Iron Lion Training

There’s no wrong reason to start exercising, or to learn a skill like boxing, but a person’s reason to exercise may fluctuate. The reasons, or motivations, evolve over time.

Sure, people want to be healthy, feel good, and look great. Those are excellent reasons that remain relevant. But there’s another reason people exercise, and that’s from a deep seated need to “blow off steam”. To punch some-thing, rather than punching some-one!

Learning to box from an experienced trainer and boxer, like my wife Steph IronLioness, is infinitely preferable to punching human beings in anger. So, “blowing off steam” is a good thing, right?

Yes and no. Reducing stress is a great idea for a bunch of reasons, including fat loss. But “blowing off steam” does not tend to be technically sound training. And training too intensely all the time can elevate stress hormones like cortisol, making fat loss and muscle gain harder. 

Exercising to “blow off steam” creates a tendency to simply work hard, not smart. That might make your brain feel less stress-y, but it’s a type of training that errs on the side of maximal, not optimal. If that’s the only way you exercise, it might get you in shape, but it may also cause a variety of overuse injuries. And that’s the opposite of what you want if your other reasons for exercise include sustainable good health.

From the 10th century CE, until it’s abolishment in 1905, lingchi, or “death by a thousand cuts”, was practiced in China as a form of torture, or capital punishment.

Why bring up a grotesque form of torture in a blog largely devoted to self-improvement and empowerment through exercise? Well, it’s not meant as an attack on the Chinese, since Westerners have plenty of our own gross baggage, as seen in the unsafe water conditions on Canadian First Nations reservations. 

The reason I bring this up is that my own training has often been of the  “blow off steam” variety. And after a while that’s just a torturous form of coping, that never gets to the bottom of the issue. 

As a personal trainer, an online nutrition coach to hundreds, and now a gym owner, I try to make sure my clients are doing close to an optimal amount of work. The human body doesn’t work in a linear way. When you achieve a peak in performance, you have to anticipate a valley follows that peak. So Iron Lion Training’s programs include planned de-loading from the peaks of volume and intensity achieved over the course of a training cycle. 

We also pay attention to the kind of day and week our clients are having, and things like how much sleep they got, whether they travelled recently, and so on. Life leaves clues as to how much they can do on a given day, without it crushing them.

 

Among fighters a certain developmental arc is common. The kids who starts fighting to “blow off steam” become more experienced. They take some lumps. They dish out some lumps. And the tough guy gradually disappears, like a snake shedding its skin, leaving behind a different perspective.

Perspective and maturity go hand in hand. And maturity is one of my current training goals!

Along with perspective and maturity, my other new training goal is to treat myself as well as Iron Lion Training clients! You can see the powerlifting team in our colours here, after crushing it at the CPF Barrie Powerlifting Open. Way to represent, PL Pride! 

Iron Lion Training strives to provide a safe, body-positive space that is welcoming to all. We meet our clients where they are, strategize next steps, and help them to take the right steps for them, one at a time. If you are looking for a great workout in a safe, body-positive space, please get in touch! Whether you want to get fit, get strong, or learn to punch, remember, there’s no wrong reason to start! See you soon!

Email us at: info@ironliontraining.ca
Call: 647-998-5466(LION)

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