Training Barriers: How to hurdle major obstacles standing in your way of physique greatness
It is in your blood; the daily toil of pounding away at the weights with no regard for anything else but muscle and strength. It has become engrained into who you are and you relish the fact that it is what separates you from the masses. You take pride in being alone in empty gyms when everyone else is out partying and socializing or simply just wasting away their time and you adore the looks you get anytime you decide to showcase your physique. But what would happen if all of that were to be taken away from you? Or what if the possibility of not being able to go and do what you were born to do was simply not there anymore? How about losing the time you cherish so much due to unforeseen circumstances that arise in your life? Do you know how to overcome any obstacle that may be standing in your way of training and living the life you’ve worked hard to build and achieve?
Sure shit happens and what you do in the face of adversity will ultimately decide your fate in the world you have been accustomed to living in for so long.
Here are a few barriers you may have experienced yourself along with some helpful tips to get you back on your feet and training insane once again.
No money
This is no secret, to live the life of a bodybuilder or to simply just get in shape and stay in shape is costly. You have membership fees for your gym, the expense of all your food, your supplements, your gym clothes, your tanning membership, the price of admission to go and watch some shows, your monthly magazine subscription, your internet fees to keep up to date and follow live streaming of competitions and anything else you can think of associated with living the life you love. This all adds up and is only one facet of your life. You still have to pay for all of the other things you need in everyday life. It is for this reason many potentially great athletes have gone by the wayside simply because they could not keep up with the financial obligations needed to get to stardom. So what do you do? Well for starters, you have to make yourself a budget and stick to it to the tee. Put money in the right places and do your best to allot only a certain amount for the extra stuff you want and need pertaining to training. Secondly, if you are lucky enough perhaps you can double up on what you love doing and get into training. People like to get trained by people who already look the part. Start recruiting and apply fees for your services. Then there is the possibility of sponsorship and this doesn’t happen for everyone and if you do get some type of sponsorship, whether it is a monetary or product sponsorship, thank your lucky stars and do everything you can to hold onto it. Finally, figure out what is most important to you. If living this life is the be all and end all for you, then learn how to say no when asked to engage in other activities that will drain your funds and leave you scraping the bottom of your protein bucket hoping for one last scoop.
When injury strikes
When everything else is in place, this has got to be the most feared barrier of them all; the dreaded injury! You could be firing on all pistons, pushing crazy weights around and growing like a weed, then all of a sudden without warning, you hear something pop or tear and pain quickly settles in. The initial hope is that the injury isn’t too serious and a few bouts with the ice pack, some rest, maybe a dose of NSAID’s, a little therapy and the injury will quickly heal. But what if the injury is significant and you are done for a lengthy period of time? Quitters will call it in, pack up their gym bag and refuse to fight to get back to where they belong. Champions will always find a way to overcome injury, intelligently employ everything they have learned about their body, listen to their doctor, use a lot of common sense and find a way to train around the injury. Have you ever heard of contra-lateral training? It is the idea of training one side of your body, when the other one is injured, and having those signals transfer to the other side of your body so that you can delay atrophy and at best keep it at bay completely. Ok, so you injured your shoulder, does that mean you can’t train legs? Maybe your elbow flares up every time you perform a skull crusher, that’s fine on arm day just train biceps. Being injured doesn’t always have to mean a complete shutdown. I understand that some injuries are just too serious and any type of exercise could be extremely detrimental to your overall health. With that said, if your injury requires you to completely rest, do it. Muscle memory is a great thing and once you’re back, it won’t take too long to regain what you’ve lost. If your injury isn’t too significant, find a way to mentally prepare yourself to train around it. In my opinion, any training is better than none at all.
No interest anymore
Believe it or not, this does happen. Someone who held the sport near and dear to their hearts all of a sudden loses all interest in building their body and leaves the gym with no remorse at all. They will site the fact that they’re too busy; work is crazy keeping them away from the gym, far too many family obligations and that the time away has made them weak and they just can’t get back into it. You may also hear that these people simply got used to the time away from the gym, found other interests and got into a whole new groove they found more appealing than the pounding of the weights. Well, here’s what I have to say to this. You want to be normal, that’s great. Normal sucks and looking like everyone else around you is never going to fill that void in your life that will eventually sneak back up on you probably when it’s too late. Do yourself a huge favor here and never let this happen. A long time ago I was told that nothing in life will matter if you don’t have your health. So for the sake of your health, if not for the longing of being a mass monster with veins snaking through your skin, stay in the gym and do the things that will help keep you living a long and healthy life.
Barriers in life exist in many different forms. It is how you overcome these barriers that get you to where you want to be.
Training barriers are no different; they can either end your love of the iron or simply serve as a test of your will. There’s a reason you were drawn into this sport; always keep that in mind and do what you gotta do to live the gym lifestyle and flourish in our world.
Author: Dana Bushell
AST Sports Science sponsored athlete/writer, ENDEVR Brand Ambassador, SKECHERS Brand Ambassador, Sponsored by Schiek Sports Inc.
Online training: http://customtrainingpro.weebly.com
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