Some thoughts on chasing down your goals in 2025!
I think that if you're actively training toward a goal, then you should be building your body to be healthier and not only stronger. Looking muscular is not necessarily the goal (although there's nothing wrong with that). Remember that when you lift you are literally building a better version of yourself. I like to think of it as Dave 2.0. As I said, it's not just about getting stronger. Your overall health and functionality should improve along with your fitness. If you're sacrificing health for "fitness," then you may be doing things wrong.
So if your goal is both health and fitness, you'll want to make sure that you keep your goals realistic. For me personally, my goals in 2025 are to improve my strength so that I not only age well (I'll be 73 in June) but I'll be in good enough shape to tackle another peak in the Alps. I usually have one or both of these goals in mind whenever I go to the gym. If you didn't hit your goals in 2024 then bump them over into 2025 and who knows -- maybe you'll hit a goal in the new year you didn't hit last year. My commitment to you is that I will always be transparent with you about my goals and share with you both my successes and my failures. We look to the past in order to prepare for the future. We set new goals for the new year to prepare for the arduous tasks ahead as people committed to health and fitness. Let us hold each other accountable for the opportunities that lie before us in 2025, be they marathons, mountains, or simply walking more consistently. I remain forever grateful for your support of this blog!
P.S. I had a pretty exciting day at the gym today. After many months of training, I was finally able to do 2 unassisted pull ups with proper form. (I pooped out on my third one.)
All praise and thanks to God. You know that this has been a dream I've been chasing down for a very long time. Overcoming adversity is a great trait to develop, and pull ups gives that to you! What a gift we have as athletes to practice persistence all the time.
