Sacrifices

Right back when I kicked off the podcast we had Luke Poli on and we had an epic chat. There was a deep dive into everything he has done in and outside of the gym. For those that don’t know, Luke became the first Australian Masters lifter to total 1000kg in 2018.  

Just like everyone else, Luke isn’t a professional powerlifter. He has a full time job, partner, kids, all the things everyone else has and yet he found the time to total 1000kg. Mid podcast I kept having this thought going over and over in my head, ‘Imagine the sacrifices Luke has made over the years to get to this.’ So, I asked ‘What sacrifices have you had to make to get this?’ Luke replied, ‘I haven’t made any.’ The look on my face must have been of shock, I certainly was shocked at the time. Luke followed this up with, ‘I don’t make sacrifices, things change in what’s a priority.’ He went on to talk about for him his priority was his training and his pursuit for the 1000kg total. He explained that anything that wouldn’t help him get there was no longer a priority and anything that would, was. 

This moment completely changed how I thought about not just training, but everything I do and why I do it. If there is truly something you want to achieve, then the pursuit to achieve it shouldn’t come with sacrifice – it simply comes in a shift of priority. With this shift in thinking I found the things I was doing more enjoyable and I noticed that the things that I may have previously thought I was missing out on, didn’t feel like this anymore. 

Now apply this to your training. You want to achieve X goal. Previously I have talked about how certain levels of goals require a certain amount of training days. This X goal is a five days a week training goal. Training five days a week  is going to mean you no longer have time to do something, and this something is probably something you really enjoy doing.  Right now, you just decide what is more important, X goal or doing the thing you enjoy doing. If X goal wins, then not doing the thing is not missing out, it is not a sacrifice to not do it any more, it is simply no longer a priority.  

I see this as a far more positive outlook when it comes to chasing down any goal whether it is in the four walls of the gym or outside. Keeping a positive approach to achieving your goals in the gym is going to continue in keeping with my rule number, ‘it must be fun’. Cause if it isn’t fun, then why the hell would you do it? 

Check out the Podcast here.  

https://open.spotify.com/episode/0CY5s9LH6miSmSSV3wx3Ah?si=hWjvGeANTSmt9Djkt_lx_g