Is Being Athletic A Bad Thing?

Is Being Athletic A Bad Thing?-DVRT Ultimate Sandbag Training

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I really believe everyone comes into fitness from VERY different paths. I have met those that started working out in their 60’s for the first time, those that were tired of the life they were living, and began in their 30’s or 40’s, and I have met those parents that thought their child was the next super star athlete. All are great, but all are very different. 

For myself, I got into fitness at the age of 14 after badly injuring my ankle during a pick up game of basketball. I had never thought about working out, I was 14! Well, being told that I may never play basketball again was definitely a motivator to try working out when my older brother dragged me pretty much kicking and screaming. 

In the beginning, the idea of being ripped or muscular really wasn’t a concern of mine, I wanted to get back on that court more than anything. The reason I share this story with you is that I thought early on being athletic was something everyone wanted to be. I never thought of athleticism as something that necessarily correlated with being a competitive athlete. 

No, I always just thought nothing could be cooler than feeling graceful, coordinated, like anything was possible. I know I am not totally crazy as by our house is a big Nike store. As you walk in you can’t miss the big Nike sign that says, “if you have a body, you are an athlete.” 

As cool as I may think, or even Nike thinks this saying is, it can also turn off a lot of people. I have a lot of great friends that never played competitive sports and to be honest are quite turned off by them. Heck, my Dad just turned 74, he has NEVER worked out a day in his life. After many years of wondering why, he finally told me. He shared with me a story that when he was a young kid in New York he got picked on for being uncoordinated and slow. It must have been pretty harsh because this negative experience turned him off from any type of sport of form of exercise for his whole life! 

While I am not saying everyone has suffered some traumatic event, I think a lot of people can relate to the idea that exercise and working out can be really intimidating from the aspect of not wanting to feel or look stupid. Years ago I use to work with a lot of obese kids. It took me awhile to understand that their biggest fear of all was looking stupid so not trying was much easier than being embarrassed in front of their peers. 

So, how in the world does this relate to DVRT Ultimate Sandbag Training? It was very much in my consciousness that we needed to find better movements and progressions. We didn’t need to try to sell people on a magical 3 or 5 drills, but rather start to share with them a system of movement. Something that no matter their starting point they could be successful, that they could feel good about exercise and I hoped DVRT Ultimate Sandbag Training would really be a great vehicle for this. 

It breaks my heart when people look at some of our material and think, “cool, but not possible.” I think ALL our DVRT Ultimate Sandbag Training exercises are possible, just depends on the level that you will start off with. I remember my first day in the gym with my older brother I got PINNED by an empty barbell on the bench press. Wiggling, turning a bit red, I BEGGED him to get it off of me. 

In retrospect, it probably wasn’t the right exercise, but that was really an important moment. Having everyone stare at me getting destroyed by a barbell with no weight would have been an easy excuse to never workout again. Then I think about WHY I really workout and it makes it all worthwhile. If you think none of us have had that moment where we turned red, we felt more than a bit embarrassed then you are just wrong!

Seeing real people work on improving their lives is the BEST part of DVRT Ultimate Sandbag Training!

While that may happen to some of you, my hope with a lot of DVRT Ultimate Sandbag Training is that you have so many layers of success that you find exercise, I don’t know, actually enjoyable! It might surprise you to hear that the stories that we get that inspire me the most aren’t about someone going off and dominating their sport, rather, someone who changed an important part of their life. Whether it was increasing their confidence, trying something they would have never in the past, or shocking themselves at what they really are capable of for real!

Don’t think of DVRT Ultimate Sandbag Training as “just a workout”, but a time for you to really explore what being athletic means and how it is really your RIGHT to experience what that means!