The Other Side Of Training

 Fitness is not only a passion of mine, it's a path I chose through trial and error along with understanding what I had done to get to this point and helping others see things from another perspective. Like with all things that go with the path you choose, you'll suffer some stuff along the way in order to appreciate and even learn what it took to survive them.

I wasn't really into working out per se when I was a teenager, it was just PE and a weight set in my dad's garage that I barely used or even took seriously. I was so bad that I got hurt far more often and just didn't care about safety or recovery. Being 15-16 years old and not knowing any better, it's crazy to think that looking back on it now, I really wished I knew then what I know now. Hell even as a young kid I hated running and my conditioning was so terrible that running a mile felt like torture and dogging it most of the time. One time our PE class did a run and we had to climb up this big hill right next to the field and then keep going along this trail and back. I was already out of it just doing that damn hill and ran pathetically with my classmates but about 100 yards to get back to the hill to go down, I collapsed in front of my PE coach and nearly blacked out. I was so exhausted and just wanted to die. 

Talk about some scary shit man lol. During my first year of weight training in High School, I was a sophomore at the time, we were in the weight room and I was going for the Bench Press. I had put maybe 155-160 on the bar and test out some reps (at least I thought that was it), well I put the wrong set of weights on and accidently put on like 235 or something like that and when I was about to bring the bar down, it shot straight down onto my lower chest and almost broke my ribs. I bruised my ribs pretty bad and had to go to the nurse. Hard to breathe and the only thing I could use was an ice pack. 

When I got out of High School and joined the Gold's Gym right down the road, I wanted to get stronger and lift more weight. No real conditioning to show for and basically learned on my own how to move weights that I read in one book of Ironman that featured some Dinosaur Training and Bodybuilding. I didn't have specific routines even though I tried and taking MetRx supplements. One day, I tried a circuit I saw either in the book or some other book I had, not even halfway in I was feeling overwhelmed and breathing so heavily that it didn't feel right. Went into the bathroom and in the stall I sat and nearly passed out. I was seeing spots and than it just went black for like a minute or 2. 

In gymnastics when I was 23 almost 24 in 2008, we were doing forward and backward rolls one day and I rolled back wrong and put heavy stress on my neck and spinal cord. It felt like a crowbar smacked my neck. I couldn't stand straight for a couple days and it scared me. I did remind myself to be grateful for the bridging training I did because if my neck wasn't strong as it was, it could've been way worse and after those couple days, I felt bruising but nothing severe and focused on little things to recover. 

So what's the point of me telling you guys this? It's definitely not to brag about injuries as some badge of honor, when scary shit happens, there's not a whole lot to be proud of in those situations. People tend to think that when it comes to certain things in fitness, yeah it looks easy and you handle certain things but you're not immune to everything. Injuries and even such physical and mental exhaustion that you black out can happen and if you're not careful, you can end up losing your life. I learned from those experiences to make myself aware that you don't need to push to such limits to make your training worthwhile. Become strong and conditioned with little to no injury sustaining issues. 

The other side of training is what many won't talk about and have this taboo idea that looking from that other side of the coin is bad and should be left alone. That is dangerous as hell and sure some will go to lengths to see what they're capable of but there's a price to pay. Nobody is like Duncan McCleod of the clan McCleod and can live forever. Make the most of what you're capable of and progress little by little. We never know what's coming so train to the best of your abilities and make the best life you can.