"Somewhere a True Believer is training to kill you. He is training with minimal food or water, in austere conditions, training day and night. The only thing clean on him is his weapon and he made his web gear. He doesn't worry about what workout to do - his ruck weighs what it weighs, his runs end when the enemy stops chasing him. This True Believer is not concerned about 'how hard it is;' he knows either he wins or dies. He doesn't go home at 17:00; he is home. He knows only The Cause.
Still want to quit?" - Anonymous
Let's address the elephant in the room.
The quote above is extreme, right? Even the U.S. Marine with a background in combat arms or a Special Operations soldier with years of training would consider this intense in the context of exercise, but it's relevant. Most everyone wants to be in better shape and most of us want to eat healthier, live cleaner, and have an overall better wellness. So what stops us at times? How many of us have planned on an early morning workout only to hit snooze, or have started a New Year's resolution only to fizzle out before February? What went wrong? Where was the breakdown? Motivation and purpose.
For the warrior preparing for battle, these questions are obvious and easy to answer. For us in the real world, these questions can get clouded or maybe they are considered less important. When you hear the term “stronger, more functional, and harder to kill,” your mind may go to an action hero. But that's not the intent we have when we say that.
Stronger.
Who says being stronger isn't life-changing when it means you possess the strength and endurance to pick up and play with your children more? Strength comes in many forms. To us it takes the strength and heart of a lion to get up and come to the gym every day when you are a beginner or have let yourself go and are now trying to get back on the horse. Every day you push yourself past your comfort zone is a day that you become more physically and mentally strong.
Faster.
Who says that being more functional due to your time in the gym doesn't add value to your life because you are now more efficient and effective at work or helping to carry groceries? Walking up stairs, getting in and out of a chair, touching your toes and tying your shoes: these are all necessary functions. A minute percentage of us are training for the Olympics or the CrossFit Games. Most of us just want to be able to carry out the normal daily functions without strain and pain, and that's the value and function that we can bring you.
Harder to kill!
What's more likely: you have to defend yourself and family from a rogue band of ninjas, or that you could potentially be killed by heart disease, diabetes, or obesity? These are very real, very common, and very preventable killers of Americans. I'm not trying to use scare tactics; I'm just speaking truth. If getting up an hour earlier every day and cashing in a little sweat and hard work meant ten more years with your grandkids, husband, or wife, I am sure you would see it as a no-brainer! Well, the decision is that obvious and direct.
It's no secret that a healthier diet and regular exercise will make you harder to kill.
Looking good in a bathing suit or with your shirt off is just window dressing. Sure, they are reasons to eat better and exercise, but they are not life-changing motivations. If we change our mindset and look at a lack of well-being and fitness as a potential threat to our pursuit of happiness and quality of life, then it will begin to fuel a fire at a deeper level. Now you can start to see that being stronger, more functional, and harder to kill are tools to arm yourself with to achieve the happiness we all want and to ensure that we are around long enough to enjoy what we work so hard for.
We want nothing more than to see happy, healthy, hopeful faces walk through the threshold of our gym. That's why we are here and why we take the time to put pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard!). But there is only so much we can do. We can provide you with the knowledge, the facility, and a safe place to learn, fall down, and get back up. But it all starts with you; YOU have to take that first step! You have to make that decision and believe in your heart that you want to be stronger, more functional, and harder to kill!
