I am really excited to announce the pre-launch of a new project I have been working on called the Iron Body Club.
You may have been like me and have found it difficult to maintain the necessary accountability to stay consistent with your home-based workout plan.
The Iron Body Club is a community of individuals committed to developing a rock-hard iron body. You can meet others that are on the same path as you and gain encouragement from watching others’ transformations.
In the next few days, I’ll be opening up the sign-up for everyone to join… If you haven’t already put your email address in the box on the right, go ahead and do so and I’ll let you know on the date of launch.
Why is community important for achieving fitness success?
I’m glad you asked… 😉
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How a failed business venture lead to deeper insight in community…
Several years ago, by best friend and business partner, Kurt Nederveld and I realized that we NEEDED accountability to achieve our fitness goals. We struggled to maintain the drive to workout daily and get the bodies we desired.
So we took action.
We designed a workout plan and entered it into an excel spreadsheet. Then each day, we filled in our number of reps and emailed it to each other.
I’ll be honest with you. It sucked.
It was cumbersome and way too complicated. And well, you guessed it, we stopped doing it.
However, this set in motion a drive in both of us to create a service that millions of people could use called WorkIN Gym. We never did get the company off the ground but I learned many things from our efforts. To see a video of what we were working on, click the video below.
I learned that COMMUNITY is essential for fitness success. Whether you are working out at home or the gym, you need to be accountable to others.
As Mr. Donne says,
“No man is an island.” – John Donne
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Everyone that is serious about getting ultra-fit, needs to be part of a community.
Either join a gym and meet others or join a group online. It doesn’t matter… but we are social beings and we need to be part of a community.
***9 Reasons Community Is Essential For
Fitness Success…***
1. It Builds The Opportunity For Leadership
“A community is like a ship; everyone ought to be prepared to take the helm.” – Henrik Ibsen
This is be far the greatest benefit of community in terms of fitness success. One of the best motivators for getting fit is when you have the opportunity to help someone else. When you are part of a community you will always be able to find someone that is a few steps behind you in either muscle growth, weight loss or whatever.
When you take the time to reach down and help someone, and teach them what it takes to succeed, you are reinforcing in your own mind what it takes for you to succeed.
2. It Creates Innovation And Growth
“Community cannot for long feed on itself; it can only flourish with the coming of others from beyond, their unknown and undiscovered brothers.” – Howard Thurman
For all you gym-goers out there… I recently found a great service that you’ll love. It’s called Gym Pact. Basically the whole premise is that you bet your own cash that you will get to the gym and workout. If you don’t, then your cash is split amongst the people that do go to the gym.
It’s a great way of bringing innovative incentives for fitness success. The founders desired to keep themselves accountable for getting to the community (the gym) and created a system to inspire others to accomplish their goals. Communities do this for each other and it is exciting to hear the ideas of a community.
3. Helps You Be Honest With Yourself
“A healthy social life is found only, when in the mirror of each soul the whole community finds its reflection, and when in the whole community the virtue of each one is living” – Rudolf Steiner
We can fool ourselves for years but we can’t fool someone else. I have known people that slowly over the years gain quite a bit of weight. They tell themselves a number of excuses such as, “It happens to everyone”, “I’m just big-boned”, “Compared to Sally Sue or Jazzy Jeff, I’m way smaller than them.”
The truth is that we all tell lies to ourselves. Communities help us see our bodies’ for what they truly are, whether obese or fit.
4. It Keeps You From Getting Lonely
“What should young people do with their lives today? Many things, obviously. But the most daring thing is to create stable communities in which the terrible disease of loneliness can be cured.” – Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.
Loneliness is one of the greatest killers of fitness success. There have been so many times where I have had to muster every once of strength to walk down to the basement and start my workouts. And I have had to dig deep and find even more strength to actually complete my workouts.
Let’s be honest, it’s lonely when you have to workout by yourself. Communities give you a sense of connection that provides greater motivation and excitement than even the strongest of wills.
5. It Connects You To Something Deeper
“…A community needs a soul if it is to become a true home for human beings. You, the people must git it this soul.” – Pope John Paul II
This goes beyond just mere connection with other people. When you are involved in an active, thriving community you feel a connection to something greater than yourself. I love the expression, “Greater than the sum of it’s parts” or “1 + 1 = 11”.
This is what a community will give you.
6. It Helps You Clarify What You Truly Want
“It is vain to talk of the interest of the community, without understanding what is the interest of the individual” – Jeremy Bentham
Several years back, a bunch of buddies and I were driving to Chicago. We were discussing human nature and how we understand ourselves. I told one of the guys that the way I know myself deeper is by retreating to an isolated spot and meditating on who I am and what I really want. He found that interesting but stated that he thinks he is the exact opposite.
He said that he finds himself and what he wants in the midst of community.
He explained: “It helps me to understand who I am by engaging a community. I listen to what others have to say, their dreams and aspirations, and begin to subtract that from my own mind until what is left… is what I am. It’s like peeling away the layers of an onion.”
Community helps us peel away the layers of the onion of our lives until we are left with what we are.
7. It Helps You Develop Common Ideals And Traditions
“A world community can only exist with world communication, which means something more than extensive software facilities scattered about he globe. It means common understanding, a common tradition, common idea’s and common ideals.” – Robert M. Hutchins
Developing the principles for success is not easy. We often don’t know where to turn to learn what works. Yet, when we are part of a community there are already an established tradition of principles of success that support the growth of the community.
When you join the community all you need to do is tap into those ideals and you’ll begin to inculcate these principles into your own life.
8. It Helps You Get Fed
“There is no finer investment for any community than putting milk into babies.” – Winston Churchill
I’m not sure if this is what was meant by Churchill’s comment but when you are in a community you are fed. Just like the nourishment that babies receive from milk, you get essential information that helps you grow into the person you want to be.
9. It Helps You Define Who You Are
“I’m a reflection of the community.” – Tupac Shakur
I bet you have heard the expression that you are the combination of the 5 people you spend most of your time with. That is why it is so important to choose your community wisely. Look at their lives. If they have what you want, then this could be a good indicator to spend more time with them.
However, if they are heading down a road of ill-health and foolishness, then I highly recommend you find a new group of associates.
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A Reminder to Sign Up Below and I’ll Let You Know When the Iron Body Club Launches…
I am currently creating the workout plans and will begin to shoot the first video for the club. We’ll all be working off of the same plan and be keeping each other accountable. It will be an incredible time of building community and motivating each other.
I would love to have you join us on the path of developing a body you can be proud of.
Keep your eyes open for it or sign up below this post.
I’ll email ya when we launch!
To Your Extreme Health!
-Todd
King Shot Administer
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