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I get emails and messages often from Meatheads, young & old, intermediate to advanced who just want to get something off their chest. Here's one I recently received from - The Grumpy Old Man. If you have thoughts you would like to share let me know. I'm not hard to reach.
“Imagine someone saying: ‘But I know how tall I am!’ and laying his hand on top of his head to prove it.”
-Wittgenstien
Wittgenstein's aphorism wasn't aimed at addressing powerlifting or powerlifters, it was aimed at dispelling solipsism. However, far too many powerlifter, or those fancying themselves powerlifters, are engaging in solipsism. I'm often reminded of this quote when talking with lifters who give me a run-down of all their PRs they've hit in their latest meet, but never mention where they placed in their class. Or they tell you they placed first but fail to mention they were the only one in the class (granted sometimes at smaller local meets this can happen from time to time but I'll address that in a second). Isn't the point of competition and competing to see how you stack up amongst your peers? Either way, it's equivalent to laying your hand on top of your head and measuring yourself against yourself.
Don't get me wrong hitting PRs and putting up a bigger total each time out is and should be a part of the focus but not the entire focus. PRs lead to bigger totals which, in turn, should move one closer to or on the podium. However, if you're still going to meets and neglecting yours over placing you're doing yourself, teammates, and coach a disservice.
Oh but that's not part of your goal right now. Ok. Oh, what's that? You want to qualify one day for fill in the blank. Great! However, you haven't been able to out total and beat the guy or gal who continuously takes first at every local meet you go to. That hand is resting a little too firmly on your head.
The aim should be to remove the hand from your head. If there isn't any competition at your local meets because you're consistently the only one in your class then jump in your car and find a bigger meet. They're out there, trust me. There are plenty of meets being put on but it might require going out of your state. This also goes for the top local lifter who is so far ahead of everyone else but never ventures outside his geographic region. Do yourself a favor get out of your comfort zone and leave that custom singlet at home and go somewhere where no one knows you and make them remember you by your number.
- Grumpy Old Man