Why I Write the Blog

I wrote the blog on and off as soon as GAIN was open. Weekly posts turned into monthly posts, and I would go long stretches without writing anything. I always wanted a blog, and I came up in the fitness industry where social media was just starting, and all the coaches I looked up wrote blogs.

After struggling to get into a routine for a few years I got the push to go daily when I attended a seminar and the host had just written a book. Someone asked him how he learned to write so well, and he stated something like 2500 shitty blog posts Monday-Friday for the past 10 years. That really hit me. I couldn’t expect the blog to be good or popular or me to be an excellent writer straight out of the gate. James Clear says something similar in Atomic Habits, your first blog post will be trash but you’ll probably be a lot better if you make it to 1000.

I committed to writing every day. My rule was consistency, each blog didn’t have to be a masterpiece - it didn’t need to be perfect, or lengthy or full of pictures, videos and citations. I needed to get reps in, to practice putting it out there, because putting your writing on the internet is scary. It’s why it’s so hard to be consistent with.

I write the blog for a lot of reasons. I want to share my thoughts about exercise, performance, habits, the human body and my experiences training as a dad who likes to run ultra marathons and lift as much weight as possible, while staying fresh and injury free. I also want to be a better communicator, think critically about my work and have a practice.

It’s not easy, buy it has gotten easier. It’s just part of my day. The practice is paying off too, I wouldn’t dare say I’m a good writer, but I’m getting better, and more and more people are reading the blog as the years pass, too. Which, by the way, my only metric for is how many people bring it up to me in person. If you made it this far, thanks for reading, here’s to a couple hundred more blog posts in 2024!

Justin Miner

@justinminergain