Critics
You know the best way to deal with critics? Be your own worst one. Expect more from yourself than anyone else ever could. Then, whatever you read or hear won’t matter.
F**king social media again
I hear all the time about how social media has ruined the sport. But what you read online is the same crap I used to read on forums years ago and in the gym before the internet even existed. It has always been the same…everyone squats high, so and so is so strong due to better drugs or better custom-made equipment nobody else can buy. The list goes on and on. All the internet did was provide a different platform for it to be shared. Back then, it was in the gym, at meets, and by telephone. Today it is online. The point is the “shit” is still the same “shit.” I don't buy the old lines that "it doesn’t matter what they say as long as it’s about you" or "if you sucked they wouldn’t say anything".
My thought process has always been: who is "they"? And who cares?
If someone says something about you or your lift, who is saying it and what real significance do they have in your life? Why even bother with it? Yet for the past 20 years, I get at least one email a week from an advanced lifter asking if I saw what was being said about them. If these sites and/or people do not enhance your training, why bother reading the crap?
If you do go there and get pissed at what someone else wrote, then it’s not their fault you're pissed. It’s your fault for reading it in the first place.
Even if you are getting trolled BIG TIME, within a few days (or hours) it will fall off the feed and be forgotten. That is, unless you buy into it and post back. As soon as you do this, they (once again ask yourself who “they” are) know they got to you and the trolling won’t stop – it WILL get worse. I won't even get into the metrics of how many even read or care about the post in the first place. Just so you all know, not ALL your "friends" or "followers" see your posts - not even close.
When you get under the bar for your next training session, will any of this make a difference? "But…but…but…" This is usually what I hear after telling someone this. "But, they said this" or "they were talking about that". Who cares? And once again who is “they”? What you need to do is spend more time LISTENING to those you train with and less time reading crap about yourself online.
A very serious question
This is a serious question and I want it to sink in. Are there things your training partners have been trying to get you to do (such as keeping your head up when you squat, tucking your elbows when you bench, squat lower, sit back more, etc) and you STILL haven’t “got it” yet? They tell you every time you are under the bar and you still don’t do it for one reason or another? Maybe they are trying to get you to clean up your diet, show up to train on time, stop missing sessions, or a hundred other things, but you choose to IGNORE them for whatever reason. Yet, you can’t IGNORE someone who posts on a fucking social media page? Really!
Honestly, out of the two groups, who deserves your respect?
Why are you giving it to those who don’t care and don't deserve it but not to those who are in the gym sweating, bleeding, and straining to help you get better?
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Thank you for your advice, and all that you do.
Cheers,
Pat