January bled into February and I was back at my yellow-coated paint-chipping outdoor gym in a tree-shaded park in Saigon, Vietnam.

The regulars, most elderly, who had become accustomed to my presence from sharing waves and smiles were escaping the midday heat which left the entire gym to me and a local kid a few years younger than me, in his early twenties. Practising his English, he asked me after I dropped down from a set of pull-ups if I could do a muscle-up. 

I’ve never done one before. Never even tried. 

But with false confidence I replied, I just did a set of pull-ups but let’s see. I jumped up to the bar and, with extra energy from the kid’s eagerly expective eyes, exploded up to the bar in a pull-up, bringing my chest as high as I could, flipped my right elbow up then my left, and completed the movement by doing a dip at the top of the bar.

Surprising even myself, I did it. I felt proud and accomplished. My first muscle-up!

Muscle-up: a combination of a pull-up followed by a dip at the top of the bar.

He was new to working out and so we talked about exercise splits and protein consumption and all of that important stuff. He asked for fitness tips and I asked about him and what he was doing in life. He’s in university. Second year. Wants to be a businessman one day. Maybe climb the ladder in a bank. I told him I went to school for business too. And that his English was good. Much better than my Vietnamese.

Our in-between sets conversation naturally drifted to a close, he finished his workout, bumped my fist, then walked away.

I was left alone.

After a few more sets, my muscle-up-inflated ego popped. Why have I not challenged myself to a muscle-up before? What else am I capable of that I’m not trying? How else may I be limiting myself? Not just in fitness but in life?

I had fallen complacent and stagnant in my exercise routine. Consistency without raising my standards. Same exercises. Same reps. Same sets. Not adding variety. Not enough progressive overload or cadence manipulation. I’ve stayed fit and strong but without drastic improvements or challenges or ambitions in the last half-decade.

It reminded me of the importance of picking a destination and aiming at it. Anything is within reach if you know what you want and orient yourself towards it.

As I return home from my travels in a week and a half and move onto the next chapter of my life, getting back into a regular exercise routine, marathon training, and finding the next step in my career, my Saigon muscle-up served as a reminder to never settle.

To aim higher than what you think you’re capable of. And to be courageous enough to try without knowing whether success or failure looms in the future but to accept either as they come.

What I’ve been up to…

• The last week was a blur. After finishing in Bangkok, my mom, stepdad, and me flew north to Chiang Mai. We had an amazing visit to an elephant sanctuary (see below), rode bikes to a scenic lake and had lunch in a bamboo hut, gorged in sprawling night markets, hiked the Monk trail to a mountain temple, and my mom got her first tattoo, a traditional Sak Yant bamboo stick and poke performed by a Buddhist Ajarn.

• With less than two weeks left in my trip, I’m starting to think more about life back in Canada. Routines. Fitness. Career. But for now, I’m staying in the moment and enjoying the rest of my travels!

Photo of the week…

Last week I had one of the most incredible experiences of my life with my mom and stepdad in Thailand.

We got to feed, walk, mud bath, and swim with elephants. Afterwards, we swam at the bottom of a waterfall and took a bamboo raft down some mild rapids, getting sprayed by an elephant along the way.

A day I will certainly not forget.

Thanks for reading!

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Lots of love,

Jack