Why I Got Sober and How It Changed My Life

Hey Kettlebell Fam!

A lot of new people have subscribed in the last year, and since I just passed the 4-year mark of my sobriety, I'm gonna get a little real and vulnerable with you.

Those of you who've been here a while know me as the 40-something guy who doesn't drink and only trains with kettlebells. For the rest of you, I might just be some guy you follow to see his workouts. So I want to share a little more about who I am, and how going sober completely changed my life. Because honestly, I don't think I'd be on the path I'm on now if I still drank.

Who I was when I drank

Quitting drinking was something I battled with off and on for a while, until I finally decided: this is too much, it's time to quit. I knew all the negative effects, not just on my health, but on the relationships around me, and most of all on my own personal growth.

When I drank, I was the definition of an idiot. I only cared about myself, my self-control went out the window, I had no idea what a "stopping point" was, and I drank to blackout almost every time… not really a good look. I did this for years. I drank some on weekdays, but mainly, when Friday night came around, it was time to drink until basically Sunday night.

What's crazy is I thought I could out-sleep it, out-work it in the gym, and that it was fine for my mental health. In reality, it was 100% the opposite. My sleep suffered, so my lifts suffered. I hated myself and felt horrible all day, until it was time to drink again and all my cares floated away for 4 to 6 hours of "fun."

Everything changed when I quit

The craziest part is that the goals I'd set for myself didn't seem to happen, until essentially the moment I quit drinking. Then, almost immediately, everything in my life changed.

Relationships I thought were healthy, I realized were toxic, so I distanced myself from people who weren't good for me. My mental health and physical well-being improved substantially. My physique improved massively, and now I'm able to stay at single-digit body fat (or close to it) year-round. My business and personal growth went through the roof. Once I had the mental capacity to invest in myself and grow, I actually grew.

What I did with my weekends instead

I started working on the weekends for what I wanted, instead of getting wasted for 3 days in a row. My relationships with the people I needed in my life got better, and the ones I didn't need fell to the side.

My lifting intensity and frequency improved (and so did my sleep), which helped me reach the physique I wanted and let me train harder, more often, and actually recover properly.

What changed on paper

I've had blood work done over the years, and literally every year since I quit drinking, my hormones have improved, my mental clarity has gotten better, and my overall health, on paper and from my own perspective, has improved.

I picked up a new style of training that gave me more satisfaction and that I absolutely love (enter kettlebells). And I went all in on my own personal brand and felt really damn good about it.

No more down days

I've always been in the business of helping others, whether that was coaching college sports, working in medical sales, or training. Now I was passionate not just about my training, I felt amazing all the time, because there were no more "down days" where I felt awful from drinking and couldn't give the day my all.

I didn't even realize how much alcohol was holding me back until I was well into sobriety and saw how much my life had changed for the better.

There was literally NO DOWNSIDE to going sober.

It's crazy how changing one part of your life can improve so many others. I truly believe that if I hadn't quit drinking, I wouldn't be who I am today, and my life would have gone in a totally different direction.

Should you quit drinking?

I know this one's a bit different, and some of you may be saying, "Well, I don't have a problem with it, so it's different." But if you're serious about your physique, personal development, business ventures, and mental health and clarity, cutting out alcohol is easily one of the best things you can do for yourself. The thing is, you won't notice until you step back from it and see how much you've really elevated.

Everyone is on their own timeline. Some of you may be ready, some of you may not think it matters, and some of you just won't care what I have to say. That's totally fine. I'm just sharing my firsthand experience, because every time I'm open about this topic, a few people feel compelled to make a change. And if I can help even one person change their life for the better, I'm doing EXACTLY what I was put on this earth to do.

If you don't believe me… try it for yourself.

And if you want to put that new energy into training, start your FREE 7-day trial of the Kettlebell Training App, or read my story on the Meet the Coach page.

– Adam