This post is going to be about getting Stormcast Strong, but not the kind you’re used to. This post is not about the muscle-bound Pennsylvanian Adonis that is Chuck. This will be about the fat, old, Dad-body that is Paul. You see, I just started on my Stormcast Strong journey a month ago. I joined a gym, or rather, I joined a babysitting service with 2.5 free hours every day, and it just so happens I can’t leave the gym while they’re being watched so I might as well work out.
Today, in particular, was my first time meeting with a personal trainer. I answered a few questions, and we did an “assessment,” and I feel ruined. If I were to compare my physical health to a Chaos Helfort waiting to be conquered, I have impaled myself upon those wicked spikes without even lifting a foot off of the skull embedded ground. I am finding it difficult to sit or walk without aching like an octogenarian. It would be a fair question to ask me why in the Underworlds would I subject myself to such torture? In fact, I was asking myself that very question as I was forced to stop and calm myself to prevent hyperventilating during the assessment.
I think most of us have some kind of goals about our personal health. They can be as incredible as finishing an Ironman or simply to be able to carry an entire display board (including a 2000 point army composed of 5th edition high elf metal models) across the tournament hall without feeling winded. My goal is super simple. I don’t want to go through surgery for my back again. I had a herniated disc when I was 25, and that means that I am more likely to have another unless I start training my body to be strong to prevent it. If that requires looking like an idiot gasping on the floor in order to learn the proper exercises, I’ll deal.
I hope that my reason is more dramatic than yours, but if it isn’t, I’m here to tell you, investing in yourself is worth it. I have already lost weight, feel more alert, and am more balanced mentally. That’s after a single month. But the reason I’m writing this is to ask you, what is preventing you from starting your Stormcast Strong journey? If you’re going to tell me you can’t stick to the routine, or the diet, or the time, I have some questions for you. Have you ever finished painting an army? Have you ever won a tournament? Have you read a black library novel about your favorite army? If so, then I can call bullshit.
Working out is not like building a Lord Of Change from sprue to tabletop in five minutes. You clip out bit number 1 and bit number 2 add a dab of glue and hold them together, then another bit and another dab of glue. It is an incremental investment of 5 minutes here, 15 minutes there. Working out is genuinely working on this bit for 5 minutes, then this bit for 5 minutes, and on and on. Just like building a kit, you don’t see results from the first 5 minutes, but in the end, you have built something to be proud of. With getting StormcastStrong though, you don’t just get another pretty model for your army, you model to those around your investment in yourself. Don’t believe me? Just ask Chuck and everyone else working to get Stormcast Strong.