So you're fit... But are you POKEMON FIT?

Gym leaders never made sense to me as a child. In fact, even today as 
an adult they still seem to be fundamentally flawed in their approach to battle. I remember my first visit to Pewter City, nervously walking through the enormous gym and battling its leader, Brock, for my very first badge.

I didn't think I was ready, I had barely done my due diligence to my newly acquired Squirtle, but I was impatient so I went ahead regardless.

And I won. Easily.

Brock's stone-type Pokemon collapsed like a sand pillar under the wave of my level fourteen water-type turtle. I took the Boulder Badge and a complimentary TM and was on my way.

The next time I stepped into a gym was in Cerulean City. I was weary from run ins with a seemingly infinite parade of Geodudes and Zubats but I was chomping at the bit for another badge. Misty, the Cerulean Gym leader, however, would not hand over her badge without a fight.

Her Pokemon were Water-Type. Same as mine, neither were especially effective against one another but hers were stronger and they quickly bullied me into defeat. Embarrassed I left the Pokemon Center in search of an answer. An answer that would soon show up in some long grass in the form of a Bellsprout. A grass type Pokemon with a razor leaf that would cut Misty's watery whelps to pieces.

I claimed Misty's Cascade Badge that day, but more importantly I learned some lessons that would eventually lead to past the Elite Four (and my childhood rival 'Buttdude') to claim the title of Pokemon Champion.

Not only that, but as a bonus feature I discovered I could apply these important lessons learned in the gyms of Johto to my own gym outside my lime green game boy color. What follows is the details of just how I did it.

Variety Is The Key

The world of Pokemon is home to hundreds of Pokemon, all with unique skills and abilities. Similarly, the world of Resistance Training otherwise known as 'weights' contains hundreds, even thousands, of different movements to target muscles of all shapes and sizes.

Three days a week at the gym where I work, a group of young guys come in and do a work out. The work out is always  exactly the same. Always the same exercises. Always the same amount of weight. Always the same amount of reps. Always the same amount of sets. The worst part, however, is that every work out is for the exact same muscle group- their chest. They have skinny legs and slight hunches from tight chests and weak backs- not what anyone would call a picture of strength.

A strong Pokemon team contains six Pokemon with a wide range of strengths and weaknesses. A strong body performs a program that require a wide range of muscles to contract and relax so that it is ready to perform in any situation.

A program built entirely on pushups and bench presses is as defeatable as Misty's parade of water Pokemon.

Balance Wins Battles

I remember once trying to use a level 12 Growlithe against a level 35 Victreebell. My other Pokemon lacked type advantages and I was convinced that my weak fire pokemon had the advantage. Oh how wrong I was. Despite my ember attack being super effective I was quickly crushed and had to dash back to the Pokemon center.

In exactly the same way, training legs once a month is no way to be a champion. Exercises like squats and deadlifts are excellent because they train multiple muscles in the same lift, ensuring balance is maintained. When I see BROrilla’s in the gym with spaghetti legs, I cannot help but cringe. They would surely be the first to go if a stampede of Tauros got let loose through the gym doors.

Avoid Rare Candy

My brother and I both played through Pokemon Red and Blue around the same time. I raised my Pokemon slowly, leveling them up in battle against trainers and in the wild. My brother on the other hand took a short cut and fed his Pokemon nothing but Rare Candy. Not only were their teeth probably rotten but when we finally hooked our Gameboys up via Link-Cable, my team came out victorious- despite being of a similar level and type.

There is nothing more important to your body than good nutrition. Food can be the most powerful medicine or the most repulsive poison you put in your body so make sure that, if nothing else, you’re eating well- you can’t run a car on mud.

Believe

Every single person who has ever lived has had moments when it is easier to give in than go on. Professor Oak (or was it Dumbledore?) said it best with: “there will be a time when we must choose between what is easy and what is right.”

We all have our Team Rockets. Our Dark Caves. Our missed workouts. There are moments where you think you’ve won and Lance the Dragon Trainer uses a full restore. Some times you get through, other times you have to start again. It doesn’t matter. Don’t give up. Don’t give in. Believe.

“I see now that the circumstances of ones birth are irrelevant; it is what you do with that gift of life that determines who you are” - Mewtwo