Just saw @jimwendler and I tagged on this. Thought I’d share.
Hardcore Lifters and the Rest of Us
What makes a lifter "hardcore"?
JW: I'm certainly not one of them. Dave, do you remember seeing a hardcore lifter that one time?
DT: No fucking lifter is hardcore. Hardcore is taking shrapnel in the ass fighting for your country. We're lifting weights. You know what I'm saying? Everyone that walks around the gym trying to look badass, they're just fucking wannabes. You ever walk through the mall and see guys wearing that Tap-Out gear? You think they actually fight people? Hell no. Years ago, guys would wear Gold's Gym shirts to make it look like they lifted. Meanwhile the truly "hardcore" guy doesn't need to promote it.
JW: Yeah, they don't need validity from any outside source. To me, hardcore is a single mom with two jobs supporting her family. Lifting weights helps build and refine character but that's generally 30 years down the road.
DT: Maybe we should go the other route and define what softcore is.
JW: It's Cinemax, man. They don't show bush or anything.
DT: There, I like that. Softcore is someone who's not willing to take it all the way.
JW: Hardcore is engaging in an activity that you love and you don't care what anyone else thinks. If you're hardcore, you'll never question why a guy wants to do something.
Take the Prowler. I have no reason to push it other than I love it. I love being out of breath and feeling like shit. And Dave busts my balls about it all the time because he hates doing it. But he doesn't question why I do it. It's just the way it is.
It's like a shitty band that tours 10 months out of the year. No other band is going to come up to them and ask them why they do it. Even if they have no money and smell like shit, they're doing what they want to do.
DT: "Hardcore" is like integrity. It's not defined; it's demonstrated.
JW: You know, when everyone was bitching and moaning about Chuck Liddell painting his toenails? That's hardcore. He doesn't care what you think and he can still fucking kill you.
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