Strengthening My Weaknesses

Working out on a mountain made me realize the gaps in my fitness.

I was doing pull-ups, dips, and the kind of exercises that require decent strength and some coordination. Then I saw an elderly woman sitting comfortably in a resting squat with her heels flat on the ground while feeding her dog. After she left, I tried to do the same thing, but I couldn't hold it without falling backward.

Here I was lifting my bodyweight off the ground while an older woman about twice my age did a simple movement I couldn't even hold for a second. It made me pause.

I've built strength. I've built muscle. I'm not starting from zero. But that moment made something obvious to me: my fitness isn't as complete as I want it to be.

The Problem

I think it's easy to confuse being stronger with being complete.

In the gym, I can do things that make me feel capable. I can lift weights, do pull-ups, push myself through a workout, and see progress in certain movements. Compared to where I was not even a few months ago, I'm clearly in a better place. I don't want to dismiss that.

But the gym is also controlled. At least for the way I usually train, the gym can become less about general functionality and more about moving heavier and heavier weight. I don't want to get into a debate about functional versus non-functional fitness. Though I do think lifting weights absolutely transfers into real life, I feel like in my effort to get higher numbers, I may have neglected other equally important aspects of fitness.

Growing up in the US, casually squatting wasn't common. At least, not in my hometown. I only really saw people do it if they were working and needed to quickly inspect something. Even then, it was almost never the heels-flat, knees-forward kind. That was something reserved for the gym.

Then I came to Taiwan.

Here, people seem to squat all the time for any reason. Kids squat down to play and pick things up. Elderly men squat down to smoke. Athletes squat down to rest. People squat down to pet dogs and cats. And of course, there are the infamous squatting toilets. Infamous to people like me, at least.

Any activity you can think of, people of all ages and genders squat down for it.

It seems like such a mundane detail to notice. It's like going somewhere and being amazed at people walking. But when you come from a place where almost no one does it to a place where everyone does it all the time, it's hard to miss.

I never realized that I was missing such a basic human movement.

What I Want To Build

I don't think I'm weak. But I feel like someone who can do a handstand but doesn't know how to walk.

Sure, it's impressive, but what good is that if you can't even do something basic and useful?

Not to downplay what I can already do, but if I had to choose between benching 200+ pounds and being able to squat comfortably to do something simple like clean the floor, I know what I would personally choose.

That moment also made me examine other areas of my fitness that may be incomplete. Looking closer at my pull-ups, for instance, I realized I could improve by bringing my chest closer to the bar instead of only thinking about getting my chin over it. With mobility, I know my ankles, hips, and hamstrings could use more work. With conditioning, I know I could be better too.

So the goal isn't just to get bigger, leaner, or stronger in one narrow way. I want a body that has more strength, better mobility, better flexibility, better conditioning, better recovery, and a physique that reflects the work.

Strength still matters to me. I like lifting. I like seeing progress. I like feeling physically capable. But I don't want strength that's only good for moving a barbell.

Mobility matters because I want my body to feel usable, not restricted. Conditioning matters because I don't want strength and endurance to feel like enemies. Recovery matters because training hard doesn't mean much if my body always feels worn down or tight.

And physique matters too. I'm not going to pretend I don't care about how I look. I do. But I want the way I look to come from building a body that actually performs well, not from ignoring everything except aesthetics.

The real goal isn't just to look strong. I want to be strong, mobile, and capable.

Why a Year?

I'm giving myself about a year because real physical change takes time.

A few weeks can create momentum. A few months can show progress. But a year gives me enough space to build something deeper without treating this like a crash diet, a quick challenge, or another temporary fitness kick that disappears once life gets busy.

I want to see what happens when I train with more intention for long enough to actually change my body, my standards, and the way I move through the world.

A year also gives me room to make adjustments. Some things will work. Some things probably won't. I may need to change my training, improve my recovery, rethink nutrition, fix weak points, or learn things I don't even know I'm missing yet.

That's part of the point. I'm not pretending I have the perfect plan from day one. I just want to commit to the process long enough to build a better one.

Plan

I want to approach this like a long-term rebuild, not a random collection of workouts.

That means keeping strength training, but taking mobility, conditioning, nutrition, and recovery more seriously. If I only focus on the parts I already enjoy, I'll probably keep improving in some areas while staying stuck in others.

I also want to track where I'm starting.

I have InBody scans, workout history, progress photos, and my own notes about what feels strong or limited. I don't want to rely only on vibes. Some days I may feel like nothing is changing when the data says otherwise. Other days I may feel good while ignoring a weakness that still needs work.

I have also invested in a set of gymnastics rings to get a good workout no matter where I go and to work on parts of my fitness that are hard to train with just dumbbells.

This series will be where I document that process. Some posts may be about training. Some may be about mobility, food, recovery, body composition, mistakes, or whatever else I learn along the way.

Goal

I don't expect to become perfect. That would be ridiculous. I just want to be noticeably better.

I want to be stronger, more mobile, better conditioned, more disciplined, more consistent, and more capable in and out of the gym. I want a body that looks like I train, but can actually do things.

That moment on the mountain bothered me because it showed me a gap I couldn't ignore. I was strong enough to pull myself up, but not mobile enough to sit comfortably in one of the most basic human positions.

I'm not starting from zero. But I'm not 100% where I want to be either. My goal is to close that gap.

And by the end, hopefully I'll be able to squat without falling like a turtle on its back.