The Sweets Environment

Last month, I went to one of my best bud’s bachelor parties in Nashville, Tennessee, and what a time it was.

The best part was that it felt more like a reunion. There were about twenty guys I used to play rugby with, and I hadn’t seen them in over fourteen years. One guy in particular stood out above the rest. Sweets. Just Sweets. First name unknown. He stood out because he was in shape! The years had not been kind to most of my old comrades from the pitch. Out of the twenty guys, only one looked like he still went to the gym, so naturally, I started asking questions.

“Sweets, you look great, man. What have you been doing?” His response was awesome. “Well, Ed, let me break it down for you.” He told me that after rugby, he worked out all the time. After meeting his wife, he got into running and would run for an hour and a half to two hours every night. Then they had their first kid, and it dropped to an hour. Then they had their second, and it dropped to twenty minutes. Then it dropped to nothing. Then he gained twenty pounds. Sound familiar to anyone?

“Okay, Sweets, I got the backstory. What the hell have you been doing?” His answer was even better. He said, “I found this gym. It’s an amazing gym. I just show up, and they have this awesome, structured plan, so I don’t have to think about anything.”

I asked him to tell me more, and he did. He described it as an environment he could never recreate on his own. I asked whether his coach called him Sweets, too. He laughed and said, “My coach doesn’t even know my name. He just yells at me to keep going, and I love it.” In seven months, he had gone from 206 pounds to 180 pounds and said he felt better than ever.

Then I asked the last question. “Alright, Sweets, where are you working out?” He told me he was training at CrossFit South Bay. I laughed and said, “I knew it.” Not because CrossFit is magical, but because I recognized everything he described. Structure. Accountability. Community. Coaching. An environment that makes you want to show up. An environment that is hard to recreate on your own.

It got me thinking. Maybe people don’t need another diet. Maybe they don’t need another app or another fitness watch. Maybe what they need is a Sweets environment. A place where they can walk through the door, stop thinking about which workout to do, surround themselves with good people, and just get to work.

If you’re still reading this, maybe it’s time to find your own Sweets environment. Find a place that challenges you, supports you, and helps you grow. I think you’ll be surprised by what happens when you stop trying to do it all alone. spt