WHY CELEBRATING YOUR GYM WINS MATTERS

WHY CELEBRATING YOUR GYM WINS MATTERS
By Shane Robert

I recently had a client, Andrew, finish a training cycle. Due to life circumstances, he had to cut what was supposed to be a 16-week cycle at 11 weeks. Thankfully I had a little notice that this was going to happen so we did our best to drop fatigue starting in week 9 to try for new PRs. Despite not finishing the planned last 5 weeks, Andrew added 127 pounds to his total. His squat went from 285 to 342 (57 pounds); his bench went from 200 to 225 (25 pounds); his deadlift went from 400 to 445 (45 pounds). All without gaining significant weight or having a proper peaking period where he got used to handling heavier loads.

In case you don’t know, this is outstanding.

To make this kind of progress when you are no longer a beginner is rare. Unfortunately, Andrew didn’t see that. I reached out to him after seeing the progress he had made.

“Wow! Amazing work this cycle. You’ve made incredible progress!!” I wrote in a text, his preferred medium of communication.

“Thanks,” he texted back. “It’s still not nearly as good as [another lifter at the gym].” 

I was flabbergasted. I shouldn’t have been because this is something that I have encountered many times before. I don’t know if it is a result of the crazy strong people we see every day on social media or if it’s just human nature, but people really struggle to celebrate their victories. Make no mistake, progress like Andrew’s is unquestionably a victory. I might argue that simply showing up to the gym 4 days a week for 11 weeks is a victory. At least compared to the majority of people. 

Of course, I'm not advocating for complacency or celebrating mediocrity. Achieving an objective doesn’t mean you get to stop; you now have new objectives to achieve. However, not taking the time to acknowledge your accomplishments and celebrate them diminishes the effort you put forth. If reaching a goal isn’t worth celebrating, it probably wasn’t worth pursuing in the first place. 

There is an expression that says that comparison is the thief of joy. That is what happened to Andrew. He compared his amazing progress to those that are beyond him and felt diminished that he was still so far from where they were. To what end? There is always someone stronger, faster, bigger, etc. Weightlifting great Pyrros Dimas said he squatted 90kg (198 pounds) at age 7, the first time he squatted. As someone who couldn’t deadlift that weight at 18, I definitely don’t want to compare my lifts to his.

In the lifting world, our goal is always to get stronger. In theory, there is no end to that goal. If you want to stick to training for the long haul (which you should if you want to be truly strong), you can’t let the success of others diminish your success. You need to stop and celebrate your victories, no matter how small. As Ed Coan, the greatest powerlifter of all time, said when asked what squatting 1000 pounds felt like, “It felt like the first time you squatted 100 pounds. Or 200. Or 500.”