Here at Archetype, we strive to get you up and moving regardless of your fitness level because it’s important for your body as well as your mind to be able to move and adapt. Lately I have had the opportunity to get back on the bike and train more. Believe it or not, I didn’t know how much I missed it until I went on a training ride with my brother over in Hoover, and lately I have been doing it more. Although my fitness level is not where it was before I went to Chiropractic school, I’m enjoying the process of getting back. Here lately instead of music in my ears when I would ride by myself, I have conversations with my brother about old training rides or events we have done in the past. Back before school, I would ride a couple hundred miles a week going from Greenville, SC to the North Carolina Blue Ridge Mountains and back. Doing Paris Mountain repeats before work use to be my favorite due to the overlooking scene at the top near the cell phone towers overlooking downtown. Riding on roads that I use to go down without a care in my old jeep back in high school now behind the handlebars takes me back to a simpler time. Cycling for me puts things in perspective, it allows me to get outside, push myself in ways that I just can’t by going to the gym. Being outside is something I was craving for years, and now that I can do that here in the south once again as we are reaching the beginning fazes of fall, I’m like a kid in a candy store. Birmingham has some of the most beautiful scenic back roads that take you out to lake Purdy, up into Bluff Park, through the hills of Mountain Brook, as well as some of the beautiful old roads here in Homewood with their pitchy sharp 10-12 percent grades that my mom used to drive us through as little kids on the way to the YMCA. Cycling has also taught me a lot about life in the fact that you are going to have good days and bad days on the bike like in life. The best part is all you must do is keep your legs spinning and eventually you will make it to the top or to your final destination. Life can be like a climb, there will be hard parts where your lungs and legs are screaming at you to stop, as well as some false flats that allow you to recover before you get to the next hard spot but moving forward regardless of your speed is gaining experience. If you keep moving forward, you’re moving in the right direction. I remember a friend telling me that cycling like life never gets easier, you just get faster and more experienced. That stuck with me during chiropractic school and in a way, helped me get through it. Even when school was hard and I was down about the pace, I always went back to those long training rides where I thought I was about to fall over my legs were so tired. I would tell myself keep moving, you have physically been through worse and made it just fine. I also think it’s important to push yourself physically and mentally to grow, it allows for more experiences to draw on during those trying times. Whether your means of training are in the gym, on a run, or screaming down a mountain on a bike sounding like a swarm of bees about to take on the next hill, we at Archetype would love the opportunity to help you reach that next goal, or better yet be the best version of yourself.
