Fun at the Bottom

During the beginning stages of this strength circus called “powerlifting,” I’m finding a serious need for patience. I’m simply not the kind of person who has the patience of a lifting veteran when it comes to training. That isn't to say that I’m against proper programming or that I rush anything in the gym, but the patience you need in this sport can certainly be trying at times.

Because I never played any sports due to an early high school car accident, my drive comes purely from within. Without sports' team experience or motivation from teammates or coaches, I’ve had to turn up AC/DC when lifting and, bad mood or not, rip the doors open at the gym and conquer the numbers I set for myself that day. Walking past human stacks of steroid-induced meat and feeling like the weakest guy at the gym, I’m pushing through the ache, slow days, and the huge calories it takes to gain more of that “toughness.”

Natural

“There’s nothing natural about picking up 700 pounds.” Somebody who spends more time in the juice aisle than Carrot Top told me this, as I was having difficulty understanding why it was taking so much time for me to see serious gains in strength. His argument was that modern powerlifting numbers were abnormally high anyway, so having not delved into the needle bin, I was basically kidding myself on the long road to a big total. I think a guy curling 25s for a pump in his 23-inch arms isn’t natural.

Don’t let the “evolution” argument intimidate you. Yes, dude X, Y, and Z will be bigger, faster, and stronger than you, but that will always be the case no matter the gym. Don’t let amazing physiques derail you from actually getting strong! Hypertrophic gains will come with the proper programming, so don’t think that any number of “all natural,” questionably “legal,” injectable supplements from China will help you do anything different than simply add more weight the following week, just as you would by eating, sleeping, and training. It’s OK to be natural, and as somebody decently new to this whole scene, you need to learn the right way. Let the walking "pectoral" tear something so that you can laugh at him later while you up your weight for the next max triple.

Small

Small is something below 230 pounds that can’t squat in the 400s. This is my personal assessment of the term. Hello, my name is Jon and I am small. I know there are X number of weekend warriors who lurk on elitefts™ looking for the perfect advice, tools, and routines. Well luckily, elitefts™ is the place for all that, but my point was that if you’re less than “big,” you’ll have to stop being a *explicit deleted* and lift the weight to get there. It’s an intense place here at the bottom, and nobody is going to hold your hand. There is pressure here. When you’re small, you’re either doing it right or you aren't.

When lifting with experienced guys whose competition resume is longer than your magic stick, you’d better know damn well that they’re looking at you. The small guy is the one who the others are either willing to teach or they’re talking shit about. It’s time you knew this. Size will come, and as you get stronger, you may actually gain respect as somebody who can take advice and educate himself for the work he has to do in order to gain that experience. So the proof is in the pull, not the shit you talk when you out leg raise the 260-pound guy who could tear you in half.

Modesty is key when you’re trying to prove yourself as somebody who actually wants to learn this sport as opposed to the guy who wants to bounce at the local bar and impress the blonde by demonstrating a good morning. Remember, at this stage in the game, you’re learning. Your total increases, you get a PR here and there, your confidence builds, but you’re still learning. Not that it ever stops, but at this point in your lifting experience, it is especially important.

Toughness

I’m not talking about leather jacket toughness or the ability to rock a solid pair of mutton chops. I’m talking about the toughness you develop under the bar during the first few years training. You may still be a small guy, but having brought yourself up to pulling in the 400s, you’re doing well. It’s the toughness that makes you talk guys out of lifting with gloves, the toughness that makes you understand why the pad for the bar at your local 24-hour Cardioland should be burned.

This toughness will also be apparent when you feel like dog piss and the ground it was spilled on as you still begin your warm-up sets under the bar for the Monday training session in your notebook. Don’t be one of those gel wearing fakes who drinks too much on Saturday and uses a Sunday hangover as an excuse not to lift on Monday. Are you choosing this sport or not? If you are, you’ll be there on Monday. If you’re just somebody who saw a P90-X commercial and whose friend mentioned the Prowler® and Google led you here, you’ll probably just hit arms every day and won’t run into people like the rest of us.

Toughness is also the ability to persevere with the steel in your hands after “beginner’s luck” has run out and you’re finally grinding along, adding five pounds every week without quitting because it isn't happening fast enough. You either have it at this point, or you’re in serious need of finding it. And?

So when are you going to lift?