Don’t Go Into Battle Without Your Shield

Yesterday, I did a very, very, very intense agility training. You go from slamming a medicine ball to doing ninja tuck jumps, box jumps, squats with dumbbells, bear crawls, lunges and jumps, intense rowing, sprinting, biking, lunges where you jump and pivot from foot to foot, fast feet drills—all on repeat. I’ve done classes like this before, but I don’t know what happened—this one just hit different. When I got home, I did what I usually do: eat and prepare for sleep. However, I skipped the most important step.

Recovery Is Our Shield

Typically, every single night since training in this boxing gym the past few months, I’ve taken a hot Epsom salt bath. This was the first night I neglected it. I have no idea why—I was just exhausted and laid down and fell asleep super early.

Moral of the story: I woke up in the middle of the night with intense lower back pain. Now, in the morning, I still feel alive because I got good sleep and have a solid circadian rhythm—but the lower back pain is pretty freaking intense. Basically, my body freaked out because I pushed hard and didn’t give it the rest it needed to fully reset.

Learn from Pain

Pain is a pretty good learning tool. This morning was a loud slap in the face from Athena: don’t go into battle without your shield. Recovery is absolutely crucial.

Especially with what I’m doing now—boxing, yoga, agility, and mobility training—this isn’t some typical bro-lifting or basic workout stuff anymore. I feel like I’m transcending to a new level, and my body is telling me it’s time to evolve. Honestly, this kind of training is way more intense than basic weightlifting and requires way more attention to recovery and resetting the body.

Just one day, one skipped step—and I’m feeling it the next day. This is a 100% indicator of how essential recovery is to my regimen. So I’m writing this out as a reminder for myself that I was a fucking idiot for not taking that hot bath, lol. Because honestly, that one simple thing—that one tiny detail—can be the difference between a 24–48 hour setback or being full of vitality for those same 24–48 hours.

We Pursue Vitality for the Sake of Art

And when you think about it… this kind of fatigue, especially in the lower back, affects everything—including my street photography. So, I’ll most likely just lay by the pool the next few days and maybe take a break from the gym this week.

But ultimately, we cultivate vitality for the sake of our photography. Don’t skip a step when you know it’s going to affect your ability to create the next day. If you’re like me, trying to level up and evolve in your training, make sure to listen to your body and recover properly.

Because we do it for the sake of art.