on the transformation of identity

fitness gets removed from our vocabulary

As kids, there's some to a lot of fitness-related stuff in our day. For someone like me, I was permanently on the field at all points that I could. Even for my classmates who were unlike me, there were still a lot of activities they did. For example, our class bookworm would cycle 8 kilometres to school, even though he wouldn't step on to the field during PT.

But after a certain point, 99% of us regress and get sucked in into life. Somewhere along the way, running and cycling and jumping around and running randomly and playing sport goes missing. Completely. And we replace it with other endeavours that range from hanging out and smoking cigarettes or hanging out and drinking beer or becoming a "foodie".

beginners at 30/40/50 years old

Most of my students at The Quad start at the bottom. From rank beginners who've never done any fitness related activity in their lives to people like me who were sporty as a kid but had completely forgotten all of it over the next decade or two.

That's something that both the founders of The Quad can relate to. Closely. The Quad was founded because we saw what smart fitness could do. So, when someone new walks in - helping give back their love for activity and seeing them fall in love with fitness is the ultimate joy.

For the past few years, a wonderful progression has been to see fitness as a social event. Rather than just meeting up for drinks or dinner, there's a slow but steady resurgence in activity. Which is awesome!

progress

In the beginning, when someone comes in and cannot even squat and needs a pole to do a squat, there's not much talk about progress or results. There's the inevitable question of fat loss and we answer all of them with "fat loss is a side-effect of all the other things that you are gonna do". In a few months, or sometimes a couple of years, people transform themselves. Not ripped bodies and 6-packs but more impressive. They transform the way they think about themselves.

Their identity evolves to being someone who is fit and healthy.

They eat better. They focus on sleep. They meet their friends on the badminton court and the turf and on other sporting locations. Running/cycling clubs become a part of their lives.

And that is far more impressive than most other results, in my opinion.