Lessons I Learned Through Bodybuilding - Max Swahn

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Lessons I Learned Through Bodybuilding | Max Swahn | Bodybuilding

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LESSON S I LEA RN ED THROUGH BODY B UIL D IN G

by Max Swahn | Mar 26, 2018 | Blog, Bodybuilding

Over my time pursuing tness and bodybuilding, I met my fair share of people who turn their noses or don’t understand the why in why people commit to such major lifestyle changes and rigorous workout regiments. In fact, I probably was one of those people back when I was younger.

What people often don’t recognize it that there’s a lot more than just the physical changes.

Always Build Warm-Ups into Your Workout maxswahn.net/lessons-i-learned-through-bodybuilding/

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4/2/2020

Lessons I Learned Through Bodybuilding | Max Swahn | Bodybuilding

When you push your body the way you do when you commit to bodybuilding, warm-ups become essential to your success. In order to make gains in the sport, you need to maintain a consistent exercise schedule, something that isn’t possible when combatting an injury. When you don’t give your body ample time to ‘prepare’ for a workout, you set yourself up for something to go wrong and waste time. As Bill Geiger says, “If I skip this [warm-up] phase, I’ll have to spend twice as long doing warm-up sets anyhow, so I now just automatically start on the bike, and the blood circulation helps with the minor aches and pains that are a part of daily life now.”

The Importance of Wellness How one person de nes their personal wellness from another can be extremely gray. One person might nd solace and serenity through yoga while another might consider wellness meeting with a therapist and consistently talking about their issues head-on in order to expedite or maintain a resolution. No matter the case, I don’t think anyone would want to feel unwell if they knew how to make themselves feel better.

Once I got into bodybuilding, I realized how much better it made me feel. I wasn’t miserable before by any means, but it gives you a boost of adrenaline and an added oomph to your routine. For me, my sense of wellness is rooted in consistent workouts and a healthy diet. It helps me focus, provides me with lasting energy and a clarity I need to make it through the day.

Failing Once Doesn’t Mean Failing Forever The only way to push past it is to keep pushing yourself. Just because you can’t hit your deadlift goal this week doesn’t mean that by next week you won’t have it down awlessly. As Noah Seigel says, “Failure isn’t failure. If you’ve never missed a lift or reached complete muscle failure, you haven’t been pushing yourself hard enough. In order to become stronger, you must progressively overload your muscles to the point where they literally can’t do more.” It takes the grit to accept failure, but also continue to push yourself past it.

I’ll leave you with this quote from bodybuilder Jean-Luc Boissonneault because I think it’s important to hear. “It doesn’t matter what you are trying to master. There’s going to be failures along the way. Failing just means you’re trying hard. You have to keep your eye on the vision and commit to showing up every day. Without second guess and without compromise.”

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