There are people who are so adamant about training in the gym, they often times become conditioned to believe that's the only place one should be training at. Not true whatsoever. Every individual who trains in the gym have their reasons, some are good, some out of desperation and others go because it is therapeutic for them. The gym has its place and if it works for someone, make it worthwhile. However; it isn't the only option.
For me, I'm just not part of that culture. I don't even feel my full potential is in those places, not anymore at least. I'm in the process of canceling my own membership because I just don't have that passion or drive to go to a building where I feel out of place, not being myself or do what works best for me. It was fun for a while and picked up on a few things again but that fire died out a long time ago and I was just going through the motions exercise wise.
Training outside the gym has always been my thing for the last 20+ years. Strength Training through Isometrics, Sandbags, Hammers, Band and Bodyweight feels more primal and exciting to me. Barbells and Dumbbells are cool to play around with but nothing gave me that true power and fire than the things I just mentioned. The world is our gym, we have the ability to create any workout we want with the right knowledge and tools. Having a home gym in my opinion is a far better option because you can set it up any way you want, lift with what you have and never have to worry about other people around you. I like training at home, the park, the beach, in a hotel room or wherever. I don't have to wait around for anyone and I don't want anyone to have to wait on me to use something. Plus, I'm not the most social guy when it comes to the gym anyway, yeah I give others props for their training but in reality, I've always lived by my motto "Either join me, or stay the fuck away from me" when it comes to the things I do.
I met a few guys at the gym that were cool and had some solid strength for the things they did. They complimented me a time or two telling me that my strength was impressive to them and doing some crazy weights without using straps, my grip strength I think impressed them the most but it is what it is. It just didn't give me what I wanted out of it and I was fighting myself to either go and fight to get a good workout in or whatever. It also took a lot of time out of my day where normally, I would train for less than a half hour and either be back home in a few minutes or just go about the rest of my day at the house or whatever. I was walking 45 minutes to an hour to go to the gym, which in and of itself might as well be my cardio, lift some weights for another 45 minutes to an hour, do a possible finisher for about 20 minutes (only done it a couple times) and then have the energy to walk all the way back home. That's over 3 hours of my day just to try to get some training in. That's not who I' am and what is worthy of me to do. On top of that, I was going after goals outside of the gym that took up even more energy than I wanted to.
I wanted my energy to be useful, not burned out of necessity just so I can try to do stuff in a little building LOL. Some days I would go with my wife so we can go together and she can do her thing and I'll help her out every now and then but even then, I barely even knew what I wanted to do, I can work any exercise in there if I wanted to and knew how to do them but being out of the gym culture game most of my adult life, I had no structure or plan for anything, I just picked up weights and if I went heavier, cool or do pull-ups and dips. I had greater structure outside of it and I just don't want to fight that, you know what I mean?
Fitness is a journey that takes you on many paths, if its in a gym, that's awesome and wish everyone nothing but success but some of us have a journey that doesn't include that and making something of ourselves that takes us beyond that mentality of being in the gym. That's just my take on it and have greater freedom to roam. I want to have that energy to do what I love, be there for others and not be so damn exhausted for just a small window of exercise, I want to be able to keep going and not push myself to the brink of possibly injuring myself. If I truly wanted to get into an exhaustive phase, I'd rather it be on the mat wrestling or some other martial art and/or moving furniture. Something along those lines or hell be able to hike and swim, I love that shit. Fuck, I rather get winded after messing with a sledgehammer than mess around with a barbell.
All in all, that part of my journey, is not a priority for me anymore and I want to make things happen the way I feel I was meant to do. The gym will always have a place in my heart, it was my first area of training when I was a teenager during and after high school briefly and will always tell people, if you're going to be going to the gym, make it successful for you and learn the basics from the old timers and not some textbook influencer who's most likely on steroids telling you the latest trends. Train with passion, train with that fire within and give each session the best you have that day, even if you're not 100%. If that's your style of training, don't ever let it go. Be amazingly awesome and kick ass in your journey.
