The Bit Nobody Tells You About.

Here’s something that I’ve learned about myself since beginning strength training; nothing will ever be enough.

By this, I don’t mean to discourage or dissuade anyone from training at all, in fact, I think anyone who is able should give it a go! What I’m trying to get at is the need for more.

When most people go to a personal trainer or a coach, they‘re asked for a short, mid and long term goal. I always ensure that I stress to people that these goals are fluid, they’ll change and so will you.

My goal when I began lifting weights was to drop a few clothes sizes, to lose a little chub and to just feel a bit better in my skin. I discovered relatively quickly that achieving these things wouldn’t be enough. Once I began losing a little weight and seeing some strength come in, I was hooked. This was it, the thing I was looking for! From then I wanted more. More muscle. More weights on the bar. More confidence. It was (and still is) addictive.

Since I began weightlifting my body has changed drastically, and with that, so have my goals. I no longer care about losing weight or being x clothes size, the only thing that matters to me now is the weight on the bar and pushing myself to reach my potential.

From picking up my first barbell last year, to competing this year, my goals have changed multiple times. Sometimes I‘ve felt defeated, sometimes I’ve felt like I was on top of the world, and sometimes I’ve felt like I’ve had no direction. This is fine, and this is normal.

Get ready to change your mind a thousand times about what you want from your body. It’s normal and totally viable. You can begin with wanting to tone, then enjoying adding a little weight to your movements and feeling stronger, then thinking wow this is a powerful feeling, I want more. Likewise, you can spend years building strength and mass, to then decide you’d like to lose weight, or try body building or Olympic lifting, or even just decide it’s boring and you’d like to go back to doing a bit of everything in the gym.

The point is, be prepared to change your mind, change your coach, change your attitude. We grow through change, and it’s important. Vary your lifestyle and try different things until you find what you love, then if you get bored of that, try something else!

There is nothing tying you down when it comes to fitness. You’re the decision maker. If you have a coach or a trainer, tell them if your desires change; it’s their job to help you accomplish those goals regardless of what they are.

Good luck!