We can all be better than we currently are.
Some people are cool with being average.
I for cot dang sure am not.
Nothing about living an average life, having an average job, making average money, or having an average body has ever appealed to me. I have to be better than average.
If you read my blog consistently then I know you are not content or satisfied with average either. While you cannot be great at everything that you do, you can absolutely be great at one thing.
It will be even more satisfying if the thing you are great at happens to be something that you love doing.
That one thing could be cooking.
It could be singing.
Perhaps it is playing basketball.
The thing that I love doing is writing training programs and getting people into phenomenal shape. I’m great at it.
For you to truly unleash your inner greatness with your physique and your performance, you have to be willing to do the things that the average person will not do.
Many lifters and trainees want to possess great physiques that look good and raise their confidence in their appearance.
Many athletes want to excel at their sport and dominate their competition.
A good amount of people have gym memberships or workout with their high school/college/professional team.
The problem is that many of these people are not anywhere close to being in great shape.
The mistake that many lifters, trainees, and athletes are making is that they are doing the same exact thing that everybody else in the gym is doing.
Andrew Average
When it comes to training, here is what the average person is consistently doing:
• The average person has a gym membership that they inconsistently use.
• They might go for 2 weeks straight and then miss the next 3 months while complaining for the entire 3 months about how they are still skinny or fat and out of shape.
• When the average person goes to the gym they immediately go to the “cardio” section.
• They walk over there looking like a zombie from the Walking Dead. They do not even think to do anything else because everybody else is back in the “cardio” section.
• The average person uses a few lame machines for their “workout.” They do not even consider touching a piece of iron, using a pull-up bar, or doing dips.
• The average person posts about the awesomeness of their lame workout on social media to try garner “likes” and attention. Just because you went to the gym does not mean you actually did anything of value.
You are a result of what you do consistently. When that same average lifter looks in the mirror year after year, what do they see?
They see a bad physique that has seen no positive changes since Bill Clinton was running the show!
Why are these folks not improving?
Because they are doing the same exact things that the average person is doing.
You won’t be any better than average if you do not do anything differently than what the average folks do.
Following the herd will have you going nowhere fast.
Change Occurs At Rock Bottom
If you are training and your goal is to build your mind and body to higher levels of performance, you have to get comfortable being uncomfortable.
Real changes don’t happen when everything is sunny and going your way. The real changes occur when you are at rock bottom, cold, and in the gutter.
Being comfortable does not lead to positive changes because you have no motivation to change.
You have been benching 185lbs for 3 x 10 for 5 years because you like being the big fish at the small pond (local commercial gym).
But your pecs look the same in year 5 as they did in month 5.
The smart move would be to start to lift with stronger guys.
I always lifted with bigger guys who are naturally stronger than me so that I could always be on the chase like the wolf coming up the hill.
Utilizing this strategy has made me deceivingly strong and muscular for my size.
In regular clothes, I can disappear like most skinnier folks do. I’ve been hit with “Do you even lift, bro?” multiple times in my training career.
But when the workout starts and the layers start coming off, nobody laughs.
I have the natural build of a 400-800 meter sprinter, but I built myself into a guy who can lift with anybody and not look like a spindly scarecrow.
Lifting with bigger and stronger guys will make a big fish/small pond lifter uncomfortable at first.
This is because their stagnant numbers and physique will look unspectacular next to the big guys.
Being uncomfortable and desperate however, will force you to change.
It will get uncomfortable on the journey to take that 185lb bench press and make it 250lbs but guess what? You will be rewarded with a bigger chest and self-discipline.
You have to decide today that you are going to put in the hard work and be better than average.
You can no longer accept a C grade for your health and fitness.
How To Be Better Than Average
Your body is your most prized possession.
In order for you to not be average in the gym there are some things you just cannot not do. They are:
1) You Are Going To Refuse To Follow The Herd
The majority of the people in the gym are wasting their time with bad workouts and inconsistent training habits.
They are then wasting more of their “workout” time checking Facebook and Instagram.
If you follow them into the dustbins of oblivion then you will not be able to build your body the way that you want too.
Do you want to be the athletic lifter who pumps iron, runs sprints, and has a top-flight body?
Or do you want to be the run-of-the-mill, non-athletic lifter who wastes away on an elliptical, plays around on the machines, and always looks out of shape?
2) You Are Going To Refuse To Try To Fit In
Just because everybody else is taking selfies during their “workout” does not mean that you have to join them on the road to No Results, USA.
Their mind is set on trying to garner fleeting attention from social media like the majority of the people they see at the gym.
Your primary focus when you step into the gym or on the track is building your body and improving your performance.
The only thing that you need to fit into well is your clothing.
3) You Are Going To Refuse To Give Weak Effort
If you just go through the motions then you will never be better than average. Your return on investment will be zero.
The effort that most people give during their workout is appalling. Do you honestly think you can get to the mountaintop when you don’t feel any pain while training?
Every single time you walk into the gym, the track, or at practice, you have to give a consistent, quality effort.
You won’t win every time, but you can absolutely give your best effort every time.
Conclusion
The only way to not be average is to go above and beyond what the average person is willing to do.
Michael Jordan did not approach the game like the average basketball player.
The late Steve Jobs did not think like the average computer programmer.
Will Smith did not act like the average rapper or actor.
All of these men went far and beyond average in order for them to rise to the highest level. Your input determines your output.
If you approach your training, nutrition, and recovery like the average person then guess what?
You will not have a better than average body. And you will not make any long-lasting progress in building your physique or improving your athletic performance.
Refuse to be average!
Sidenote:
If you want to to build a top-flight physique and be better than average, get your copy of my eBook, Use Speed To Get Lean! The Sprinting Handbook For Lifters today.
I’ll holla at you next time.
The People’s Trainer,
Fitman
