take our fitness with us everywhere we go. While I don’t have anything on the calendar, I do feel confident enough to bet on myself, regardless of what comes my way. Kickball? My money says I’m a threat to make some plays and drive in some runs. A friend wants to arm wrestle? “Winner winner.” If the LA Riots 3.0 break out, I’d rather be me than the other guy. Fitness is freedom.

If you’re feeling unimportant because you don’t have a bathroom mirror covered in hyper-specific goals, bask in the notion that training for freedom is a worthy pursuit, too. If I could wake up tomorrow with the perfect fitness, I’d be able to physically handle anything the day asked of me.

How about you?

 

 

Logan Gelbrich

@functionalcoach