Okay, real talk: When was the last time you felt like an absolute badass just…existing? 🧐 For years, my fitness journey looked like this: panic-weighing myself every morning, crying over 0.5kg fluctuations, and doing endless cardio that left me hangry and exhausted. Then one day, mid-treadmill-sprint-of-despair, I realized: Why am I letting a piece of plastic dictate my worth?
That’s when I threw my scale off a metaphorical cliff (don’t worry, I recycled it properly ♻️) and stumbled into strength training. What happened next? I accidentally built mental armor. 🛡️
Here’s the science-y tea ☕:
When you lift heavy things repeatedly, you’re not just building muscle—you’re rewiring your nervous system. A 2022 study found that resistance training increases BDNF (brain-derived neurotrophic factor), literally fertilizing your brain’s resilience garden. My “aha moment”? During a particularly brutal set of deadlifts, I realized I’d stopped catastrophizing work stress. Turns out, learning to breathe through 60kg of iron makes PowerPoint emergencies feel…manageable.
The sneaky psychology no one talks about:
1️⃣ Failure becomes your BFF. Miss a PR? Cool, now you know your limits. Compare that to toxic diet culture’s “fail = moral failing” nonsense.
2️⃣ Progress you can feel: That day I carried 3 grocery bags + a screaming toddler upstairs without collapsing? Bigger flex than any number.
3️⃣ Body neutrality FTW: My arms exist to crush goals, not to look “toned” for strangers’ approval. Revolutionary, I know.
My “proof it works” story:
Two months into training, my startup imploded. Pre-strength-training-me would’ve eaten a family-sized bag of Doritos in bed. New me? I ugly-cried while doing push-ups. My trainer walked in and said, “That’s the most hardcore emotional processing I’ve ever seen.” 💀
But wait—it gets better:
– That time I accidentally did a pull-up and screamed so loud the gym manager checked on me
– When my therapist said “Your cortisol levels called—they’re on vacation” 🏖️
– Realizing I’d stopped saying “I’m so weak” as a default apology
The dark side nobody warns you about:
– You’ll develop a weird obsession with grip strength (opening jars is now a party trick)
– Friends will ask you to move furniture…often
– Existential crises hit differently when you’re bench-pressing them away
Ready to try? Here’s your no-BS starter pack:
1. Find your “why” that has nothing to do with aesthetics (Mine: “I want to out-stubborn life’s chaos”)
2. Embrace the cringe: Grunting, shaky legs, dropped weights = badges of honor
3. Track non-scale victories: How many times did you laugh mid-workout? How’s your sleep? Did you finally stop gaslighting yourself about hunger?
Final thought: Strength training didn’t give me a “bikini body.” It gave me a warrior mindset—one that says “Bring it on” to life’s curveballs. And honestly? That’s way sexier than six-pack abs. 😉