cock·y

ˈkäkē/

adjective

Conceited or arrogant, especially in a bold or impudent way.

Synonyms: arrogant, conceited, overweening, overconfident, cocksure, self-important, egotistical, presumptuous, boastful, self-assertive 

When did being cocky or arrogant in strength sports become such a negative thing? Well in most cases, it's a YouTube sensation who yells the word fuck and tells stories of being the badest mother fucker at the meet upon entering the door to compete. Only then is it acceptable and cool.

Now if you're just a dude who knows he's a bad man, and you're not afraid to show it you get labeled cocky or arrogant. Why because knowing your an above average lifter, and have a boisterous personality? Maybe it's because others don't appreciate having to face that fact that they are subpar at best.

See, when you break all this down, take out all the glamor and glitz, all the smoke and mirrors, there is one thing that matters — a number. The number that places you on a list with other numbers. It's truly as simple as that. If your number is higher than everyone else, well then you are king (momentarily).

Being humble, cocky, quiet, loud (and any other adjectives I can think of) doesn't really matter. At the end of the day, a competitive powerlifter should only worry about that covenant number. If Andrey Malanichev walked into my gym and started talking shit about how weak I was, I wouldn't sit in the corner and pout, that's for sure. I mean, I might hit him with the FYFM, but that's just me. I do know one thing; I wouldn't get on social media and say, "Oh my stars, that Malanichev is so cocky."

I honestly believe that's where shit started going wrong. The whole don't brag, don't make fun of others for being weak, be the humble guy way of thinking, ruined lifting. The shit that makes me laugh about the new-era powderlifter is they like to name drop some of the "greats." I wonder if they know how cocky some of their idols were in their day? We have a whole pack of dweebs with pomade combovers wearing Westside shirts, HOLY FUCK, but don't make fun of them for their shitty lifts. If that's not ass backward, I'm not sure what is.

Some of my best days of training were built by cocky training partners. I can recall going rounds, verbally assaulting each other for entire training sessions. Guess what, none of us cried about. It pushed us to make the other guy shut up. I never left the gym feeling devastated, quite contrary. I'd leave thinking that's what I needed. I loved that dynamic.

If someone being cocky gets you all in your feelings, maybe this isn't really what you want. If you don't like someone's attitude, the best way to shut them up is to stand above them on that list. I have people on that list above me, some I don't care for, and at times I catch myself talking shit about them. I'll usually add I don't like that motherfucker because he is strong as hell at some point because that's where the dislike probably stems. Trust me, I'm using that as fuel on a day I'm not feeling it.

Moral of the story, when you want to be the best at something it takes some chip on your shoulder. If being cocky or arrogant is what it takes for a man to get under 900 pounds, knowing it could cripple him, so be it. Shout out to all you cocky assholes out there. I salute you! To all you crybaby soft ass tit babies kick rocks, go play softball or something. Bums.