Worth The Wait

Ever since I was younger I’ve always wanted to become the best version of myself. This applies to sports, school, and just myself in general. I like to put my best foot forwards all the time. During basketball, I noticed I wasn’t as strong and grounded as I wish I was. I would get pushed around quite a bit by other players during games. I decided to take action and work to become a stronger player. I had talked to my coach and some of my teammates about this plan. Everyone thought it was a good idea and I even got some teammates to join in, which I thought was awesome. As a Junior, I was really wanting to become stronger for the following season, due to the fact that I knew it was going to take time to become more built. We all had to show patience when it came to wanting to see results fast.

I started off by going to the weight room before or after basketball practices around a year ago. I could feel myself getting stronger when I applied myself in those situations during basketball games and practices. This motivated me to keep thriving, considering I was already feeling and seeing changes. I knew I had to be patient and it wouldn’t just happen overnight. I started to go after almost every practice and get consistent with my schedule. I liked going right after practice because it was during the boys’ practice and they are the ones who usually are in the weight room, so we’d have the room to ourselves. With the help of my basketball coach and our gym teacher, we created a plan for me to track my reps and weight on a log. This way I could see my progress and continue to add reps and weight to get stronger.

Once school got shut down, due to Covid, the weight room was also shut down. I was sad because I had just gotten into a rhythm of going there and now it was ruined. I had to be patient and come up with a new plan for me. I decided to use our “workout room” at home, which was nothing compared to the weight room, but I made the best of it. I would usually run a couple miles and then do my workout. I couldn’t use nearly the same amount of weight as I did before, just because I didn’t have the equipment to do so. I got into a good flow and would do it every morning. Some mornings I would do it with a friend which would push me to try harder. After doing this throughout the summer and summer practices added on to this, I got kind of bored. I would do the same thing over and over each day. I needed a change of speed and pace.

A few months into school starting, I realized I needed more than what I just had at my house. I made up my mind that I wanted to look into getting a gym membership. I considered a few different places and after observing each one, I decided on Planet Fitness. I have been going there for a couple months now and I still really enjoy it. I like that I have access to all equipment and can just focus on myself there. I log all of my activity on my watch to keep track of my progress. I like the fact that I can go whenever and get in and get out in a timely manner.

I have come a long way from a year ago to today. I am glad that I stayed patient in my fitness journey. I knew from the beginning that meeting my goal wasn’t going to happen overnight. I knew I would have to persistently put the hard work in, even on the days I really just don’t feel like it. I overall like the fact that I started out small and now I am here, lifting heavier weights than ever and pushing myself more than I would in the past. This journey has changed me for the better and I am very grateful for everyone who has pushed me to improve myself, whether it be coaches, friends, or family. It makes all of the waiting worth it.

“Jae in the Gym” by sufw is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0