"It hit me like a ton of bricks. Having a family loss, Laura having a miscarriage and then being in hospital. I felt like I was a little bit lost for the first time ever."

Some years test strength in ways training never can.

For Adam Collard, this past year was not defined by numbers on a bar or personal bests. It was defined by loss, uncertainty and the daily decision to keep showing up when progress felt distant.

Training became less about performance and more about structure. A fixed point in days that felt unsteady. A reason to move forward when motivation was absent. Not to escape what was happening, but to meet it with clarity.

Strength, in its truest form, is not always visible. It is built in repetition. In routine. In choosing discipline when comfort would be easier. The gym became a space to process, to rebuild and to regain control over the things that could still be controlled.

"I was constantly on a rat race to get better. To constantly improve, improve, improve."

There were sessions that felt heavy before they began. Days where the hardest lift was simply turning up. But consistency remained. Not for accolades. Not for external validation. For stability. For mental resilience. For the knowledge that momentum, however small, compounds.

2025 reshaped Adam’s relationship with training. Less about chasing outcomes. More about respecting the process. Understanding that strength is not just physical capacity, but the ability to endure, adapt and continue.

The hardest year did not break him. It refined him.

As featured in Omni Gym

Primal Insights