By: Coach Wyatt
The gym won't solve the other problems in your life. It won't mend broken relationships. It won't solve financial burdens. It won't delay deadlines. It won’t heal wounds from the past.
Yet, many of us have turned to the gym during hard times. Why is it we do this? I think it is to remind ourselves that we are strong. One of my favorite quotes is this: “I know how important it is in life not necessarily to be strong but to feel strong. To measure yourself at least once. To find yourself at least once in the most ancient of human conditions, facing the blind death stone alone, with nothing to help you but your hands and your own head.”
This past weekend I received some unexpected news and genuinely did not know what or how to feel about it. I didn't turn to training, but training was there for me. I was getting my usual trail run in when a song came on that matched the feelings I was trying to process. I immediately took my light jog to a sprint up that rocky hill until my legs gave out. I needed to feel something challenging. I needed to put high effort into something. So that hill, at that moment, became my outlet.
And I'm sure many of you (myself included) have done this with a barbell.
For whatever reason we need those moments. You don't even always need them to be wins or PRs. Sometimes you just need to attempt something hard. You need to attempt something that seems out of reach.
The gym won't solve your problems. And the gym shouldn't be the only place where you express emotions.
But putting emotions into physical actions can be healing.