El Exorcisto Posted March 4, 2014 Report Share Posted March 4, 2014 I'm not usually one for much wooting, but a pretty important milestone is coming to pass in less than a week. About a year ago I had a fateful cell phone conversation with my wife. I had just worked a couple overtime shifts and had a few hundred to blow on something stupid. I had been wanting to lose some weight for a while, and my wife had always been the stereotypical lose-gainer. There I stood in the sporting goods section of Wally World, and the conversation went something like this: El: If you wanted to get something to work out a home, would you get a bike or an eliptical?Wife: Eliptical, deifnitely... I hate stationary bikes.El: Ok, clear a spot in the bedroom. I'm buying one with my OT money.Wife: That's great!*End* I get a helpful Wally World associate, and am informed that they are out of stock. Knowing that this impulse to get fit won't last long I ring my wife back up. El: They don't have an eliptical in stock. I can buy the bike, or I can spend half the money and get a bench, bar, dumbbells, and plates.Wife: Get the bench. I won't use the bike, and I know you'd be more into weights than cardio.El: Ok, love you.*End* I struggled to get the parenthetically light bench down from the shelf, bought a cheap pinned hollow bar, a pair of spinlock DB handles, and about 60 pounds of plate weight. I got home, assembled it, and commenced leg extensions and ham curls on the "leg developer," benched, rowed, curled, you name it. I was gonna lift weight, the fat was going to melt away, and I was going to look like Brad Pitt from Fight Club. FUCK YEA!!!! Fast forward 360 days. I weigh the same now as I did when I bought my first bench. I now have an Atlas power rack, a York incline bench, a Texas power bar, enough bumpers and iron to ballast a ship, and two Atlas stones peeking out from a blanket of snow. I also have at this writing a 325 pound squat, a 380 pound pull, and a pathetic 195 pound bench. In this past year, lessons have been learned. Lessons I'd like to share with all the new youngins joining me on the path. 1. You will not gain muscle and lose fat at the same time. Period. Pick your path and commit to it. Doing anything less than committing fully is just exercise, not training. 2. That garbage Wal-Mart bench, the standard bar, the spin-lock handles... Don't waste your money. If you are following even a half-assed program you will outstrip their value in very short order, even as a woman. 3. That guy you've seen in the gym, or on YouTube squatting enough weight to make the bar whip? He started out just like you. Don't put limits on where you can go. 4. Until you know how to move under load, never try to see how strong you are. If you don't have 1000 reps under your belt on the lifts that matter, your 1rm is dangerous at the least, and crippling at the worst. Once you hit 1000 and people have told you that you're not going to kill yourself, then stretch your legs and see where you sit. It's important to know, but not at the risk of injury, which leads into... 5. You will get hurt. You're going to tweak your back or get sore knees. Your wrists might bother you, or your elbows, who knows. Rippetoe said it best, that accumulated injuries are just proof you haven't been sitting on your ass. Work around them, work through them, prehab and rehab them, because they will happen. 6. Read all the things! T-Nation, EliteFTS, and Bodybuilding.com monopolized my life for the first few months. I learned so much by not having tunnel vision and listening to just one source. This means while Mehdi and Mark Rippetoe may have programs that work for newbies, they are not the be-all end-all of strength training. To the best of my knowledge neither have been on an Olympic podium, or the Olympia stage, or totalled elite. Beyond being a rank novice, there are better people to get advice from. 7. Gloves are for pussies. 8. Olympic weightlifting shoes make you squat better. You can tell yourself that you do fine in Chucks, but at the end of the day a velcro strap and 3/4" heel makes magic shit happen with a barbell on your back. 9. Everything that you do that makes you bigger or stronger is functional. I don't care if it is a set of incline flyes to build your bench or a deadlift so heavy your hands feel like they are separating at the wrist. No one has ever said "I'm too strong." Ever. 10. This will never end. If you commit to getting stronger, the idea of stagnating ends up being as incomprehensible as a Wal-Mart greeter finding the Higgs-Boson. My lifts are just starting to break what normal people are astonished by, but in the grand scheme they are hardly impressive. I don't even total a grand