einstein suggested that we make things as simple as possible and no simpler. the right questions can simplify things. change them – or, more accurately, change us and allow us to see the answers that are directly in front of us. people often ask me what i learned at GYM JONES, other trainers are more specific and ask me what workouts i did, if they send me a “workout of the day”. i was lucky. i found a group of talented individuals who helped shape my relationship with training from the beginning. i learned early to ask why and how and not just what should i do now. i also began to learn what to do with that information…

 

this is a short list of questions – it is hardly complete, but answered honestly these questions can help arrange a framework, a scaffolding to build your training around. these questions should bring up more questions, they should start a process, give you hints of where to look, where to push and where to rest. just remember that you are never going to find your way to your destination if you can’t be honest about where you are…

 

 

 

in training or during previous tests – where have you failed? what excuses distract you from training? from recovering? from eating properly? what triggers you into self-sabotage? how often must you test yourself to avoid complacency?

 

why are you eating the way you do? for what objective? does your diet reflect your stated goals?

 

what plans do you have to cope with these pitfalls? to avoid them, recover from them, or at least mitigate their effects?

 

what are the effects of your mental and/or emotional state or your training? on your tests? what triggers change that state? (risk? competition? failure? success?)

 

what sort of return on investment can you expect from each corrective effort? do any corrections contain a natural order or progression? which corrections will lay groundwork for other corrective efforts?

 

this list could go on, but do not mistake answering questions for progress – or asking them for that matter. that has been a pitfall of mine. the flashing lights of data points and interesting questions can be just as paralyzing as not enough information if you are not careful. the important thing is to learn from what is in front of you. to ask questions and find answers. to test theories. to try and fail and try again. the goal is to learn. to grow. and to improve.

 

re-evaluate often.

 

give things the time and attention they deserve.

 

do not give up what you really want for what you want right now.

 

look at trends, not snapshots.

 

be willing to take a step back to make a leap forward.

 

do not waste today fighting yesterdays battle. that which got you from point a to point b may not be able to get you from point b to point c. it may, in fact, be blocking your path.

 

pay attention. ask questions. don’t quit.

 

add to that – find someone smarter than you. better than you. as many as you can, and learn from them.

 

(on that note: mark and lisa twight, rob macdonald, michael blevins, james gardner, johnny carlquist, john frieh, john spezzano, rob fusco, jenny raff, matt owen, ryan mcCliment, bill mcconnell, fred bigliardi, josh harth, jonathan yankee, candace and frankie puopolo, rachel nievelt, to everyone who makes the station what it is … thank you for making me try harder every day.)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

we struggle with emotions the way a dancer struggles with gravity; diligently, methodically, and ultimately hopelessly. for the final goal is not to conquer this adversary, but through the deliberate application of pressure, of time, and of Will, to absorb and reflect its strength. to attain through our own efforts the knowledge and grace to turn its strength into our own, to know when to bend and when to leap – when to bow out and when to hurl our passion like buckets of paint across a stage. to give every last drop of our selves, not for the critics, not for the spectators, but in gratitude of a worthy adversary, a constant friend. a force that, at the same time, refuses us our goals and forms the only tools to attain them.

so work hard. work smart. this fight will last the rest of your life. and you will be better for it.

 

-the station.

 

I remember a poster.

 

A simple picture, with simple words.

 

Let reality be the grindstone on which you sharpen your hatred.

 

Better yet, your fear.

 

Your will.

 

You must be willing to smash your dreams and grind them into dust, a fine grit on which to hone your tools. The better for cutting. Cutting past the bullshit. cutting past excuses. Cutting to the heart of the matter. The reason we push. The reason we suffer. The reason we refuse to glide through life on the well worn path. The reason we choose the hard. The hurt. The wrench.

 

because fuck him. Fuck them. That’s why.

 

We work hard because we know we don’t have to. We are angry because we know we could roll over with a whimper and people would tell us that its ok. We work hard as an act of revenge upon the pieces of ourselves that want to be average. We work to become more than what we are.

 

We work our tools. Flesh and soul. Fear. Anger. Love. Compassion. Parts of a whole. Tools we learn. Tools we use. Strength and flexibility. Power and endurance. Speed. Agility. Of body and of mind. Parts of a whole. Pieces. Reflections of the work we have done. Of the promises we have made, and the ones we have broken.

 

We work to take responsibility. To claim our birthright. To remove the useless material. To grind down the conditioning that was forced upon us. To hone our sense of self, and learn to respect the edge. This tool requires a deft hand. requires patience and restraint and the willingness to act at the required moment without hesitation.

 

This is why we work. This is why we fight. This is why we push. The pain. The hours. The price we pay. We are all creatures of our own making. We are dealt a hand, for better or worse, but it is how we play that exposes us for who and what we are. Our choices, not our gifts.

 

It is about definition.

 

And when the time comes, when the moment has consequences, we can stand and face them. Face them with the knowledge of a sculptor. Of an artist who has touched every piece. Who has handled and honed. Who has shaped each part with purpose. With knowledge and perspective. We can throw ourselves into the challenge, and regardless of the outcome, grow.

