Six warriors are preparing themselves for the workouts to come. The excitement is building up. Everybody is being tested and measured this week, including me. We are getting our diets in place. Can’t deny that I feel the excitement and nervousness too. I requested my trainers to train me too. I believe it is important to live the same experience as the others. In my opinion it is the only way to create togetherness. It is pretty much the cornerstone of my vision: don’t place yourself above or outside the process as the togetherness is the key to magic.
That means that I have some hard work to do in the gym. Today I was tested for structural balance. The results weren’t too bad but still enough work to be done. And of course I gained weight in the wrong places the last months. Dammit. 19% bodyfat is not obese but it is close to twice as fat as I was in November last year when I had a nice 11%. I am prone to injury and they tend to stick with me for quite a long time, leading me to lose pleasure and ruining my routine. But I trust that my trainers will know how to work around it.
One of the young guns I hired is named Wouter. He has been my housemate too this summer. I just asked him if he had some sort of question because I knew I had this piece of writing coming up. He asked me how I experience training in general. He had a Dutch word for it that I find hard to translate (trainingsbeleving). He refers to the transition of going from everyday mode into ‘the zone’. He feels the excitement and anticipation flowing through his body when his body tells him it is time to hit the gym. In the picture above you can see him having a jolly good time.
To be honest: for me it is different and I even feel a bit of jealousy when I hear that. I do know that place whereof he speaks but it takes a while before I get there. It happens after some weeks of strict discipline and it definitely helps to be injury-free. But it is one of the reasons I believe that the 100 Day Warrior can turn out to be a very powerful program: chances are we will all get there at more or less the same moment.
In 2011 I discovered bootcamp inspired workouts. I loved running, crawling and sprinting in rain or wind. I became faster, leaner than ever and had great stamina. Often I would feel like a racehorse. During the same year I was running longer distances and although I am around 100kg (but dropped until 92 then) I loved it. Snowboarding can give me that feeling to. In the gym I prefer to have a buddy. I tend to not dig that deep when I am alone, or it takes a while. I need a bit of a run-up. But when I have company I am very willing to explore my pain limits.
Meditation is an extremely important tool for me. If my practice is solid ‘the zone’ becomes more or less the place where I live in. Wouter’s mind seems to empty itself by itself when his body tells him it is getting time to hit the gym. For me it is the other way around, if I empty my mind before I have to do something I will perform better and enjoy it more. But the beauty it that is goes for everything, not only nice things like running or snowboarding but also for meetings and doing my bookkeeping.
My feeling about Wouter’s experience of training is that it is a bit of a journey. His body wants to take him on a journey into not-knowing, he wants to explore boundaries and limits and find out what is beyond. For me the ‘dialogue’ is less internal and more with the world around me: it feels great to feel freedom (running, weather) and togetherness (smiles, jokes and going deep together). It might be an age thing too. I am not THAT curious to find out how much I can lift, I rather lift less and not be injured. I do love that racehorse feeling and I love it when that feeling comes back into my body. It feels as if I can (and want to!) walk through doors, lift boulders and run forever. It feels extremely alive. It is that potency in combination with a clear and focused mind that I hope we will experience together in a couple of weeks from now. Because my gut tells me it will be magical.
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This is episode 4 in a series of 100 blog posts that will be published daily during the 100 Day Warrior. All posts are written by Atalwin Pilon, founder of Basic Goodness and creator of the 100 Day Warrior, a unique program around physical strength, inner wisdom and meaning. For requests for motivational speaking, in-company workshops, online coaching and mindfulness training click here. If you would like to join our international community of brave and inspiring human beings or just follow this blog and receive updates, please click here of sign up on the right side of the page. Atalwin specializes in coaching smart and creative people, both groups and individuals. If you are interested in a free coaching session click here.
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