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Trials and tribulations of the lone wolf lifter:

Often seen but not heard are the lone wolves of the gym floor...

Hoods up, headphones in, putting themselves through the paces rep afer rep, set after set. Its hard to walk the line when your on your own, just you and the barbell, many lack the drive, determination or motivation to go it alone; For when you are alone, you have no one to hold accountable but yourself. 

Being in a public gym can help of course; fellow cast iron connoisseurs gritting their teeth and grinding through the lactic acid build up, the smell of the chalk bowl, and the sense of being exposed to form sharks lurking in the mirror of the dumbbell rack watching you as you go through your set. 

But what of the who really go it alone, not in a public setting but from the confinements of their own home?

It's no picnic... Now you've got to really put your head down and find the motivation to push yourself and do the hard work that reaps results.

Maybe you train in the morning before the sun rises? maybe you train in the evening or even at night after the sun has set? you've not long been home from your busy 9+ hour day, your tired, demotivated, your boss has been cracking the whip and busting your arse despite the hard work you've been doing and now... you'd much rather sit back on the sofa with your loved one and watch Netflix, but... You look outside, you remember it's training night, you remember the goal you set for yourself... so... you go put on your sweats, your hat and you make your staple pre workout concoction and head outside.

You go to set up for your session and your hands almost freeze to the plates let alone the barbell; you breath and the frosted mist of your own breath is like a mock from mother nature, every element your faced with at that current moment is trying to test the foundations of your fortitude and resilience, its cold, its dark, the only light is the one motion censored light in the garden.. but again you keep thinking about that goal you set for yourself and you push through and begin the first set. 

5 - 6 sets later and your on your top set for the night, your tired, your forearms are pumped from rolling and wrapping your knees all evening. you look around and remember its just you, no spotter to encourage you.. you wrap your knees as tight as your own hands can muster, you pull yourself up and strap on your belt, take a big sniff of ammonia and get under the bar; a couple of breaths, a brace and you un rack the weight, step back, it feels heavy and you have no spotter remember... intrusive thoughts start to flutter by in your head, you almost doubt your own capabilities but.. you still want to achieve what you set out for yourself, you take a deep breath in, fill your belt and you bend your knees.

You hit the bottom and push back up with all your might, as you begin to rise you doubt again briefly whether you'll be able to finish the lift, you keep rising and then.... you reach the dreading sticking point, the lift slows almost to a halt. no one is there to scream encouragement or catch you if you fall... so you push harder, the weight keeps moving and then, before you know it, your standing tall again and you walk it back into the rack; you loosen your wraps and breath with relief. 

Time goes past and you almost forget about the surrounding elements your exposed to; your warm, your muscles are engorged with blood and now, your in the zone. 

Now.. a home gym isn't as glamorous or as high tech as a public gym, the equipment is basic; machines? Not here.. a couple of barbells (if your lucky) maybe you've got the luxury of having loadable dumbbells or a set of resistance bands to help freshen up the feel of things workout to workout.. you look around, you see what you have and through a couple of minutes of trial and error you muster the creativity to turn some tyres, a car strap and a dip belt into a sled for dragging as well as a whole plethora of exercises which would match most fully equipped gyms with the basic pieces of equipment you have at your disposal. 

Set after set, rep after rep, lap after lap, you grind through 90 minutes of hard grafting training. 

So why am I telling this short tale?

Well... there's a moral to this story...

The moral is that despite not having the quote on quote perfect circumstances, a tech new facility with all the latest trends in equipment, not having a training partner or even the luxury of an indoor setting... if the willingness to succeed is there, if the determination to think outside the box and get creative with your training equipment is there.. if the mindset you have going into training is strong, and the mindset of "I will not fail" if there.. then you have every bit of the possibilities to succeed, to reach your goals you set out for yourself and dare I say it.... even win.

So take some accountability for yourself, get cold if needs be, layer up, and learn to be comfortable in uncomfortable settings and do the work that's needed. 

We are the lone wolves, we are the under dogs, the outliers, and we can defeat the toughest of odds.

-Joe.