 

 

-the station.

 

raise the bar.

 

in the last few years crossfit has popularized the idea of workouts as a prescription, even giving rise to the phrase “as rx’ed” and while the idea of workouts being akin to the corrective advice a doctor hands out is something i support, i feel that many use the term without understanding the implication…

 

please understand, this is not an “anti-crossfit” post, this is an “anti-bastardization of language” post.

 

i don’t post many workouts on this page. that may change, but my reasoning is this: its not for you. not that i have any secrets, or that i don’t want to share…. just that everyone i train is different. they have different goals, different abilities, different histories…. as a result, each workout is prescribed – for that individual, at that point of their growth. without knowing the histories of the players involved, seeing a workout can serve as an inspiration, perhaps even a jumping off point – but can only be useful in the general sense. many warmups are designed to help correct work related stresses, to fix imbalances. old injuries. movements chosen reflect a players skill level. or perhaps their goals. or perhaps lingering effects from a previous session. sometimes methods are chosen to elicit an emotional response, to intentionally make someone uncomfortable – or conversely, to blow off steam or otherwise manipulate a players emotional state to better suit the task at hand.

 

this brings up two important points. the first is that everything has its place. its difficult for many people to accept that what at one time, is forbidden – at some other date can be essential. we must match the tools to the task and the task to the goal. without dogma. i will even remain open to the idea that dumbbell curls may be the most appropriate exercise in some, strange circumstance. me liking or disliking a certain tool does not rob it of its usefulness unless i let my bias keep me from picking it up and learning how to use it. medicine does not have to taste good, it just has to work.

 

the second point is a little more esoteric. it is why i take my job so seriously. there is always a dark humor about the gym, about the times that training feels like an abusive relationship…. the fact that many times i intentionally push people into uncomfortable situations. try and orchestrate situations to bring them face to face with a shortcoming, with a part of themselves that i (or in better cases, we) have decided needs to change. training is taking advantage of the adaptive nature of humanity. training is sending the mind and the body a specific message to try and get a specific response. the more focused the trainee, the more vital the goal, the more specific the message. coaches are in the business of sending messages. often uncomfortable messages. occasionally manipulating the emotional state of another to get the desired effect. we push people into places they will not willingly go on their own. sometimes we need to keep them from slamming into a wall, other times we need to push them off a cliff.

 

this is what separates coaches and trainers. this is why coaches don’t deal with many people. it costs a lot. to know what people need. to earn the trust of each individual. to carry that weight. to bear the responsibility.

 

that is one of the main reasons i continue to visit gym jones in SLC. it is the first place that i have seen that level of dedication to be the rule. the standard. that is, as a result, my standard. i work and i learn. i try and ask the right questions and understand. i try to seek the stress. the stimulus. to act appropriately to bring about the necessary change. to explore. to allow people to see me at my worst. to ask them to find my weaknesses.

 

realize that this is all information, and therefore useful.

 

the individual who beats you is teaching you how to win.

 

the coach who makes you cry, who pushes your emotional limits makes you tougher. makes you more resilient to bad news. to hard news. makes you understand yourself. your limits. helps you reassess and redefine things. to respect things for their utility. to understand cost. to understand how our approach influences our outcome. to not take things so personally. to own our failures as openly and honestly as our victories.

 

i am honored and humbled to have the chance to work with everyone involved with the gym jones project. it was nearly 3 (at the time of writing this – currently it is close to 7 years) years ago that i first stepped into a small warehouse space in SLC, and i never expected how far it would take me…

 

thank you to all who have helped, i can never repay your kindness, my only hope is to conduct myself in a manner deserving of your faith.

power. speed. strength. endurance. flexibility. capacity. allegory.
philosophy with consequences. physical fitness and behavior modification.

 

 

“so, what makes your gym different?”

its a common enough question, a question that always seems to have a slightly different answer, depending on who asks. but after a good friend asked this very question, and patiently waited the 4 hours it took me to answer to my satisfaction, i figure its about time to nail it down.

the first, simplest, and most overlooked difference is the fact that we define fitness as the ability to perform a task. this has some rather significant ramifications – we set goals. individual goals. personal goals. this means we must understand both where we are, and where we wish to go. the requirements of our desired task, and where we stand in relation to those.

its better to think of our gym as a process rather than a place.

it is important to understand that physical fitness is rarely the limiting factor. ones constitution. ones emotions. ones habits. ones technical proficiency…. these are all important, often more important than simple strength or endurance.

