This piece is for the true tough ones. For those who persist stubbornly despite everything and refuse to be deterred. The unsung gym heroes
Die Hards
The biggest tough ones in the gym are usually not the most dry-muscled men or women. Sometimes in the gym, you come across inspiring perseverers who may not necessarily have an inspiring physique but show inspiring dedication. People who do not possess the talent or health of a top athlete. Those members for whom just going to the gym is already quite a workout.
Such is Piet, as I will call him here. Piet is a hero whom I admire every time I see him.
Piet does not train for a six-pack or arms as thick as tree trunks. Piet is someone who seems to spare nothing in terms of medical issues. He has ticked off “the big three,” as he calls them, all three.
First cardiovascular problems and then cancer. However, the surgeries and chemo couldn’t deter Piet from diving back into the gym as soon as medically advisable.
When I ran into him late last year at the gym, he spoke to me stuttering. He had had a stroke. Impaired speech and impaired function of the right arm and right leg. A few weeks later, I spoke to him again. In the gym, of course, because even this latest setback was no reason to sit back. The stutter had disappeared by then.
Piet is a true die-hard, a real tough one.
And Keep Going…
As a fitness photographer, I usually have to deal with whatever physique I get in front of the camera. After all, clients determine what shape they want to capture. This could be the physique of an international top bodybuilder, a bikini fitness athlete one day before a competition, or just someone who wants to capture their best shape ever for posterity.
In some cases, certain people might find such a physique ‘too muscular.’ However, it sometimes happens that a client does not have a figure that shows they dedicate a lot of time and attention to training and nutrition.
‘Shouldn’t he train for a few more years?’ someone asked me upon seeing a client pumping up at the gym.
“You don’t know where he’s coming from,” was my reply.
This piece is for the true tough ones. People who wouldn’t even dare to dream of a six-pack but are happy with a healthy weight. Gym members who walked into the gym with a 0-10 deficit and work hard to build ‘a normal physique.’ For those people who, despite setback after setback, still pick up the pieces and persist stubbornly.
The mountain climbers carrying 80 kilos on their backs on their way to the top of Mt. Everest.
No Gain, Still Pain
Some of us are lucky. We see relatively quick results from our efforts, which motivates us to continue on the path we’ve taken. I sometimes wonder how motivated I would be myself if the results were considerably less (quickly) visible.
Like others who day in and day out, year after year, keep walking into the gym without visible results. I know of some who aspire to the typical beach physique. Others have adjusted their goals, or never had such expectations. In all these cases, the lack of quick and significant results has not been a reason to give up.
Hats off!
In the earlier article on differences in aptitude, I discussed studies showing that some people do not gain muscle mass with the same training regimen that gives others an extra 8 kilos of lean mass.
I also addressed the different responses to the same diet. It’s clear that with the same pains we can have big differences in gains. I have great respect for those who have the discipline to continue showing great effort for relatively little result. The real titans:
What is pain?
French bread!
What’s It All For?
When it comes to a nice physique, you may wonder how rational it is to make great sacrifices for such small or absent gains. If this happens under unrealistic expectations about possible results, then it’s legitimate to question whether the same energy could be used differently.
With all those hours in the gym, you might have already learned to play the guitar or something. If we believe Temptation Island, that makes just as much of an impression as a muscular physique. So it’s handy to know if such a physique isn’t achievable, even with your best effort. However, if you have realistic expectations, it’s only admirable if you show such dedication.
For some of these tough ones, fitness is also about fitness and not about a nice physique. Even then, you’re not happy if you don’t easily gain muscle mass, but you might be satisfied with preventing the loss of muscle mass (for example, due to aging).
Fortunately, research shows that even so-called non-responders to endurance training do achieve results when they simply train more [1]. When it comes to training your heart and thus improving fitness, there is profit to be made, again at a higher price.
Props!
But actually, it wasn’t the intention to get technical here at all. I just wanted to express my admiration for the true tough ones. The go-getters, the perseverers who often inspire me to step up my game. People like Piet, whom I found faithfully at the gym again today. Hasan Banks, who, due to the hereditary condition ataxia, can hardly walk but still stands on stage at bodybuilding competitions. People like Harold Kelley, who end up in a wheelchair after a car accident and then use the wheelchair as extra weight during pull-ups. People who literally or figuratively, physically or mentally, bear a greater burden during training but don’t succumb to it.
Do you know someone like that? Let us know and tag a tough one.
References
Montero D, Lundby C. Refuting the myth of non-response to exercise training: ‘non-responders’ do respond to a higher dose of training. J Physiol. 2017 Jun 1;595(11):3377-3387. doi: 10.1113/JP273480. Epub 2017 May 14. PubMed PMID: 28133739; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC5451738.
