What they don’t see……A Love Letter
As I was coaching a class this week, there was a personal trainer and his client using the gym simultaneously. I overheard the client say “wow, these people are intense; they’re really strong!”
Yes. Intense. Strong. And I see all this as well, every time I coach a class.
But what I also see every time I coach, and what the inexperienced eye doesn’t, is the sustained effort. The dedication. The struggle. The faith. The journey.
The latter doesn’t see that everyone in that room started with a PVC pipe, and felt awkward and a little “out of their league” in the beginning.
The latter doesn’t see all of the little details that make it possible for those strong people to throw that weight over their head with seeming ease, and that learning those little details was challenging, time intensive and decidedly “unsexy”…. Foot position, weight distribution, specific muscle engagement and so much more.
The latter doesn’t know that everyone in that room has worked their ass off to be able to move like that; it didn’t come naturally, easy or without commitment.
When I watch you guys train, I fall in love with this place, this community, with YOU, a little more, every. single. time. And I’ve got more than 10,000 hours in this game.
I love that you allowed yourself the journey from PVC to barbell.
I love that you make yourself vulnerable to correction and challenge.
I love that you value improvement, whether that improvement arrives via a PR, the mastery of a movement or 5 seconds shaved off a time.
I love that you give yourself the gift of physical play, free of self consciousness.
I love that you cheer each other on, not in a hyperbolic fashion, but from a place of empathy.
I love that you celebrate every win in the gym as if it was your own.
I love that you always want to improve, and that you trust your coaches to guide you.
I love that you hang out and connect after class; that you make RVC your home.
Basically, this is just a love letter to you. I….WE love you. We love having you here. We love being able to spend every day with you, that we get to have this cool relationship with you, that we can watch you workout and know the story of effort and presence behind every rep you make.
It’s so much more than you just “being strong”. So much more.
We see it. We love it. Will you be our Valentine?