Have you ever missed a lift on a call, like you didn’t get depth? Or missed the pause command on bench or slightly hitched while locking out a deadlift?

All these infractions are close calls but still not good enough. You've done it this way all the time so, to you, it's normal. When someone tries to explain what you did wrong, you don't want to hear it.

When you miss lifts, it's what you do afterwards that shows what you are made of and who you really are. When you have three people judging you and two do not agree with the lift, ask them what you did or did not do for the lift to pass. Go back in the warm up room and get your head right to correct the error you made. Don’t blame anyone else or look to others to support your claim that you were robbed.

A lot of powerlifters are soft today! These powerlifters feed off other negative powerlifters. They can't handle their own mistakes, so they put them on someone else. Have some respect for yourself and the others around you. Most of all, respect the sport of powerlifting because this sport is bigger than you. It's not just about you! Take pride in the way you accept failure and success. There's too much me, me, me.

Take time to read the rules of powerlifting. Look at the diagrams and pay attention to the rules. If you do anything that can get a lift turned down, most of the time it will get turned down. I think the main problem is that there are too many feds willing to take your money and pass almost all lifts even when they are not even close to legal lifts. This makes lifters happy and keeps them coming back.

They get away with the same stuff: high squats and deadlifts not locked out, judges ignoring hitching, bench presses that shouldn't pass. I've squatted high and bombed. I've squatted high and was told I got a break when it was passed. I felt worse later about the ones that were passed that shouldn't have been. It made me want to go back and work hard and show I could do it the right way.

Failure motivated me! I didn't want a shoulder to cry on. I wanted to correct my mistakes, not cover them up with all my friends on social media telling me I'm a stud and not to worry about those stupid judges and that federation. The social media friends you don't really know will tell you to go lift somewhere else. They never tell you to man the fuck up and go back and do it the right way.

I've lost a few friends over the years for telling them not to accept mediocrity and by answering their question with the truth. I will never change my stance on this. There is no room in my life for soft people who can't handle the truth.

Some would say I take this too seriously and that it's just lifting weights and that what we see as bad judgment should be good enough. We live in the time of "it's good enough." Be better than that! Either it's good or it's not. Stop settling for less than greatness.

Header image courtesy of Luke Tevebaugh at www.instagram.com/LTevebaugh

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