Stardate: 11th June 2014
G’day all.
It’s a beautiful, sunny day in the little island of Barbados. I was blessed with another day of life, love, and health. The birds and my biceps are in agreement. Were the latter able to sign like the former, both of their songs would be equally glorious. ‘Til my biceps learn to sing however, they’ll have to be content with being shining orbs of manly awesomeness.
I kid… I kid. Really though, you’d get that I’m in the best mood.
Why is that you ask? Well, it’s been a great week for fitness. Last night in particular, I started working with a new client. The review she sent me this morning of last night’s workout, and follow-up, almost-hour-long Q&A session brought tears to my eyes. Shortly after, one of my longer-term clients had a personal Fitness epiphany.
The latter, I’ll share with you.
His name is Bradley, and he’s an amazing person.
On my way this morning to run my location for Camp Gladiator , I had a moment: I remembered how I use to workout sssssooooo hard in secondary school.I use to be so disappointed in myself…Asking “why am I so fat?!!”Reminiscing on the times I would be jogging on the road and I would hear (from passersby): “Lewwe go FAT MAN!”Reminiscing about the times when my chest use to be sore from sprinting with man boobs.I’m JUST so thankful for the knowledge now, for the discipline to apply the knowledge.The desire to change was always there. I just didn’t know how to.
Now I know:
All of my Secondary school peeps I know you remember how I looked back in the day.
Hard work pays off.
Bless up to Nark his teachings!
– Bradley Inniss; Certified Trainer
Heart-warming.
And… a reminder that even the best of us sometimes need a hand. Bradley’s a great guy, a certified trainer, and a National and Regionally-ranked Olympic lifter in our home country of Barbados.
Still, for all the hard work he’d put in, and for all the knowledge and experience accrued, he’s struggled to get in to shape. Under my wing, he is currently in the best shape of his life… and this, too, is an understatement really.
His story, is a lot like my own. I struggled with my bodyfat percentage, body composition, and image as a teen. All of that halted spontaneously when I humbled myself, and recruited help. I competed for 7 straight years in bodybuilding. And, even with the knowledge accrued, I still used a coach for 5 of those 7 years. Were I to return to the stage again, I’d hire a coach. Many would consider me and top mind in the field locally/regionally/etc… but I’d *still* hire a coach for my prep.
Why?
See the article’s tagline: “Sometimes, even the best of us needs help.”
Sometimes, we’re too smart for our own good. Sometimes, we know too much. Knowledge is great. Passing on knowledge is part of what I do for a living. The accrual, discussion, and passing on thereof is, partially, my goal in life. However, there is SO much information out there, and so many ways of doing things, that we often get oversaturated with it. And, this leads to doing too many conflicting things, questioning ourselves perpetually, stressing, and/or never fully committing to any one path.
A hand in the darkness: That’s what coaches do.
Today, I challenge you.
Ask yourself: “Do I need help? If yes, what’s stopping me?”
Yours in fitness,
-Corey “Narkissos” Springer
Apollo Fitness Barbados 