by Michael Plank
This picture is me in 2010. I couldn’t do a pull-up. I couldn’t do a legitimate push-up. My knees hurt. I couldn’t squat to full depth. I couldn’t run a mile without stopping. I weighed 50 pounds more than I do today. I’d only just heard of CrossFit and double-unders and muscle-ups and kipping and snatches. I was 26.
Today is different. I can do pull-ups and push-ups. I can walk on my hands and do muscle-ups and kipping movements and snatches. I’m 50 pounds lighter than I was then, and now I have a lot more muscle mass and definition. I can do a lot of double-unders. As a rule, my body doesn’t hurt. Even now that I’m 40 years old.
And I write all this, not to brag, but to point out that where I am today is not where I started.
All too often, people get discouraged because they “haven’t made much progress” even though they’ve been training for six months, or a year, or even two years. But my friends, this is not a one-year game. Or even a five-year game. This is a forever game.
I’m good at double-unders now, but it’s because I’ve been practicing them for fifteen years. I can do muscle-ups, but I still have room to grow there and I only really started to figure them out last fall, in my 14th year. I only just learned about joint training, which is going to change my training life forever, I think.
I’m not saying this journey is a one way trip toward success. It’s not. I’ve had ups and downs. There have been short setbacks and long setbacks. There are things I used to be able to do that I can’t do now. I might get them back. I might not. But the journey goes on and continues to bring new things.
I know patience is hard. There’s a lot in this world that you can get right now. But health and fitness isn’t one of those things.
It takes time. But that’s ok. Because the time will pass regardless. And if you put in a little bit of consistent work, you might not see dramatic results over 6 weeks or even 12 weeks. But over five years? A decade? You can profoundly change the course of your life.