Under the Bar

"Meaningful achievement takes time, hard work, persistence, patience, and constant self-awareness. The path to such success is punctuated by failure, consolidation and renewed effort - usually made by a different person than who first walked through the door. We change in order to become, and we are changed through that becoming." Mark Twight #UndertheBar #fitness #photography https://www.instagram.com/p/CN_05i8liYD/?igshid=2sqwmva3dbnk

The answers lay in the intangible. The unmeasurable. The answer, very simply put, is effort. This, and only this, should be the sole requirement. Your effort matters. In the office, in the gym, on the field, and even at home. Your effort is special. It has the ability to change lives. Your life, your teammate’s, a co-worker, and even your coach’s life. Perhaps through extraordinary performance, brought about by effort, there may occur career advancement. Or, perhaps even more significantly so, it creates an internal change. A change in perspective. A change in attitude. A philosophical revelation, or whatever the case may be. Do not think these internal changes less important. Though we live in a materialistic world where mere external changes are celebrated; it is in fact these internal changes which should truly be celebrated. Success; failure. Win; lose. Allowing enough time to pass, these outcomes become less and less relevant. But an internal change has the ability to be lasting. Again, we come from various backgrounds; but effort is all inclusive. All else may be disregarded when the effort is absolute. #UndertheBar #fitness #effort #philosophy #photography https://www.instagram.com/p/CN4pz9MlAku/?igshid=yrbq5x54en00

"You are not your job, you're not how much money you have in the bank. You are not the car you drive. You're not the contents of your wallet. You are not your khakis. You are all singing, all dancing crap of the world." / We use our identity as a place-holder for our capabilities. It defines us, we introduce ourselves and refer to ourselves as a certain intangible thing. What happens when you move on from that job, or when your abilities begin to wane? / We often tie our identity to specific metrics such as our abilities or our profession, and that determines our value and how we feel about ourselves. Our endeavour; birthed from a divine ambition, driven by the belief that we are chosen to accomplish that which lesser men/women cannot. / "You are not special. You're not a beautiful and unique snowflake. You're the same decaying organic matter as everything else. We're all part of the same compost heap. We're all singing, all dancing crap of the world." / The photo is from 2017; when I too thought myself a special and unique snowflake. #UndertheBar #fightclub #fitness (at Buenos Aires, Argentina) https://www.instagram.com/p/CGX_jAGlMu9/?igshid=1ekdmvjcvpjou

Functional fitness. Generally seen as dynamic, and a break away from the more traditional lifts or movements. Something which involves either power, strength, mobility, endurance, or all of the above. Some uninformed individuals might refer to these as 'CrossFit-like' movements. The question remains as to the function of these movements? Possessing the ability to move an artificial object in an artificial space serves no purpose in the 'real world'. Completely ignoring the physical benefits of training, does even the simpliest movement; like a push-up, serve any true function? Which leads to the question; what is the function of fitness? A question each person should answer for themselves. / / I had a good conversation with one of the trainers @mpg_bfn (@kailz9_mpg). She explained that the idea of 'functional fitness', is to be functional for fitness. As in, have the ability to move and train with less restriction. Perhaps becoming more functional for fitness, could aid us in understanding the function of fitness? #UndertheBar #FunctionalFitness #fitness (at The Gym) https://www.instagram.com/p/CFHeGmflU3d/?igshid=aru9j377njho

“Now is no time to think of what you do not have. Think of what you can do with what there is.” The Old Man and the Sea #UndertheBar #Hemingway #KnowThyself (at Venice, Italy) https://www.instagram.com/p/CC-d5RmF5_R/?igshid=10fa33au1jvbv

We are not what we gain, but what we endure. #UndertheBar #KnowThyself #YourOdyssey https://www.instagram.com/p/CBsFb9BlIpY/?igshid=vkvwm0ld9ngo

𝗠𝗮𝗻 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗯𝗲 𝗱𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗼𝘆𝗲𝗱, 𝗯𝘂𝘁 𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗮𝗻𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗯𝗲 𝗱𝗲𝗳𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗱. #UndertheBar #WeSlayOurselves #fitness https://www.instagram.com/p/CBIrorJlNae/?igshid=1syriyhiebg96

A origin story is an account or backstory revealing how a character or group of people become a protagonist or antagonist, and it adds to the overall interest and complexity of a narrative, often giving reasons for their intentions. • • • #UndertheBar #YourOrigin #fitness #fitnessmotivation #fit #brand #fitnessbrand #activewear #throwback #powerlifting #weightlifting #crossfit #gym #originstory #original #SouthAfrica #lockdown2020 #mythology #philosophy #gymmotivation #crossfitmotivation #calisthenics #follow #like #photooftheday #onlineshop #ecommerce https://www.instagram.com/p/CAXlX7knJec/?igshid=5a02t3guoyfk

Your Odyssey will come with many difficult labours, and only the strong, willing to endure many victories and defeats, may don this black on black armour. / Extract from Your Odyssey But not all the gods were in favour of Odysseus. When Odysseus and his men fled from the cave of Polyphemus, the Cyclops, after blinding and tricking him, Odysseus was met by the wrath of Poseidon. Poseidon, the god of sea and rivers, creator of storms and floods, the bringer of earthquakes and destruction. Poseidon was known for being easily offended and was quick to anger, and those who incurred his anger became victims to his wrath. Poseidon created an almighty storm to befall Odysseus ship, and set out to stop him from returning home. In the end it is decreed by the god-king Zeus to be Odysseus’ destiny to return home, amidst the obstacles set forth by Poseidon. Odysseus stood and endured the wrath of the sea-god, proving the protecting power of destiny to be greater than even the mightiest of rivals. Although the adventure may seem perilous, and the passing of the threshold dangerous, the protecting power is always and ever present. • • • #UndertheBar #YourOdyssey #fitness #fitnessmotivation #fit #brand #fitnessbrand #activewear #throwback #powerlifting #weightlifting #crossfit #gym #SouthAfrica #lockdown2020 #mythology #philosophy #gymmotivation #crossfitmotivation #calisthenics #follow #like #photooftheday https://www.instagram.com/p/CAU9lDNFanx/?igshid=1by3sg805mn83

Resolving external and internal issues Under the Bar • • • #UndertheBar #weareallthesame #fitness #fitnessapparel #brand #life #follow #like #throwback #photooftheday #SouthAfrica #Lockdown2020 #TheGym #HomeGym #fitnessmotivation #lifting #liftingmotivation #weightlifting #Powerlifting (at House of Gains) https://www.instagram.com/p/B_kdbmIFVl8/?igshid=1mko6j15d4u83

Only birth can conquer death, not of the old, but something new. #UndertheBar #Rebirth (at Buenos Aires, Argentina) https://www.instagram.com/p/B-3sXQsFh6B/?igshid=gtfviu2p8vb3

An extract from the Know Thyself pdf. Available for free download on the website. Perhaps you will find value in its content. #KnowThyself #lockdown2020 #stayhome #underthebar #contentdiet https://www.instagram.com/p/B-d9b0EFa2n/?igshid=phldpijiflxc

Extract from the 'Know Thyself' pdf. Available for free download on the website. Now, with all your freedom removed, the true 'self' will reveal itself to you. #lockdown2020 #underthebar #KnowThyself #SouthAfrica #stayhome https://www.instagram.com/p/B-ZV4gmFZxS/?igshid=j776vfc3zzlv