It’s been nearly a month since I walked out of the gym vowing not to return.
(I will go back to lifting weights at some point, but probably not in the manner I have hitherto been accustomed and certainly not for a Very Long Time – one year, at the minimum.)
Progress on my new, weighted vest based system of training has greatly exceeded my expectations. So much so that Jess has opted to ditch her gym membership as well in favour of following a less demanding version of what I am getting up to (all the same exercises, just the volume and frequency are dialed down and certain bodyweight movements swapped for easier versions).
It has been quite the revolution, but what’s most interesting is how the change of style and environment has reignited my enthusiasm for training.
I’m not going to sit here and pretend that I particularly enjoy lifting weights. The novelty wore off after about eighteen months and since then it was just something I did because the alternative was to be a fat, lazy slob.
Not that my lack of desire to lift manifested in the sessions themselves. Quite the opposite, I credit not getting any emotional payoff for doing as well as I did because I had no desire to chase the latest New and Exciting Thing™ that was getting everyone on the fitness internet all sticky in the gusset.
Instead, I just plowed away at what I believed was the most efficient and effective way to get what I wanted (to be strong, in shape, and aesthetically pleasing), making only little changes to adapt to emerging circumstances (injuries, work pressures, etc).
What’s my point?
To perhaps hypocritically say that it’s OK to alleviate training-related boredom by changing direction, but only after you’ve given it some thought.
You don’t have to go as far as I have gone by canning your gym membership to do mostly bodyweight training in the great outdoors, but if you fancy something a little off-piste I recommend my short, strange, and inexpensive book:
“Train Like a Warrior”
It contains a collection of essays discussing the historical context, equipment, and fighting styles of a variety of warriors from history (from the Roman legionaries to the ashigaru of feudal Japan), and how I would go about training someone to fill those roles using modern methods.
There is plenty inside for you to study, consider, adapt, and, all being well, benefit from.
One word of warning:
The book currently has no reviews because my following is minuscule, and I seldom promote my Amazon titles in any meaningful way.
So give the book a miss if you are at all worried about purchasing a book you might not enjoy.
But if you do buy the book, I’d very much appreciate it if you would help alleviate my little “review problem” by leaving your honest, unfiltered thoughts (i.e. don’t just give it five stars because you like me and want to help out if you don’t think it’s worth five stars).
Get the book direct from Amazon here:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Train-Like-Warrior-Phil-Tyreman/dp/B0DPSRPG3V/
Thank you,
Phil Tyreman