I think I finally have enough reps.
We have a saying around here: reps are the best teacher. And I think I've hit the winning number.
You can research training. Observe training. Hire trainers. Spend your free time watching “Pumping Iron” on an infinite loop.
But nothing will give you the insight, the practical knowledge and actually make you progress more effectively than simply doing the reps.
Those other things will help. Reps are at the top of the list.
Hiring a coach will give you insights into programming and structure that could take years to learn on your own. Reading research reviews can really give you clarity into what aspects of training really matter and what is just minutia. Watching Arnold taunt Lou Ferrigno for 90 minutes can reveal the mental game that the best trainees employ to survive what can be hours and hours of brutal training.
But none of them are superior to getting your hands on some iron and putting your joints and muscles and soul through days and weeks and months of real training.
And when I say I finally have enough reps, it doesn’t mean that I’ve reached the end of the road as far as what the experience of training can teach me. Quite the contrary, I don’t know that there is a limit to what you can learn.
And, in my case, I’m not even talking about training at all.
You see, about six years ago or so, we started marketing the gym. In fact, it’s probably the reason so many of you are reading this right now. You saw an Instagram ad or searched for “gyms near me” on Google and were rewarded with endless content featuring a couple of meatheads and their minions imploring you to reach out and give our gym a try.
If you took the leap and signed up for a call there is a more than reasonable chance that you spoke to yours truly. In fact, by my wildly assumptive calculations, I’ve done roughly 10,228 calls since we started. And while this doesn’t exactly follow the “10,000 hour rule” (our calls only last about 15 minutes) I think I’ve talked to enough people at this point to identify a few factors that will determine whether or not they will be successful in the gym.
“But how, Dan,” you ask incredulously. “How could you possibly determine someone’s long term success over the phone in less than 15 minutes?”
As always, I’m glad you asked. Because I’ve been lucky enough to have time to connect the dots. To have the conversations AND see how it plays out. And when I link the two I’ve identified exactly two traits that are present in our most successful people.
The first one surprises me.
For years I’ve been telling people to be very thorough in their vetting process. Look around, ask questions, get to the point where you are remarkably and nearly unquestionably comfortable with the decision that you are making and then, once convicted, surrender to the process and give it a reasonable chance.
But the truth is the folks who find the most success in the gym are simply people of action. Sure, they want to know the relevant information about training and costs and logistics, they don’t ask a million follow up questions just hoping to find a flaw in the system so they can justify not taking action.
They don’t take three weeks to think about it. They don’t do a deep spreadsheet analysis to make sure that this fits their overall budget for the next five years. They don’t call every gym within a three mile radius and ask which protein drinks they stock in the fridge.
They get a reasonable amount of information and, if it feels like it’s got potential, they give it a try.
I know from not only our gym but from our colleagues and competitors as well that most training gyms (and I’m not talking about Equinox or Crunch or large training facilities) give you a pretty low risk, short term offer that allows you to try out the gym.
And asking all the questions in the world and reading every Google review can not hold a candle to walking into a facility, trying it for a few sessions and seeing if this is your place and these are your people.
When that is your mindset, you are going to have reasonable expectations, be open to the experience and, if it’s great, be able to make a long term commitment with all the information you truly need to feel awesome about it.
Conversely, when you stress and second-guess and put yourself and the gym through the ringer with the expectation they live up to some God-tier standards, of course you are going to have a hard time sticking with it. I mean, I’ve literally seen people put less scrutiny into choosing their master’s degree program or gynecologist than they do their gym. And, while I don’t have experience with either, the stakes seem way higher when you are paying hundreds of thousands of dollars for a degree or when someone is managing your hoo-ha.
Speaking of stakes, this leads me directly to trait numero dos.
You have to have a personal and urgent reason to train.
At this point, we all know that developing strength and maintaining muscle mass and prioritizing cardiovascular health and bone density are important. But that’s just your intellect talking to you.
When you are in the middle of a tough workout and sweat is pouring in your eyes or you have a heavy barbell on your back or you feel like there isn’t enough air in the room for you to catch your next breath, you are going to need a lot more than an intelligent rationale to finish and keep coming back.
Did you receive a warning about some bad health signs from your doctor? Are you going through the physical challenges or menopause? Did you get completely breathless chasing around your toddler for 40 seconds? Did you go to your high school reunion and feel like you suddenly look 10 years older than everyone else? Have all the men on your Dad’s side of the family died unexpectedly young? Have you achieved massive career goals and realize you let your health and well-being suffer in the process? Do you have a Hyrox coming up and feel unprepared?
These are the things that are going to keep you coming back when it gets difficult. And people who confront themselves with this do much better than those who are just looking for something new and trendy because they kinda like working out but get bored easily.
The stakes don’t have to be dire or even remarkably high. But between the cost, the schedule, the effort and every other barrier and excuse one can give themselves to avoid training - even when they know it’s good for them, even when they kinda, sorta like it - gym longevity will only be achieved when your purpose is more powerful than your excuses.
And it will not always be that way. One day you might transform. Going to the gym will be a natural, expected and regular part of your life. And that is a great thing to aspire to. A perfect North Star.
After more than ten thousand conversations, I still don't know everything about training or sales or human psychology.
But I do know this, the people who succeed aren't the ones who gather the most information. They're the ones who decide to act, and who have a reason that's strong enough to keep acting.
It turns out success has a lot less to do with finding the perfect gym than becoming the kind of person who's ready to commit to one.