Mentality and Physicality

The human body is the ultimate machine. The skin and bones that hold us together is a vessel unlike any other, and when tuned properly it is unmatched in prowess and durability. Powered by the fuel of the human spirit, and driven somewhere between the point of anguish and prosperity with an unattainable yet fixated gaze on perfection. In short, humans are fucking incredible, because our physical limitations are only as broad as we allow our mind to make them. The age old saying “mind over matter” in my opinion, is supremely overused and underrated, because the truth behind that anecdote is incredibly prolific. The body is and forever will be at the will of whatever conscious parameters that we perceive as possible in terms of our pain thresholds. It just truly amazes me what we as humans are capable of, especially in the realm of fitness. When the mind and body are equally trained and in sync with one another, some amazing things can occur. The prime example of the human spirit acting in perfect harmony with the body itself was at its all time high just recently when a man in Colorado was attacked by a mountain lion, yet overcame that large predator, and killed it with his bare hands. Ladies and gentlemen, that man right there is your new fucking pinnacle of fitness.

      In case you haven’t heard the story, I’d love to enlighten you. A few weeks ago, thirty one year old Travis Kauffman of Fort Collins, Colorado was out for a run in the woods when he was attacked by a mountain lion. Generally speaking that is how that type of story normally ends, there’s never really a second act when it comes to a mountain lion attack, perhaps other than the victim becoming food. However that was not the case for Travis, this beast of a man wrestled with, and fought this mountain lion to the fucking death. That might be the most rad combination of words that I will ever write about another human being. I am literally awestruck at the amount of big dick energy that can come from one dude. His sheer and unrelenting will to survive, his strength, and his ability to keep calm are all attributes that should be emulated and praised by anyone, but especially those that considers themselves to be fit. Now I’m not saying you should reimagine your exercise goals to train for hand to hand combat with animals, (however that would be a great way to thin out some of these Instagram models and Facebook warriors). Instead evaluate and compare your current level of fitness to that of Mr. Kauffman and see if you’re training for more than just aesthetics.

I think of where I am physically on a daily basis partly because I love fitness, but also partly because as a former fat kid, I have a promise to my formerly chunky teenage self that I must uphold. Once I started working out at thirteen years old and started losing weight, I vowed to never return to a sedentary way of living and to never be a truffle shuffler ever again, word to my boy Chunk. It’s been nearly thirteen years and I’ve done pretty good job at upholding that promise to myself. I love going to the gym and finding new ways to push my physical limitations and just downright punishing the absolute living fuck out of myself in the name of self improvement. Lately though, I find myself wondering if I’m training anything other than my own vanities and insecurities, and at times I feel as though every workout I’ve ever done is in vein, because I’ve fallen short of the true goal of exercise which is much more than what a reflection can show. I wonder if I’m training my spirit along side my body, in terms of finding new ways to constantly challenge myself in different manners that incorporate my mentality being pushed to a new limit, and being forced to hang on for another minute or another second longer. I wonder if I’m feeding that ancestral piece of my spirit that is driven only by the thought of survival. In other words, am I training for longevity or just the beach season? 

Don’t get me wrong, working out for any reason is better than not working out at all. I have the upmost respect for anyone hitting the grindstone and getting their ass in the gym (unless you wear lifting gloves, make absurd amounts of noise, or give unwarranted “fitness tips” to strangers, if that’s you then go fucking play in traffic). Also I am in no way throwing hate your way if you’re goals are to get washboard abs that could make a nun sweat, or get a booty that makes the fabric of your leggings have to hold on for dear life as you strut around. Those are solid goals, and I’m a personal fan of the latter. All that I’m trying to do is bring forth the idea of training our mental fortitude just as hard as we train our bodies so that we don’t get lost inside an endless maze of Instagram likes and insecurities. Instead let’s take a page from the hometown hero and cat killing cold piece himself Travis Kauffman, that anything is possible if we have a strong enough mentality, and train ourselves to be well rounded beasts and keep tapping deeper and deeper into the potential of the human spirit.