LIFT WEIGHTS, CHASE ETERNAL GLORY

I sat down to write about the things that feel good to me about working out. One of the messages that I’m absolutely passionate about spreading is that your choice of exercise should feel good to you. Not after, like “I’m glad I did that,” or “I like seeing the results,” but actually during your workout… the endorphins, the feeling of embracing a challange and succeeding, and the pleasure of moving your body should feel delicious.

I planned to write a list of the myriad reasons that working out feels good, but I got sidetracked by one singular idea: every workout, I am essentially chasing 3 to 5 seconds of absolute, soul-changing glory. I may work out four days a week for 45-60 minutes, but it is always in pursuit of those moments of glory, the last rep of a heavy lift, that I crave so deeply. The whole thing… the coffee, the warmup, the mobility drills, the work sets, the whole damn thing is done so that I may come alive for 1-2 “money reps,” maybe just once in each workout.

What is a “money rep?” It’s the moment at the end of your set when you’re not sure if you can do another rep but then you give it your absolute all. It also happens to be where real gains in strength and muscular development are made. I know myself and my body pretty damn well at this point, and I typically won’t attempt a rep that will fail if I don’t want to be training to failure (which I usually don’t), so I very rarely miss an attempted rep. That having been said, there is a moment sometimes during that last rep when I’m not sure I will succeed. But it is exactly that moment, as the barbell is slowing down and I’m not sure if I can make it, that holds within it the eternal glory I’m chasing.