I was talking with a musician friend the other day. He’s incredibly intelligent in many ways and one of these ways is that he can create music on every spectrum from drum & bass👉singer songwriter👉composing instrumental pieces. He’s successful but there’s people around him that believe he needs to stay in one lane to be more—to choose one end of the spectrum. They believe he can’t be a drum & bass vocalist and an instrumentalist at the same time. It’s the same in the fitness industry. Most people want to box you into one thing, one category as the solution. Right now it’s a confusing place to be. On one hand they’re saying to only focus on performance because that is how you learn to trust your body, that is how you defeat diet culture. Okay, yes. And … It’s also okay to want to train for aesthetics. There’s a reason I do bicep curls twice a week. There’s also a reason I follow a progressive program to give me a roadmap to develop strength. But neither of these intentions come from a place or urgency or needing to fix. 🎧My musician friend mentioned that people are scared of what they don’t understand. Being one-dimensional is an easy route because it means we don’t have to do something different, try something different and explore what else could be true for us. It’s okay to want to chase strength and aesthetics. I believe allowing yourself to exist in both these camps—free of judgement—there’s some key things to consider: ⚡️Be aware of where your aesthetic drive is coming from: can you still be okay with where you are right now? ⚡️Layer your performance pursuits with intentional training and recovery protocols in and outside of the gym. Understand how to modulate your training—slow down to speed up. With both ends of the spectrum, your success relies on your honesty with yourself and your relationship with exercise as an enhancer or detractor in your life. You don’t have to sit in either camp. You’re not anti-anything by choosing to pursue what makes you feel pumped. But always make a pro-you choice to feel empowered by your pursuits in the gym.
To learn about what you are truly capable of, to stop second guessing yourself, feel like an athlete in the gym but participate in life outside of the gym, go here to get on the waitlist for The Bold Collective. You can learn more about it here.