Nowadays everybody is an expert. There is so much information out there for you to consume, that most people do just that, stay in information gathering mode, rarely ever pursuing action mode. They want to see results, so they read, study, learn, learn some more, post on the interwebs, and ask questions from all the so called experts. The problem is that they usually never actually DO! All the reading, learning and researching in the world won't do you a damn bit of good if you are not implementing. You need to experiment, but you shouldn't always be experimenting either. Sometimes you need to keep it super simple, and just work your ass off. Get under the bar and do the work. Put yourself in the game and figure it all out for yourself. You just need to START DOING. If you read anything from me, you already know I am a huge advocate of progressive training. Most of what I do with my athletes starts from a very basic strength and mobility phase and then progress to more skilled movement patterns, etc. But sometimes you might be having a hard day, stressed out to the point of acute mental dysfunction. Thats cool, use that shit to your advantage. On those days I eliminate any and all skill work from my training. The higher my stress level, the lower my ability to focus. When training high skill movements, such as certain gymnastic or weightlifting exercises like flips or snatches, I need to be centered, relaxed and focused solely on the job at hand. I might have a training program written out for 12-16 weeks that I follow, with specific exercises to be done in succession on any given day. What we can not plan on is the possibility of a bad day. We know they are coming, but WHEN is a different story. Shit happens, get over it. Are you gonna skip training, spend your time on negative bullshit, or are you gonna get in there and get it done? Keep it simple, do not think, just do work. Eliminate the skill work under times of heavy stress. Perform basic movements that require little or no thought and give your best effort. Rip those fuckin dumbbells from the ground like you're ripping the head off a God damn lion. The last thing I want to focus on when I am stressed is performing the perfect repetition with a 3 second eccentric phase, a 1 second pause, a 2 second concentric phase with a brief pause at top, giving me an ideal 3-1-2-1 tempo to increase my sarcoplasmic jnijhv iuhfuire9 vu9refg89uy-v 9-8uyrfg89y v9hhruhvcyg fuckin bullshit. Ya see, I can't hear that shit right now. I am a caged beast and I'm about to set this whole fuckin world on fire and I need to get this aggression out before I blow. You need to get primal if you want to be a beast. You need to move in basic movement patterns that translate to real world jobs. If your life doesn't require you to stand on bosu balls while front squatting cupcake weights, don't waste your time practicing that bullshit in the gym to increase your "functionality". When you're stressed, don't be a dick to other people, take that energy as a gift you have been given to use to your advantage. You now have real fire power to push harder than you have pushed in a long time. Get after it with that inhuman drive, that passion, that fuckin anger that makes you want to kill shit. NOW is the time. It won't be long until that energy fades, that endorphin rush simmers down and you take a nap. Seize the moment and take full advantage of that opportunity to crush your workout and empower yourself with positivity. We all have problems, but don't let them get in the way of you moving forward. We need to make adjustments when our lives throw us curveballs, we do not just sit on the bench for a series and wait til we feel better to get back in the game. If you can only accomplish great things when you are feeling great, then don't fuckin bother. You will feel shitty, you will have bad days, you will hurt, bleed, cry, be devastated with shit beyond your control. Take it on the chin and MAN UP! Use that fuel to do the shit that you once thought was impossible, you have nothing to lose. I'm not saying if you are a total beginner or you have never done these things you should go out and annihilate yourself. Beginners should learn the basics and be safe, find your own avenue to vent your frustration. I'm talking to the other crowd, the dudes that have been in this game for a while. I'm 34, been lifting and training since 8th grade when my mom would pick me and my brother up from Hanby Jr High School after school and drive us to Brandywine High school to get our lift on in the afternoon with the older kids circa 1990. I had no idea what I was doing, but my oldest bro was a senior that year and helped his football team go to the state championships, so the coach knew my second brother and I would be playing ball the following year as freshmen and let us get started training with the team a year early. I wasn't even a hundred pounds. I would struggle to leg press 135 pounds on the leg press machine. I've received good advice from some of the older guys on the team, I got even more foolish advice. I regularly got picked on at first, but I ultimately gained the respect of the guys by showing up every fuckin day. There was no internet, there were no YouTube videos. We simply listened to coach for advice, then started picking up weight and working hard. The good part is everything worked, everything was a new stress to our novice bodies. Sometimes I would jump up in weight with certain exercises, other times I would be stuck with no idea where to go. There was a lot of playing and bullshitting in those days. We had little guidance. But still managed to get better by doing ONE thing, showing up. There were no keyboard warriors to judge our technique, no internet superheros to sell us their superhero bodybuilding package. We just did work. Here I am, over 20 years later and still in the game. Lots of ups and downs. I can't leave it, it is a part of me. I am married to the iron. After all these years I have galvanized a relationship with the iron that can not be tarnished. I know what I am capable of on most days, sometimes I disappoint myself, but sometimes I blow my own freakin mind, usually with very unexpected timing. But one thing with always hold true, you can not put forth your best effort without passion. Some people are fueled by love, other people may be motivated with hate. Some people love winning, others HATE losing. You know them when you see them. Maybe they are poor losers you say. Or maybe they got something inside them driving them harder than you can fathom. I don't know. But i have always viewed hate as a more powerful stimulus than love. Love can create comfort, while hate will make you a very uneasy motherfucker, capable of doing very dangerous things. With the experience I have gained over the years I know how hard I can push myself, and in times of passionate training, pushing yourself to the max and beyond, your form may be compromised for intensity. This is not a good idea for beginners, but after years of becoming more closely connected to your body, you just know shit that others don't know. Go ahead, judge me, but if you do, be prepared to show me "The RIGHT way, YOUR way". My NEW mantra is "LIFT ANGRY, LIVE HEALTHY." It's my way of being happy. You'll be seeing a lot more of that from me. It's like that light switch turns on and it's GO TIME! I push myself to the limits and I know I'm a better person for it. This is obviously not a new concept. I can picture guys like Dave Tate listening to Brittany Spears while squatting to piss him off so bad he wants to jump through the fuckin roof and murder everyone associated with the silly bitch for putting out such crap over the years. My point is, use your passion to fuel your path. We all have different goals, but without a positive outlet, you're probably just another tire kicker getting his butt kicked by life, with a book full of excuses that others don't want to hear. I hope these little messages give you a kick and a drive to push a bit harder in your next endeavor. Since you're reading this website, you probably relate to the iron like me, but the same goes for the basket weavers. I guess.
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