Hey friends,
It’s Tom here, how are things with you?
I have been roaming around gyms for the best part of a decade now. To be honest, I am one of those weird people who love it. However, in saying that, I see a lot of things in the gym that frustrate me. Not because I’m angry at people (sometimes I am), but mostly because I want everyone to maximise their time in the gym. We’re going to be exploring one of those areas in today’s blog 😊
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One of the most frustrating things that I see people do in the gym is skipping the ‘deep stretch’.
The ‘deep stretch’ refers to the part of a movement where the targeted muscle is at its most stretched, extended, or challenged e.g. the bottom of a dip or a squat. The deep stretch is the hardest and most hypertrophic (most potential for muscle growth) aspect of the movement.
It’s hard, so people skip it, without realising they’re leaving a lot of their gains at the door. The exact same is true of life. Often the hardest things in our lives offer the greatest opportunity for growth, and often we skip them – myself included.
I have always held a strong self-belief that I was the type of person to embrace discomfort, challenge, and learning, I believed I lived in the deep stretch. I was scrolling through LinkedIn in late December when one of my favourite content producers Mike Go posted: “If getting in shape was important to you, you wouldn’t wait until New Years to get started on it”.
My initial reaction was self-affirming. “Too right Mike” I exclaimed passionately, and internally lest anyone thought I speaking to an imaginary friend (again). Then I took a little time to reflect on it.
Just because I push myself physically, does not mean that I am truly living in the deep stretch. There are countless areas of my life where I wallow in comfort. One of the biggies was writing and producing content. I took the plunge and posted on LinkedIn the very next day. That post has led me to sharing my thoughts with you all today.
While I am relatively new to this area, I am committed to continuing to work on the metaphorical (in this instance) deep stretch, improving and developing my writing skills. I’m really looking forward to progressing on this journey with you all.
So, I ask you, are you living your life in the deep stretch? Or are you skipping the parts of your life that offer the greatest opportunity for growth?
That’s it for now, until next time, wishing you all the best,
Tom
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