#69 - Ancient Greek Wisdom Meets Modern Fitness: Elevating Your Gym Experience

Ever wondered how ancient Greek philosophy could possibly have a thing to say about your gym routine? Prepare to be enlightened as we journey through the principles of Plato, Epictetus, and Seneca, and uncover their unexpected relevance to modern fitness and personal growth. This episode of Way of Life with Gus Holland isn't your typical philosophy class; it's a fusion of mental might and physical prowess, promising to leave you with a renewed perspective on the weight you lift and the thoughts you carry.

Join me in a stimulating session where we transcend the clang of dumbbells and delve into the realm of the mind. Discover how the Greeks' pursuit of excellence and the Stoic teachings on resilience can revolutionize your approach to challenges both in the gym and in life. It's not just about muscle development but mental fortitude, as each rep becomes a step toward self-betterment. So, whether you're a fitness enthusiast seeking deeper motivation or a thinker with an appetite for physical vigor, tune in for an episode that marries the wisdom of the ages with the sweat of today's grind.

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

Welcome back to another episode of Way of Life. I'm your host, gus Holland. I wanna give a big shout out to everyone that's been supporting the podcast. It has really been seeing some growth and I greatly appreciate that. If you wanna follow the podcast on Instagram, it is at wayoflifepodcast. There's wayoflifepodcastcom. That's where you can find all the places to listen to. You can find the blog, which is same, similar content as what you're getting here for each episode, except in obviously a different format. But it is different content. So it's still covering the same topic, but obviously written out and it's not word for word like the podcast. So you might wanna check that out. Other than that, if you enjoy these episodes, you can share it with a friend, you can rate and review it. Everything is greatly appreciated.

Speaker 1: 0:55

Let's go ahead and get into today's episode. So, as y'all know, I have already done several episodes on the history of weightlifting, especially throughout different cultures, and we've even covered some philosophies, whether it's training philosophy or just good ideals to live by. I would say that today is in that same realm, but obviously it's gonna be slightly different. So I'm sure you're all familiar with or at least most of you are familiar with the whole TikTok and Instagram trend of taking different quotes from different philosophers or even Greek warriors and applying those to almost like to create a hype video, which is awesome. I'm definitely not hating on that. If that helps you, you should do that or watch that. Today I'm gonna be covering slightly broader philosophies. Some of these philosophers you've probably heard of, such as Plato, but I'm going to explore some, I guess, slightly less popular theories and philosophies, kind of string them together and hopefully it'll help motivate you all for the rest of the week and whether it's inside the gym or outside of the gym. So I wrote some of this down so it might sound kind of like I'm reading it, but I really wanna get this point across.

Speaker 1: 2:28

So in the world of weightlifting, we often find ourselves like immersed or covered up in the physical realm of things. You're trying to push your bodies to the limit, striving for new goals or different weights, different measures of strength and power, but beneath all of this lies something that's even greater than just the mere act of lifting weights. So today we're going to delve into the wisdom of the ancient Greeks. So, as I've mentioned previously, plato is one of them. We're also gonna be touching on epicetides in Seneca, just to name a few. So one thing that the ancient Greeks definitely understood was the transformative power of a physical discipline and especially the focus on the pursuit of excellence.

Speaker 1: 3:33

So, speaking of Plato, in his writing called the Republic, he speaks of the soul as being similar to a charioteer, so someone who is the driver of the chariot, basically guiding two horses. One horse represents reason and the other one represents passion. So obviously, if you're a skilled charioteer, you have to make the two horses work together to achieve the goal. So by harmonizing the forces of passion and reason, you're able to achieve victory. So, with this in mind, we must balance our intellect with our primal instincts on our path to greatness. So in the gym, you face similar challenges. You have to harness your intelligence in order to develop proper form and technique breathing, bracing, programming, you name it while also channeling your passion in order to push through barriers and your obstacles. So obviously this isn't just touching on the mind-muscle connection, but also just the mental break of overcoming a new PR or even just a change in your programming that you're not 100% comfortable with. So that's when motivational things really come into play, whether positive or negative, whether sourced from positive or negative sources. These are the tools that we use to sculpt greatness.

Speaker 1: 5:20

So the ancient Stoics, epictides and Seneca, as well as others, taught us the importance of embracing challenges and also overcoming adversity and taking them as opportunities for growth. So Seneca famously wrote what man can you show me who places any value on his time, who reckons the worth of each day, who understands that he is dying daily? So these words remind us all that every moment in the gym and outside of the gym is a chance for you to better yourself, not only to become stronger physically, but also mentally. So one of the greatest lessons of all comes from the legendary philosopher Aristotle. He believed that excellence is not an act but a habit. In other words, greatness is not achieved through one singular act, but through consistent practice of behavior. Therefore, in the gym, we need to cultivate a habit of discipline. So this is showing up every day that you have planned, pushing yourselves to your limit and striving for excellence in everything that you do. As you stand at the crossroad of mind and muscle, remember the wisdom of the ancients let's embrace the challenges that lie ahead and know that each of your lifts brings you closer to your goals, and this is why it's important to give everything you've got as often as possible. Through these efforts and through the gym, through the iron within the gym, we find a means to build our bodies, but also to nourish our minds and our souls.

Speaker 1: 7:07

That's all for today's episode of Way of Life. So join me next time on our journey to gain more wisdom inside and outside of the gym. Until then, be safe, happy, healthy and thank you all again for the support. Once again, you can leave a rating and review. If you'd like to share it with a friend, check out wayoflifepodcastcom. Thank you all so much. Have a great week.