Ready for War – Reasons For Exercise
Ready for War – Reasons for exercise
by Neil Perkins
Exercise is a journey and it’s a journey that never ends.
Like any journey, you need to decide where you are going and a quantifiable goal should always be the benchmark of how successful your journey has been. Achieving goals will spur you on to achieve more. I always advocate that committing to exercise at a set time should be the starting point – commit to moving. From there you can be more specific. Years in the fitness industry has taught me that 95% of the people cite wanting to ‘get fit and lose weight’, but they fail to tell you the real reason the ‘why?’
Would they really tell you….
‘I want to exercise because my dick is no longer rock hard upon waking every morning’
‘I was advised that I shouldn’t be the face of my business looking that way that I do’
Truths like that are quite revealing and the kind of truths that make you feel like you’re running down the street naked. Those that have ever had the pleasure of a mad weekend away with me will reassure you – I have no issue with getting naked and running down a street. The above were two of my reasons.
There was third reason for me and the most important one – I knew that a fight was coming, my business and I would be put under immense pressure. I was going into fight camp, because I know that every burpee I do after I’ve vomited and every time I get up and train when I can think of 100 things that I’d rather be doing that are ‘more important’ will galvanise me mentally for whatever is thrown at me. I know that if I commit to an exercise goal, I will structure my food, sleep and lifestyle to accommodate. I won’t watch Netflix till 2am and I will be in bed by 10pm, I’ll also be the first one up, working whilst others sleep – that puts me ahead of the curve.
This will benefit me as I know that when the world is a shitstorm and everyone else around me is falling apart, I’ll choose not to buckle. I’ll choose to have a mind that sees things clearly, I’ll choose what I put in my body, I know that when I commit to a routine and exercise that I feel better, stronger and more confident. If I’m going to go into a battle when I’m stood on the front line, I need to know that my body is fuelled, my mind is clear and that I’m ready for a tough fight – its just like boxing.
I’ve spent many years of my life wrangling with my many personalities, I know one thing about me – I need a fight, I just needed something in front of me to warrant my comeback. My goal in life is to always be a better version of myself. That doesn’t mean more people have to like me, it doesn’t mean I need to travel the world and stick it on Instagram, it doesn’t mean I need a new car, it doesn’t necessarily mean I need to earn more money and it doesn’t mean I try to offend less people – I can’t control what others think of me and have no desire to amend my actions to become more palatable to them. I need to be happy with myself, how my body performs is key to that. I can control the decisions I make, how often I exercise, what time I go to bed, my daily rituals and what I eat.
My exercise goals (short term) are to commit to moving every day – some days its ‘active rest’ such as a walk or yoga, three time under tension sessions and two HIIT. I will get my body fat below 12% (long term goal and upon achieving it I will maintain it below 15%) and I will continually and quantifiably become fitter by meticulously recording and journaling every weight I lift, every burpee I do and record every training session. Exercise is moving, training is moving towards a goal. The reason for achieving this goal, my grade of morning wood wasn’t what it once was, I realised that I may need to be more ‘operational’ and a fat trainer on the gym floor does little to inspire and my most important reason – I need to be mentally ready for war.
I’ve trained fighters who have won national titles, fought professionally and won contracts with the UFC. I’ll ensure everyone under my watch is ready for war. Tough times don’t last, tough people do (with Grade “A” wood)