Hey Team,
Happy Sunday everyone and thanks (as always) to everyone who got into the gym last week. I have been really pleased with the continued evolution (de-evolution) of the sessions and am looking eagerly ahead to the sessions planned for this week. We have bike races, some high-volume light dumbbell work, a partners session…it really is great to see the old and the new mixed together almost completely.
News Flash! I went out to a concert during the week. The show was amazing (the 4am alarm after arriving home at midnight was slightly less amazing) but it has had me thinking. A lot. I mean, the show was A+ and the artist has released 5x albums…so he isn’t unknown. But whenever people asked me who I went to see, once I had answered the question I received a “shrug of the shoulders/never heard of him” in response. And (of course), that made me think about the gym. ‘Cos that’s what I do.
And before you flick the page because I am going to talk about all the amazing things we are doing at R1 but “no-one knows about us” (which is the response I got when I tried explaining this topic)…ummm…that isn’t where I was going at all. Where I WAS going was that there are so many PEOPLE who are in the gym every day getting great work done – but going largely unrecognised despite all of their efforts.
It is 6:30am on Saturday morning as I’m typing this and there are two classes running out in the gym right now. People coming in early on their day off to do a session before heading off to kids sport (or whatever else)…damn the opportunity of a sleep in, they are in and getting it done. Fast forward a couple of hours and I’m sure they’ll be doing the weekly shop or rubbing shoulders with other parents on the sideline, no mention of their early session or the commitment they are showing, not a word of the improvement they are making. But what they are doing is just SOOOOO impressive.
(As an aside, I’m not saying coming in later in the day is somehow LESS impressive…it just happens to be 6:38am as I type this and I am impressed so many people are up and training this early on a SATURDAY!).
When I go speak to new clients or go through the Health Check process, I talk a lot about people having a 3x 52 mentality when it comes to their training. What this means is that you don’t need to be a super-human – but 3x sessions every week, 52x weeks of the year should be the target for your training. This might SOUND super easy…I mean, it’s Mon-Wed-Fri or Tue-Thu-Sat. Plus there is a fall-back option every Sunday to pick up the day you might have missed…I mean, 3x sessions per week is EASY. Except it’s not. Life gets in the way every single week (every single day) – and showing the dedication to get in and get it done 3x is impressive.
Somehow we had 302 people do that in April (well, 302 people completed at LEAST 16-sessions in April) and that is DESPITE the lockdown, despite the mask-wearing, despite everything. I just think that is 100% amazing. And to go back to the thought that kicked all of this off (“how does no-one know who this performer is when he is incredible”) I really do wonder why we aren’t all looking a lot closer to home when we are looking for inspiration/motivation etc…If you’re searching instagram looking for examples of what to do, if you’re looking up workout routines online…well, stop it. Just have a glance over at the person in the ‘cell’ next door!
So – for everyone out there who is getting it done despite the fact no-one is watching. Slogging it out in the gym/watching their food NOT because they have some social media followers to impress or some other such 21st century reason but just for themselves…great job. For the people out there getting it done without asking for any kind of acknowledgement or recognition – the people just doing it for the good vibes and positive energy of doing something good for themselves, well…keep it up. You’re killing it.
That’s it. See you in the gym – the week ahead looks GREAT!
Michael.
p.s. I always loved that image of Aaron doing pushups in the back of an otherwise empty R1 gym (admittedly the pre-COVID refurb version) and just thought it perfectly fit the image of what I was hoping to capture here.
We know this can be a daunting time. You’re probably wondering if we really are the right fit for each other. And it’s OK! Many people before you, have felt the same, and that’s why we want to offer you something special – our $29 Health Check.
Let’s work out together to see if we’re the right fit. Just hit the button below to let me know if you’re ready to see what’s included.