“You’re just sliding painfully back if you’re not striving forward. Make your stand, burn the bridge to the place where your fear lives. Some live by the limits set upon them, others will commit to the task of destroying them. One flame can light a million.”
‘Own Your World’ by the band Hatebreed
I wanted to share a post about why the studio is named Heavy Metal Fitness. It’s more than just a fun play on words combining the music I am passionate about and the career I love. Heavy metal music is a powerful, but misunderstood art form that I specifically wanted to represent what I do for a living. While most people, even fans of rock music, find it to be nothing but noise – modern metal has evolved to be deeper than you can imagine. Something that has the power to make us better. They sing (and scream) about all the sensitive parts of our world today – politics, social issues, mental illness, religion, environmental concerns, etc. – no topic is left out. The songs are a far cry from yet another romantic ballad on the radio.
Positive change in our lives unfortunately doesn’t always come while we sit back and quietly contemplate a passing cloud on a beautiful day. We often become stronger when the force of a hurricane rips our lives apart and we’re forced to rebuild. That’s why heavy metal is so aggressive. It’s not some pretty pop star singing a simple, catchy, mindless tune that makes you forget your troubles for a few minutes. Metal is often an ugly, loud assault on the senses that forces us to face our worst fears and deepest insecurities. The metaphors used are scary. The lyrics can be explicit. The visuals are sometimes offensive. I know none of that may sound appealing, but the artists creating heavy metal are angry, confused, heartbroken, and curious about the terrible things that happen in life (don’t you often feel like that when you read recent headlines?) They have also found the courage of opening their minds to the ignorance most people won’t admit about what is going on in the world and within ourselves. Most heavy metal music shockingly does everything it can to bring about what is amazing in the universe – it’s a long work in progress though, and the answers involve questioning our core thoughts and changing our lifestyles – both of which can seem impossible to do.
Compare that to exercise. A real workout isn’t some fitness model in a beautifully filmed gym commercial. A real workout is any person from any walk of life pushing their boundaries with discomfort, sweat, exhaustion, often failure – and it’s sometimes the last thing we want to do that day. It’s not always pretty or epic, but the consistency of it begins to make you feel better, and the long term results have the power to save lives. Even look at the physical nature of strength training – you’re literally tearing apart your muscle fibers during a workout. Your body is then forced to rebuild them stronger while being so sore you can barely move. Again, it doesn’t exactly sound appealing.
A healthy lifestyle doesn’t become successful by casually dabbling with the latest fad workout, gimmick diet plan, or magic supplement. A healthy lifestyle requires you to regularly do the exercises you don’t like (some that you may even be scared of), educate yourself on all the details of natural nutrition, and have your mind be disciplined and focused enough to practice every single day.
Heavy metal music directly combined with exercise is a daily part of my life. I hope what I wrote here describes even a small part of how it challenges and inspires me mentally and physically. I also ask anyone reading this to at least consider the messages of heavy metal, even if you can’t bring yourself to listen to it.
I attached a new video in this post from one of my favorite bands, Hatebreed. They are one of the most inspirational bands I’ve ever heard and this song showcases a small bit of what I talked about here. They even ‘subtitle’ the song as to understand the messages behind how ugly it may look and sound. (Warning, it does contain explicit lyrcis.) Watch it to the end and try to make one small difference in your life and the life of someone else today!
Love and lunges,
Trainer Bob