Comment | I went to the gym with only one thing in mind – it changed everything

Reason. It had been missing. Finally it was found as if by accident and changed everything.

The motivation to go to the gym woke up like a couch potato after a long commercial break. One decision changed the situation in a more revolutionary way than I could have imagined. All that was needed was the right reason.

I am visited the gym hundreds if not thousands of times in my life. However, more than 15 years had already passed since the last time, when I entered the doors of the nearby hall with new eyes.

It was August 2022 and I had interviewed the chairman of Suomen Street Workout ry Tomi from Vuori. I did a story about calisthenics and bodyweight training. I wanted to learn myself movements that looked difficult and therefore great.

I chose three of the many moves with slightly different levels of difficulty. Muscle up requires strength, but is otherwise pretty clear, handstand requires practice and balance, but not an impossible amount of strength.

The biggest question mark was the third move, the human flag. Keeping the body horizontal while hanging from poles requires a lot of pulling and pushing power from the upper body and an iron core. There is no harm in having a good sense of position.

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The desire to train was stronger than ever before. I was burning with the desire to learn. The huge motivational spike took me completely by surprise.

Although performance is difficult, the starting point was not completely hopeless.

I was in good shape for 44 years. I went for a run and pulled jaws at home. I would also open the door to the gym at an increasing pace.

In the past, I had gone to the gym for something more general “good shape”, but not for a long time. For years, I hadn't seen a reason to get a gym card, instead I was content to exercise at home from time to time.

However, since the first day of the “new era”, something had changed. I only had one thing in mind: how to learn those three moves.

The desire to train was stronger than ever before. I was burning with the desire to learn. The huge motivational spike took me completely by surprise. Likewise, the increase in motivation was not just a spike, but is still as high.

Muscle up was done pretty quickly, so attention turned to the other two. My right wrist hurt from the handstand, so I turned my gaze completely to the human flag. It fascinated – and made me wonder – the most anyway.

Can such a thing be learned at this age? How long it will take? Do places fall apart?

Butter. Quite a long time. Some.

Now a year and a half after the start, the human flag already looks like a flag. Not perfect yet, but pretty good.

Progress has felt unnecessarily slow from time to time, but learning something really difficult has quickly replaced the frustration.

I've avoided major injuries, and a few forced breaks have probably even been good. The body has rested.

Going to the gym has become interesting even outside of the flag and handstand exercises. The bench press is also nice to do when you know that it also strengthens the upper body and thus takes you a little closer to the perfect flag. Leg day balances the training week well.

If you are interested in exercise in principle, but there are problems with motivation, a concrete goal will help. One chin, five kilometer run, one leg squat, own weight from the bench.

You just have to find your own human ticket.