© Apoorv Vikas
“Progressive Overload”
– An Achiever’s Monologue
“It’s the default setting of my life.
It’s not a fling. Not an experiment.
It’s not a strategy. Not a trick.
It’s what I do. It’s what I breathe.
It’s how I live.
“What I do in the gym is an exact reflection of what I do in life, to reach my goals.
I have definite goals; I chose them long ago; staying true to who I was and who I wanted to be.
“I lift.
It’s a challenge and I lift.
By gripping that bar in my hands, I take control of my life in my own hands; I say yes to that responsibility; I commit to it; I express my consent to work on it; and I lift.
I lower it again and I lift it back.
I do it until it’s physically impossible; I put it down; I count 30 seconds in my head; I don’t care that my muscles aren’t ready; I don’t care my heart is fast and I can hear my blood rushing to my head; 30 seconds are over and I lift it again. Next set.
And go on like that, and I remember how much I lifted until I couldn’t; I remember how many times I lifted until I couldn’t; I remember how long I lifted until I couldn’t.
“That weight and that number of reps and that time-under-tension, that maxed out limit of my capacities, have a significance as an achievement; but that’s just for today.
Tomorrow, it’s a whole different story.
Tomorrow, those numbers will be merely starting lines. Nothing special; nothing glorious; not anymore; not tomorrow.
Because tomorrow, I’ll go in like nothing happened today and I’ll start lifting with today’s max weight on the bar and I’ll set whole new and different and bigger and greater records.
And then, day after tomorrow, I’ll pull off the same. Bigger. Greater. New.
Each day. Every day. Relentless.
“There are folks who think they’re doing something great by repeating effort without fail each day.
They’re great; I’ll say that.
But I don’t want to be great.
I want to be Greater.
I don’t get to do the same; because I want different and better things tomorrow.
Which means, I don’t get to repeat effort. I have to maximize effort, do more, knowing it ain’t ever going to be same as yesterday.
“I keep the challenge alive.
My growth is a response to the continuum of that challenge.
Committing to that growth is saying yes to continuing the shock, the pain, the effort, the victory, the conquering, the gain, the result.
It’s what I do.
It’s what I was bred to do.
It’s what I was born to do.”
© Apoorv Vikas
Counselor and Life Empowerment Coach
Nigdi Pune India
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Counselor Apoorva 