yet. When I do total 1k I'll want 1100, and to be able to load a bigger Atlas stone, and do heavier farmer's walks. None of this comes fast, and none of it comes easy. To the youngins here that want to stop being fat lazy slobs and do something, commit to this. You may continue to be a fat slob, but you'll drop the lazy and replace it with strong. When you've lifted twice your weight off the floor, committing to lose some fat is easy. Then you'll be a strong, ripped slob... At that point you can lose the slob part, too. So here I sit, a year later, looking forward to another year under the bar. Hopefully in another 365 I'll still be between 185 and 190 but a hell of a lot leaner, a hell of a lot stronger, and a hell of a lot smarter than I am now. A year from now I still won't have an eliptical, that I can guarantee. 10 Quote My training log Spoiler 2016 Hudson Valley Strongman presents Lift for Autism (USS), April 16th Contest report 2015 Hudson Valley Strongman presents Lift for Autism (NAS), April 18th Contest report Eighth Annual Vis Vires Outdoor Strongman Competition (Unsanctioned), August 1st Contest report "What's the difference between an injury that you train around and an injury that you train through?" "A trip to the hospital" Link to comment
Guzzi Posted March 4, 2014 Report Share Posted March 4, 2014 BEST. POST. EVER!!!!!!!! You are the man, and your words of wisdom have been heeded my friend. Quote Make Life Rue The Day Turning back the clock Recipe book 14 Life is far too short to take seriously Link to comment
Karl UK Posted March 4, 2014 Report Share Posted March 4, 2014 Nice post. Here's to the next 365. I am testimony to point 5 ! Cheers Karl Quote Link to comment
SoftSoul Posted April 9, 2014 Report Share Posted April 9, 2014 You're awesome. This list needs to be posted in gyms nation-wide. Quote Link to comment
Jaymul Posted April 9, 2014 Report Share Posted April 9, 2014 Superb post! Although I disagree with you on point #1 - it's possible but it sure as hell ain't easy!3 is so, so true. Many people have seen my lifts, which aren't very impressive compared to people I train alongside, and said "I'd never be able to do that". They're dead wrong. It may take a while but it all starts with that one first step. Quote Battle Log Current Challenge - Jaymul competes and keeps things ticking over Instagram Link to comment
INSAIYAN Posted April 16, 2014 Report Share Posted April 16, 2014 Inspiring post full of great information gained from experience! Quote Level 2. Saiyan Warrior - Training with the Adventurers STR: 4 | DEX: 2 | STA: 2 | CON: 4 | WIS: 1 | CHA: 1 Powering Up Phase 1 - Shedding the Fat Starting Weight: 250lbs | Current Weight: 215lbs | Goal Weight: 200lbs Link to comment
sandbagger Posted April 18, 2014 Report Share Posted April 18, 2014 Great post mate, thanks for sharing. Quote Level 0 Stunted Ogre-Adventurer/RangerSTR 0 : DEX 0 : STA 0 : CON 0 : WIS 0 : CHA 0Never argue with an idiot. They will only bring you down to their level and beat you with experiance! George Carlin Link to comment
ChristArtist Posted April 20, 2014 Report Share Posted April 20, 2014 love love love love love love love love this!!! @wildross - he would love this....and I think, totally agree! 365 - in only 365 days...amazing! thank you for sharing this!!!! Sent from my SM-P900 using Tapatalk Quote In His hands and Under His wings, Phil 4:13; Is 40:31; Jer 29:11 Adventurer by choice Link to comment
wildross Posted April 20, 2014 Report Share Posted April 20, 2014 Excellent and I agree 1000%. Any thing I would add is..find a competition and at least observe if not participate. You will be amazed at what you learn. Sent from my SCH-I925 using Tapatalk Quote Warriors don't count reps and sets. They count tons. My psychologist weighs 45 pounds, has an iron soul and sits on the end of a bar Tally Sheet for 2019 Encouragement for older members: Chronologically Blessed Group; Encouragement for newbie lifters: When we were weaker Link to comment
El Exorcisto Posted April 21, 2014 Author Report Share Posted April 21, 2014 My first strongman comp is in August and powerlifting meet is in October. Even with them so far out it brings a lot of focus into my training for sure. 1 Quote My training log Spoiler 2016 Hudson Valley Strongman presents Lift for Autism (USS), April 16th Contest report 2015 Hudson Valley Strongman presents Lift for Autism (NAS), April 18th Contest report Eighth Annual Vis Vires Outdoor Strongman Competition (Unsanctioned), August 1st Contest report "What's the difference between an injury that you train around and an injury that you train through?" "A trip to the hospital" Link to comment
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