Many of you listening (especially those in their teens and 20’s) probably train to look good. And why not? I always thought one of the coolest things about strength training was that if you didn’t like what you saw in the mirror, you could change it (within reason of course). But the human body is capable of amazing transformations, especially a young body that responds quickly to training and diet tweaks. So training to look good is certainly a valid construct, and if it keeps you training as the decades roll by – all the better IMO.
But there will come a day when looking good gives way to feeling good, staving off illness and generally speaking, preserving your quality of life. That point once again hit home yesterday, when my wife was rushed to the ER for extreme abdominal pain. After 7 hours and every test in the book, they told us they couldn’t find anything and soon we’d be discharged. Of course, she was ecstatic to be going home. I wasn’t, because your stomach doesn’t just distend the size of a soccer ball for no reason. Something was still wrong, and I feared they missed something. I had good reason to be worried. You see it was right around this time 3 years ago my friend Doug went to the same hospital 3 with the same issues. So he was discharged, and a few days later he went to bed… and never woke up. He had just turned 50 years old..
Just before we were discharged, the Dr. came back to say radiology spotted something on the CAT scan… an artery was twisted shut somewhere in her intestines. The performed emergency surgery on the spot, and also removed her appendix and lots of scar tissue. She’s still in the hospital, but hopefully coming home soon. I’ll be going to see her right after the show..
Now, here’s what you really need to know. This wasn’t her first rodeo. She’s had many a close call, and has had about a dozen abdominal surgeries for various reasons. By the grace of God and a hell of a lot of hard work, she’s come away relatively unscathed. Some Dr. said to her once, “you’re lucky”. He’s wrong, dead wrong. Luck has nothing to do with it. She’s pulled through these things because of hard work, discipline and sacrifice. What could have been cancerous was always benign. What could have gone the wrong way never did. And why? Because she works hard. Out the door by 4:00 AM to train while I still sleep, to make sure she gets that in before the workday starts.
She also takes great care to eat well, meaning unprocessed and low glycemic foods. She knows what her blood pressure is at all times. She tries to sleep as best as she can. And she uses many protective compounds like Curcumin, Ginger, Ashwaghanda and IP6 among others. None of this is cheap. None of it is easy. But its what you need to do to not only look good, but feel good and enjoy a better quality of life. To beat the odds, and keep beating them over and over. You don’t think about this stuff in your teens and 20’s, but know this – everything you do…. The consistent training, the eating well, the anti-oxidants and other “health” supplements you take can and will make a difference in how well (or even if) you live in your later years.
So don’t let anyone ever tell you (like my father told me)… you’re wasting your time and money with all this “bodybuilding stuff” as he put it. He couldn’t have been more wrong, and believe you me he’s paying for it now. But my wife is not, as she has overcome everything that life’s thrown at her. Reminds me of Jordan Franz, friend of the show – shout out to you brother. So train hard to look your best, and know this – Every positive thing you do now, every sacrifice you make is an investment in your future.
A future and quality of life that will be largely determined by what you do now. It’s been said the wise man invests in himself, the foolish man invests in all around him.
Go now and invest in yourself, and never look back.
