In spite of the fact that it rhymes, I hate this saying. It makes it seem as though body composition changes are the exclusive domain of the obsessed. It neglects proper loading and proper sequencing which proceed along a very linear trajectory: the very antithesis of insanity.
Insanity is one of those nebulous terms that borders up on the offensive.
“That’s insane!” is an exclamation often used to denote something that is either not good, or too good for words.
“That concert was insane!”
I wonder what the mental health community has to say about this. Probably the same thing the LGBTQ2 community has to say about the word “gay”, Or the disabled community has to say about the “R” word. These are two words that have made it out of my lexicon because they might be hurtful to others. But for some reason it still OK to bandy about a mental health diagnosis in the form of an internet meme designed to make people train harder at any cost.
“The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, but expecting different results”
“Train insane or remain the same” lends itself to the notion that you should always be working harder or that you are not working hard enough. This is a dangerous line of thinking because if you’re intending upon making this a lifestyle choice, you have to be very careful with your exercise dose. There are trade-offs. When you increase intensity, you reduce integrity. This presents risk.
You were born into a constant state of change. On your path, You will continue to change whether or not you ever step into a gym; go for a run; training for an Olympic event; or touch a weight.
There are many types of change. You will not be the same person that you are when you were born as when you die. You will probably not be the same person between the ages of 26 and 30. You will change.
It does take hard work to show up to the gym every day. There are days when loading up the bar with an appropriate amount of weight just seems like an insurmountable task. There have been days when I have just packed it in early because I can’t do it. But, for the most part, when you are loading yourself appropriately, you CAN do it, and it is not “insane”.
Just want to take a second and say thank you for reading this! A lot of it is just my silly opinion, but I’d love to have you come in and tell me yours! From there, we can decide on a course of action for you, and get you on your way to appropriate training.
The Trainer
