If we all sat inside a cage and didn’t go anywhere, we would certainly be safer with less chance of injury or death. But what kind of life would that be? No one cares what you think, so shut up.
Can you take a deep breath and remember that each set and rep in training is part of the greater year and not just that individual session?
Listen to Survivor’s Eye of the Tiger (or if you are under 30, Hearts on Fire by John Cafferty & the Beaver Brown Band) while reading.
No table, no problem. This first on-the-road video Q&A covers five questions from five different elitefts readers.
The weights weigh what they weigh and I can either lift them or I can’t. They never try to convince me of anything. They are what they are and that is what they will always be.
You’re on this planet for a reason. You have a purpose. Don’t let it die inside you so that you can live a safe life.
The world records, the surgeries, the comebacks, the nights alone in motels, the tears, the blood, and everything in between needs to have a purpose. This is what I want to leave.
As a profession, we must look in the mirror and ask ourselves if we’re doing what we’re asking others to do.
You will meet people who change your life forever. I’ve found most of mine within the four steel walls we call a gym.
Some people may have thought my trip from Florida to Ohio for a weekend of lifting was silly, but this is passion. This is what unifies us.
Is winning all that matters or is participation the purpose of competition? This is the final article in this series.
If you had asked me when I was 20 if I was going to still be training at almost 50, I would have said absolutely. I just didn’t know these five things would change.
The passing of my father led me to look at myself and think about the kind of legacy I’m going to leave.
We need to discuss passion and our affective response to any autotelic activity: it is important to understand that humans engage in things for internal forces other than survival.
For the next three or four articles, this is our topic: motivation. This first part will explore the construction of meaning, identity, and the origins of motivation.
If passion most closely relates to desire, then zeal implies action. I often say I’m passionate about training, but in reality I possess more of a zeal for the iron.
You will find no forward momentum by doing nothing. Without work, passion and purpose won’t take you anywhere.
Now that I’ve found solutions to many of my own problems, I’m faced with a new challenge: helping my IFBB coach out of a lengthy retirement.
After two heart surgeries, I was starting to recover. I was making progress. That’s when my cardiologist called with more bad news.
Success is a personal definition. I can’t tell you what it is. But I can tell you about passion.
I’ve lost, I’ve won, and now I’m tied with adversity. I refuse to the lose the next round.
I’ve always said that passion trumps everything, and when it’s real and from the heart, it does. When it’s from the head, it doesn’t trump shit.
I lacked endurance. I had no drive. Then I found Men’s Physique. Through this I gained confidence. I gained ambition. Driven, I am.
Use the art of coaching to determine where you stand as a facilitator of strength and conditioning. Are you where you ought to be?
It’s not going to be easy to accomplish your goals. When your will to achieve starts to fade, what will you do?
Human potential is a lot higher than we think it is. It has always been higher.
It may seem simple or it may seem stupid, but does it produce results?
Examples from the playground lead to achievement as an adult.
The presenters at the Sports Performance Training Summit didn’t only explain the virtues needed to be a great coach—they demonstrated them.
Stepping back and looking over the years of your career, the reasons for your steady progress become apparent.
Bulletproof your mind. Bulletproof your back. Hell, bulletproof everything.
It is what sets the good lifters apart from the GREAT ones.
It’s incredible what you can learn under the bar, especially as a strength coach.
Four and a half months post-surgery…and the hip feels good.
If we keep pulling in opposite directions, we’ll never get anywhere.
Be a leader, be loyal, pay attention to detail, have a strong work ethic, and do not be a weight room reptile.
Since day one… if it hasn’t been one thing it been two others… I used to say that every small business is only a few months from being “out of business.”
When they complain about the workouts that you put them through and the pain that comes with hard work, tell them about that crazy bastard you used to train with half a lung who would rather die than not finish a workout.
When designing programs, we all have certain “rules” we abide to, whether they’re drenched in personal bias by us as coaches (including exercises in our programs that we’re comfortable with/have had past success with), someone told us that a certain exercise all of a sudden has little value or isn’t safe anymore, or the exercise in question has withstood the test of time.
This two-part column will be my way to bring everyone up to date with what’s going on with my training, and some of what’s going on at elitefts.com.