I love the gym for one reason, it’s not because of the atmosphere, or the people or the machines or the goals I’m trying to achieve. I love it because in order to change I MUST be vulnerable there.
My trainer gave me a very tough session yesterday, probably the most intense workout I have ever done in 45 minutes. I kept laughing every now and again. Firstly because I’m nervously covering up my struggle to complete my reps and secondly, I couldn’t believe how different I felt in front of her in those moments of sweat dripping, struggle-face-pulling final reps. Like Ha! Just the other day we were sat together and she admired my work and drive as an entrepreneur and I felt quite nice about myself like yeah… I’m cool. Was I still *that* cool entrepreneur woman when my red face, dripping with sweat, jaws clasped tight breathing heavily on those last deadlifts and leg extensions?
It absolutely did not feel like it. In those moments of intense difficulty, when the the support from a trainer was what I’m relying on to get me through the work, I was as vulnerable and as human as I have ever felt. Right in front of someone I had only met a few weeks ago, I showed more vulnerability there than my own family had probably seen from me. I could barely recognise myself for the rest of the whole day. All I knew was that I was the girl who made it to the end of intensity and collapsed on the couch as soon as she got back home. The process of challenging myself relentlessly simmered away my ego. For the rest of the day my heart and body felt light. I was humble and strong.
But anyway why am I rambling on about this? Yes I love the gym because it transforms my body and soul but I’m going to squeeze in one more little reason gym experiences are something I love talking about. Fitness training is the best metaphor for learning in almost any other field. Training the mind, training your voice, training your tongue, training for patience and endurance, it is all relatable to building and strengthening the body. I think it’s true, what about you?