vzn 003

Your excuses don't help you.

There are a lot of reasons people will tell you not to build yourself.

“You’re doing it for attention.”

“That muscle is just for looks.”

“You took the easy way out.”

“Who needs a gym?”

And even from people of faith:

“Don’t become obsessed with your body.”

That last one is interesting to me because I actually agree.

Your body can become an idol.

So can money.

So can your job.

So can your relationship.

So can your reputation.

Hell, even your suffering can become something you worship if you build your entire identity around it.

The problem was never bodybuilding.

The problem is when it becomes your entire identity.

There is a massive difference between worshipping your body and taking responsibility for it.

I don't believe we were given bodies just to neglect them.

I don't believe strength is something to apologize for.

I don't believe pushing against resistance, learning discipline, controlling impulses, eating with intention, suffering voluntarily, failing, adapting and trying again somehow separates me from who I am.

For me, it has done the opposite.

The body taught me things my mind couldn't.

Sometimes the body has to get tired before the mind finally gets quiet. Here’s the secret… your body is getting tired either way. You might as well make it mean something.

Your reputation doesn't help you.

Your followers don't help you.

Your excuses don't help you.

There is just you, the weight and the truth about whether you're capable of standing back up.

That is part of what VZN is built around.

Not worshipping the body.

Using it.

Testing it.

Caring for it.

Learning through it.

Because eventually you realize the muscle was never really the point.

The gym gave me somewhere to go when I didn't know where I was going.

It showed me that progress could be happening long before I could see it.

And somewhere along that road, I started building something bigger than my own body.

VZN.

And the real reason behind VZN isn't so people can look at me and say, “Austin built a badass gym.”

It's much simpler than that.

I want my daughter to see her Dad happy.

I want her to grow up watching her Mom and her Dad build a healthy life around her instead of allowing the past to dictate what her family has to look like.

I want her to see what happens when somebody gets knocked off the path they thought their life was supposed to follow—and builds another one.

I thought I was going to spend my life punching the clock.

Life apparently had other plans.

Maybe I needed the weights first.

Maybe I needed somewhere physical to learn the lesson.

Resistance does not always mean you're going the wrong direction.

Sometimes resistance is exactly what builds you strong enough for where you're going.

That's VZN.

The body matters.

But the body was never the point.

-Austin<3