“why then, even bother with a gym?”

we use work, physical goals, to reprogram habits. we believe one can condition integrity. make a habit of doing everything right. make a habit of working hard. of learning how to force yourself to do something that will hurt, that will not be enjoyable, but will – eventually – make you better. we learn how to cope, how we, as individuals, cope. we learn how to push ourselves, how to exceed our self imposed limitations. we learn to be responsible, to own our successes and our failures. to keep what is useful and trim away what is not. we try to understand our conditioning, to take control of it, and to use it to our advantage.

this is done in a variety of ways. pressure. physical, emotional, social. we cultivate this pressure. we use it. we will match up individuals that bring the best out of each other. we will set up arbitrary tests, challenges, even internal competition if it helps. we court failure. we use it. learn from it. it is all information. we use the tools at our disposal to solve the problems we face. blame. bully. bribe. whatever it takes. when the goal is vital enough, we will do what is necessary to achieve it.

this leads us to study relationships. diet. sleep. stress. attention. we have finite time and energy, and everything costs something. in trying to achieve something at the edges of our ability we must accept the cost. we must realize all the little things in our lives that take more than they give, that are not worth their price. these things may still be undertaken, but no sympathy will be given if they sabotage your goals. you made your bed, now lie in it.

training is the artful application of stress to achieve a specific goal. all stress takes its toll, leaves its mark, and shapes us. high level functioning requires a refined tool, free of the imperfections caused by inattention and self sabotage. we do not demand perfection, only responsibility. own your decisions, pay your bill, and work hard. you will only be as good as you make yourself. others can help in the process, but we, ultimately, bear the responsibility for our own growth.

ultimately, we are different because we accept this premise. because we focus on this. because we will use every tool at our disposal to become better, to improve in a real and meaningful way. because we are focused on what is useful. above all else, on utility. if fitness is the ability to perform a task, then it is only right that a fitness program would be geared towards shaping every edge of the self to achieve that goal. to pursue it wholly, ferociously, and honestly.

to work.

-the station

 

 

i was going to be somebody – until i decided to become somebody.

 

i dont know if it is a sign of the times, or the culture we are a part of, or simply the human condition – but the mistaking of a symbol for the meaning, of having and earning, of being and becoming is a mistake that costs us all something.

we see individuals who posses the traits we admire, we try and follow in their footsteps, to seek what they sought. but too often we find shortcuts, we find a way to buy the experience, we act as though the accomplishment is the transformative force as opposed to a symbol of the work that went into it. the goal is arbitrary – it is a husk, a shell. it has served its purpose. to bypass the struggle is to reduce yourself to a spectator. a consumer. and is about as meaningful as pictures of food to the hungry.

i am not explaining it well. i was a smart kid. that is not a boast. it would make as much sense to brag about having freckles or speaking english. maybe it was genetics, maybe it was because my mom read to me every morning or because my dad would take me on walks in the woods only to stop and tell me it was my job to get us back home. school came easy. i didnt have to pay attention. i didnt have to work. i had teachers who would riffle through my desk to find the assignments that i had finished and simply not bothered to turn in. i got A’s in classes i liked and B- in classes i didnt (i would get grounded for a C). i coasted. i would work just hard enough. even in college, i was resentful –  i didnt want to jump through the hoops, didnt feel like i needed to prove my intelligence, never felt the need to work. Academia, at the levels i pursued it, did not change me. or, more accurately – i did feel the pull to change for it. it was all set, i was persuing a degree in computer science, the path was simple and without much effort i could have easily finished school, coasted into some mid level job, and continued exactly how i was…

that, was being smart. was inhabiting the comfortable. i did not start to grow until i began to set my sights on things that i could not as yet achieve. i began to work outside my comfort zone, to try things that scared me. i got an idea of the person i wanted to be, noted where i fell short and began the long, slow process of fucking changing. the mark of any good journey is that the person arrives is not the same person who started. we are changed in the seeking. the earning. the struggle. the gym turned into a crucible. a laboratory. a clear cut measure of my will to change.  the goals we set in the gym are often rather arbitrary  – very few people would live a radically different life if they were somehow granted elite levels of strength or endurance. it is the fight, the work and the wanting and the attention to detail. to relationships. for most of us the training, whatever training, is an analog. a vehicle. a carrot we dangle in front of ourselves to encourage the changes we want to make. here, at our gym; there is a reason why allegory is in the fucking description.

becoming is important because in setting these goals. in risk and work and fear and doubt we discover so much, we change and grow. more so, when we finally realize our goal, the joy is momentary. brings more questions and new goals, it is the path. the journey that calls us. that is what others respond to. the hunger of the truly exceptional. the seeming paradox of speaking with such humility while standing in utter confidence. a true journey familiarizes us with our limits. redefines them. in doing so, we are humbled. by fear and failure and doubt. we see how far we want to push ourselves and feel the pain every inch. at the same time, it develops an intimate knowledge of what we are truly capable of. we can respond from fact and history instead of fear and posturing. it earns you the right to be truly confident. to speak from experience and the ever present urge to improve.

this is another half starved workout induced rant, it is spurred out of a sickness of seeing people equating “having” a thing with “becoming” a thing. set goals. lofty, difficult goals. work your ass off to achieve them. push limits. end days with more questions than answers, understand that the short path leaves you as you are, but with a picture of food and an aching belly…

or you can take the long road. the hard road. to arrive as something new, scarred, yes.  but satiated… for a little while anyway…

 

Sometimes, a goal is just an excuse to tread the path…