The Toughness of Camp

These past 2 months have been quiet for me because I have been working at an overnight camp with limited access to Internet thus making it very difficult for me to post anything. Camp has been tough for another reason; I have had to sacrifice a lot of my fitness unfortunately. Working with kids all day and all night tires you out extremely, almost to the point where you have to spend all your free time sleeping because that’s what you need. There are also extremely limited materials at my camp to do much of anything. Obviously I can always run and do bodyweight stuff, but I haven’t, and that is my fault. There have been a couple times where I have been motivated and had the energy to workout, but the times where I am motivated and have energy at the same time are few and far between.

Working at an overnight camp is very difficult. You are overworked and underpaid, and everyone knows it. You are essentially working 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and you are surrounded by little kids who drain all of your energy. You lose sleep, you may not eat as much as you’d like. All in all, it is very tough, but if you treat it right, you can learn a lot in general, but also about yourself.

There is something that I thought about while at camp though that should last much past camp and hopefully have a positive impact on my fitness. Simply put, it is Mental Fortitude.

A lot of people don’t always realize that the most successful athletes or those who better get what they want are also mentally the strongest. Being mentally tough applies to so many situations that it almost isn’t worth even attempting to name everything. In the realm of fitness though, imagine going for a 1 rep max on your back squat; it will be tough and you don’t know for sure if you will be able to stand up out of that hole, but the mentally tough know that they have put in the work and are willing to push themselves past the sticking point to stand it up. Or say you are doing a 2K row, it is going to suck, and you know it’s going to suck, however the toughest are those who can push themselves past that suck and go even harder. Basically, being mentally tough allows you to go past the points that are hard and allows you to reach your goals.

Mental fortitude also has its place outside of the gym. In fact for everyone, including an athlete, the true toughness shines outside of the gym, whether or not you are willing to stick to your nutrition plan, getting enough sleep, keeping outside stress at a minimum. Essentially mental fortitude that takes place outside of the gym is doing all the things you need to allow to you perform your best inside the gym.

The mental aspect of life and fitness interests me more now than before because I have witnessed myself become slower, weaker, less fit, and not do anything about it. However, the fact that I realized it is now why I am so much more determined for when I get back to school to do what is needed of myself. Obviously I will need to focus on school work as well as my two new jobs, a personal trainer as well as a member of the weight/fitness staff, and my fellowship, but even with all of that, I will need to focus on myself and the plans that I have for myself.


Remember, if there is anything that you want me to talk about or discuss, just let me know either in the comments section or in some other medium.