I had 100 private sessions with my trainer this year, and I went to the gym more than 250 times.
Strength training was one of my New Year’s resolutions, so this feels like the right moment to reflect and summarize this journey.
In this post, I want to share:
- Why I fell in love with strength training
- What I learned from it
- What I achieved
- My goals for the future
Why I Fell in Love with Strength Training
This January, I made a decision.
I told myself:
If I can change my body, I can change everything.
For the next six months, I went to the gym almost every day — around 6 a.m., day after day.
And I was right.
My body changed.
One day in June, I looked at myself in the mirror
and began to fall in love with myself.
That moment wasn’t about muscles or numbers.
It was a fundamental shift — especially for someone who had lived for decades under criticism.
With that came a quiet, stable confidence in my appearance —
not borrowed from others,
not dependent on approval,
but built through my own effort and consistency.
Strength training didn’t just change my body.
It gave me:
- proof that I can commit and persist
- evidence that effort compounds
- a direct relationship with myself, without words or validation
And most importantly,
it gave me hope —
that I could change everything.
What I Learned from It
Strength training is not just exercise for me.
It taught me a way to live.
1. It Taught Me Persistence
Progress doesn’t come from intensity.
It comes from showing up again — especially on ordinary days.
For the first six months, I went to the gym at 6 a.m., no matter of the weather, my body or other obstables. even if i went to gym for 15 mins, that was great too. Most mornings, there were only less than four people in the gym.
Later, as I started lifting heavier — especially squats — I needed more recovery.
So I adjusted my training to four times a week.
Persistence isn’t blind force.
It’s learning how to continue sustainably.
I used to admire people who were persistent.
Now, I’ve become someone I admire.
Persistence is a muscle.
And the gym is one of the best places to train it.
2. It Taught Me Long-Term Thinking
Physical change is one of the fastest feedback loops in life —
and even then, it still takes time.
Real change is slow, invisible, and cumulative.
You don’t feel stronger day by day.
You realize it only when you look back.
If you can hold on long enough — as I did for a year —
you begin to understand its value.
And once you do,
it naturally becomes a life-long commitment.
Few things train the body, mind, and spirit so completely.
Few things teach long-term thinking as clearly as this.
3. It Taught Me to Challenge Myself
Not to compete with others,
but to meet my own limits honestly —
and move them, one small step at a time.
Big challenges create adrenaline.
Small, honest challenges create capacity.
By moving limits gradually:
- fear doesn’t spike
- injury is avoided
- confidence compounds quietly
This is how courage becomes stable, not dramatic.
4. It Taught Me System Thinking
Results are not a matter of willpower.
They are the result of structure:
- clear objectives
- proper movements
- routine
- recovery
- form
- patience
- repetition
When the system is right,
progress follows naturally.
Through training, I learned how each part is connected —
and how changing one element affects the whole.
Strength training is a great teacher of system thinking because:
- feedback is fast
- variables are visible
- rules are fair
- effort can’t fake results
Once you learn system thinking here,
you can transfer it everywhere else.
5. It Taught Me to Detach from Outcomes
You can’t force strength.
You can only do the work and let the body respond in its own time.
This principle applies equally to:
- Stoicism
- long-term investing
- meaningful creation
Act fully. Detach from timing.
Detachment doesn’t mean indifference.
It means trust in the process.
What I Achieved
1. A Stronger Body
My body fat dropped from 28% to 21% during the summer,
and is now around 24% in winter — intentionally.
I’m not chasing leanness.
My priority is health and strength, not physique.
That’s why I focus on full-body compound movements:
- squat
- deadlift
- shoulder press
- bench press
In January, I could only squat 40 kg.
Today, my numbers are:
- Squat: ~1.55× bodyweight
- Deadlift: ~1.55–1.6× bodyweight
These numbers matter to me not as ego,
but as proof of consistency and correct training over time.
2. A Stable Nervous System
Strength training became a form of meditation for me.
Each session:
- grounds my attention
- quiets mental noise
- brings me fully into my body
It regulates me in a way thinking alone never could.
3. A New Mindset
Through this process, I learned something essential:
If I truly commit, I can change.
Not through intensity.
Not through motivation.
But through patience, structure, and time.
That belief didn’t come from affirmation.
It came from lived evidence.
My Goal for the Future
The foundation is built.
I’m not pursuing six-pack abs.
I’m pursuing continuity.
I want to maintain this habit —
strength training three times a week,
for decades.
No more intensity for intensity’s sake.
No chasing extremes.
Just steady practice,
slow compounding,
and a body that stays strong with time.
End
These 100 sessions were the best investment I’ve ever made.
The consistency and discipline I trained in the gym didn’t stay there.
They spread into the rest of my life.
Because of strength training, I began to:
- eat more intentionally
- quit sugar
- go to bed earlier
- walk after sunrise
Not through force,
but through alignment.
It gave me:
- a stronger body
- a regulated nervous system
- a quiet, grounded confidence
And more than that,
it gave me a life philosophy —
one I now apply to life, investing, and creation.
Most importantly,
it gave me something I didn’t have before:
belief in myself.
(More Than Muscles)