One must not forget to enjoy life in the struggle to achieve a better physique. Do not let it dictate life - training is about enhancing it.
The sweet spot
No this is not a Seinfeld screenplay attempt or the name of an already existing episode (but if it were, it'd be worth watching). Nor is it about pastries or desserts (although that'd be sweet). No it is about something more important.
Significantly more important.
I'll get to it in a bit, promise, but first I'd like to make you acquainted with a commonly used (and not rarely abused) Swedish expression: "Lagom är bäst." There is no English equivalent and an expression that is hard to translate straight. Basically, the meaning is: the middle ground is the best.
At my gym, there are various types of people: Joe the beginner, Esther the recreational exerciser, Obese Jack and bodybuilder Jane - from training occasionally to five days a week - to 24/7. Some of them have extremely impressive physiques. Some are natural, others not. Only a shame they don't have time to enjoy it (at least seemingly so) - in between the sessions, napping, protein shaking and meal prepping there's not much left. Of what, you ask? And it is indeed a great and valid question.
And there are no right answers. It depends on what we value in life and how much. If you enjoy being a slave to the gym and the fitness lifestyle - then, by all means, go ahead and be a slave.
I just know I've been there myself and it isn't a place of happiness. It is a place where freedom is traded for neuroses. Friends and family are traded for muscle and definition. And health may also be traded for aesthetics.
Obese Jack, on the other hand, does indeed enjoy life - but it might be a slightly shorter one and probably not free from disease and pain since he's not leading a very healthy life. He might seem happy on the surface, but he is not. He wants to lose weight. He wants to be healthier. But he can't. He's given up.
Both Jacked Jack and Obese Jack are doing themselves a disservice - and ignoring it.
Somewhere in between the two extremes we have Erik and Daniel, two normal dudes in their 30s that like being active, playing sports and lifting weights. And they are healthily self aware and a tad bit vain. But they don't fret about calories or meal timing. Nor do they say no to an (or two) occasional beer or a Swedish cinnamon bun (or maybe two, if freshly baked).
They do do their training: hitting the gym 3-4 days per week - but not more than necessary to stay relatively fit and lean and keeping healthy. They have found the sweet spot where effort and trade offs meet and stay in symbiosis to make life more complete - a hopefully long and healthy life with abs but without veins. With hard training - but also enough rest and recuperation. And with time for friends and family and a life outside the gym.
And we want you to find your sweet spot too - looking and feeling good and hopefully for a long time. Like lifelong.
Erik Lavesson
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