The Masochistic Mindset

Nothing has ever been built without something first being destroyed.

This sounds like a tough guy platitude but it is surprisingly accurate when you take the time to stop and think about it. A house cannot be build without a foundation being dug, trees cleared and harvested, and stones broken and moved. Any great endeavor comes with it some form of sacrifice and effort from someone or something.

This principle has been touched on by strength coaches, bodybuilders, and high level athletes for decades. In order to grow and build a strong body you have to sacrifice comfort. You have to learn to love muscle soreness and crave the stiff burning the morning after your workout. The burning becomes your drug of choice and nothing satisfies quite like it. If you really want to see progress you must adopt a mentality which enjoys discomfort. Learn to love pain.

This sounds simple enough but very few people have the tenacity to take it as far as they need to in order to see results. Discomfort sucks, pain is not enjoyable, and being sore all of the time gets old in a hurry. We are genetically pre disposed to avoid pain and discomfort So you have to train yourself to embrace “the suck”, learn to be a masochist. When you wake up in the morning don’t think about “training” or “cardio” or anything that isn’t: “How am I going to HURT MYSELF today?”. This question should be your mantra when you enter the gym. Ask yourself how you can inflict pain on your body in order to achieve your goals.

This does not give you license to injure yourself through sloppiness or neglect areas of fragility in your body. Our joints, tendons, ligaments, and fascia are all involved with all of our physical endeavors but we often fail to consider the difference between muscular burn and the burning sensation of tearing connective tissue. Or the difference between joint pain, tendonitis, and strained muscles. seeking out pain does not mean seeking incapacitation, it simply means inflicting the right pain to the right places to get the right results.

Discomfort sucks, pain is a bitch, and getting in shape isn’t easy. It takes sacrifices of your time, money, mental effort, discipline, and so much more. to achieve great things you must make great sacrifice. Nothing has ever been gained without something being given. Give more of yourself. See what happens.

Get after it

God Bless