This is the Sparky life with your host, Lia Lamela. Today, when trade tales continue:

how strong do you have to be to work in construction? 

This question rattled around in my brain, when I knew I was going to pursue a career in the trades, I would need to improve my upper body strength for sure. And the best way to accomplish that goal would be strength training. I knew nothing about strength training, and the little that I did know, I knew I didn't like it. I needed to change my mindset for sure. So while I was looking for the appropriate gym, having to choose wisely where I put my income at the time, I investigated local gyms, and selected (do not make fun of me) Planet Fitness.

Why? For two reasons. First, the price was right. You literally pay $25 a month, doesn't get better than that. And they are everywhere. So in the trades, you could be at many different job locations. And so I needed access to the gym wherever I was with no excuse that I didn't have the time or the money because at that time, I was literally rebuilding and coming back from losing everything. Number two, and the most important reason and why I chose the planet fitness that I ended up going to, was because they provide a trainer included in your monthly membership. 

Enter, Connor. Connor was around six foot, athletic young man who was starting out his career as a personal trainer. Upon meeting him, you can tell immediately he was passionate about training and wanted to see his clients reach their goals. I sat down with Connor and discussed the reasons why I was there. And he developed a strength training program for me. Connor went above and beyond the call of duty. I really believe that the universe helped guide me to that particular planet fitness to meet Connor. I think that if things would have been different, I would have never had the opportunity to work with him. He is an incredible personal trainer and will have an amazing career. Connor knew how to push me to my max. Every time I worked one on one with him, I amazed myself at what I was capable of. He just knew how to get the most from me. I think it's very important to recognize that although there's a lot of information online, sometimes it's hard to sift through the information and determine what is legitimate and what is not. I find that when you have a coach, a mentor, someone who's more experienced than you to work with, you end up getting much farther, much faster and without as many hurdles when you had the opportunity to work with someone like that. 

Now, in the beginning, I was frustrated, as progress was slow. I'm talking snail's pace. And do not misunderstand, I am well aware that gains do not occur overnight. I was an athlete, I was on the varsity swim team when I was in high school, and I was in fencing during college. I understand the process and what it takes. However, I also knew that going to the gym after three months for three to four times a week should have elicited some change. I couldn't understand where I was going wrong. Now Connor tried to communicate to me several times, several different ways where I was going wrong, but I was just not getting it. I would meet with Connor once a week and the rest of the week was up to me. Now every session I had with Connor, I was amazed at how far I could go, at how hard I could push. It was always the best and I always felt wonderfully sore the next day, like I really had accomplished. However, every time I was on my own, I worked up a good sweat but it just wasn't the same. And I couldn't figure out why. Even though I was frustrated and couldn't understand what I was doing differently from when I was with Connor as opposed to when I was on my own, I was not going to quit. Then I came across Ed Myett, The Power of One More. Now if you guys know me, I'm an avid reader. I listen to audiobooks all the time. I go through a book a week. I love reading and it couldn't have been more perfect timing for me to come across his book, which I highly recommend; life changing, by the way. After reading Ed Myett’s book, The Power of One More, it clicked. I finally understood what Connor was trying to tell me the entire time and never realized: you don't do the 10 reps of deadlifts at 115 pounds until it's easy, that's not what you're supposed to do. If you're not consistently challenging yourself, if you aren't making it harder incrementally every time, you're not going to make gains. I couldn't tell you why I had it in my head that I had to do 10 reps perfectly, like without breaking a sweat, before I should add more weight. For whatever reason, that was my mindset. Sidenote, I think it has to do with the perfectionism thing I struggle with. For example, each rep had to be done perfectly before I could move on. I know for some of you that sounds super weird, but that was what was in my head. Now, Ed Myett’s book really explains it perfectly. So again, highly recommend you guys check that out, the overall view is just give it one more, when I would do the reps, I would start off at the weight I was at. And then instead of doing 10, I would add five pounds and do one more. Now to be clear, just so you guys understand the program when whatever exercise I was doing at whatever weight, I needed to do three sets of anywhere between 8 to 10 reps. So for example, let's say I was doing skull crushers and exercise that has to do with the triceps and I was using 10 pound barbells, I would start one rep of 10 with 10. And then in that one rep after that 10th rep I would do just one more and make it 11. And then for the next set, I would do 12 lb barbells and try to do 10 reps. Now sometimes I didn't get to the 10 reps, I maxed out at 8. But if I knew I was about to max at 8…yes, that's right, you guessed it: I would do one more. 

Now this is when I really started to see dramatic change in how much weight I could actually lift. And of course, in Ed Myett’s book, he explains how he applies this mindset to everything he does in life. So naturally, I said, “What if I apply this mindset to everything in my life, every activity, every goal?” So that's what I did. This brings me back to Connor: the entire time, Connor was trying to explain this concept to me. Because Connor understood being a professional trainer, he knew the mindset that it took. This is what's so beautiful about the world, actually. Now, people can try to communicate things to you. And you're open to hearing what they have to say, for whatever reason, the style in which they're saying it, you just can't hear it. But then you hear the same thing from somebody else said differently somehow, in some way communicated differently. And all of a sudden, it clicks, it just jives with you. This is a beautiful thing. If you aren't getting it, that doesn't mean you're never gonna get it. It just means you need to find someone that speaks your language to help you understand. Now guys, I'm proud to say I can almost lift my own bodyweight. And no, I'm not going to tell you what that is.

You can take a guess. So find your people out there. That's one of the reasons why I started this podcast. I wanted to find my community, my people. It's a delightful mystery of the world. And in order for truths to take root, you need to continually seek people that speak your language. I mentioned at the beginning of this trade tale, how strong do you have to be to enter a career in construction? I actually think that that's not the right question to ask. The question is, what strength do you see inside you?

Good morning to all those sparks out there. I just wanted to take a moment to thank all of the listeners. You mean so much to us. And we are so thankful to have such a beautiful community. If the Sparky Life Podcast lights you up, and you would like to contribute to the creation of more Sparky life content, feel free to support us on our Patreon page. Thank you for joining us. If you felt a spark in today's episode, I invite you to write a review. I'd love to hear what lit you up. Take what resonates with you. And if you'd like to hear more of the Sparky Life, please subscribe, like, follow and share. Until next time, create the sparks in your life.