Monday, June 25, 2012

Lift the Weight

At some point, there is a time in every trainee's life when they need to suck it up and just lift the weight.. What does that mean? It means that after awhile , once you learn the proper form, lift the damn weight. That is right, don't worry about your left pinky being one millimeter wider on the bar on your bench press or your feet being 2 inches wider than the last squat workout.

Lift the weight
Lift the weight


And listen, if you are scared, do something about it. Tell yourself that thousands, many thousands of people have squatted or deadlifted or pressed this weight before, so why can't I? It is just weight. What is the alternative? Living with yourself when you backed down? Read a book, a sports psychology book, that deals with overcoming fear. Read a book on prisoners of war and how they survived despite of the stuff thrown at them. If they can make it out alive, surely you can squat your goal. Read about folks crushing cancer when all hope was lost.In your head, minimize that measly little weight that has owned you.

There is just too much talk, analysis, blah, blah, Im cutting,I'm bulking, I'm doing West side, I'm doing Dr. Squat, I'm doing Superduperfitp9000, I'm doing Smolov....Yeah! Great! But can you lift the weight?


Take a deep, a super deep breath, get in a blind rage and lift the weight.

Go down with it, pull it, press, try it. If you do not get it, try it again.

It ain't the program, it's your head .Old time strongman trained everyday, maxed all the time, didn't worry about recovery, because they didn't know any better(or did they?), and they got big and strong. Franco Columbo deadlifted 750 pounds in the 1970's training each body part 3x a week. Platz squatted low reps, high reps, and had the best legs ever and squatted 800 pounds. Ever read Kaz's routines? Sets of 15. Stadium steps for high volume with extra weight.  Read Hugh Cassidy's basement torture sessions in Purposeful Primitive. Heavy sets of 5, 3x a week in the squat, plus backoff sets, deadlifts, high pulls, benches.. I believe he squatted 800 in tennis shoes (low tops) and a singlet. Rock friggin bottom also.

                                                        Maryland's Hugh Cassidy

.All these guys used different programs but were absolutely FEARLESS when it came to heavy ass weight.

Lift the weight.

All About Being a Lifer

What's a Lifer? Someone who isn't in to something for just a day, a month, a year...it's for life. Whether its training or your family or your job...it doesn't matter. You work at it, you build on it, you see the big picture . You don't miss workouts because it means something to you. You are like a Shakespearean actor- no matter what is going on in your life, you block it out when it's time to train. You walk into the weight room and all else disappears. Worry about it later.