I guess I could see where attitude would make a difference if I was going for a new 1 rep max, like Goldberg was doing in that deadlift.
But on a normal training day where you going for multiple reps and not going to failure, I don’t see how it makes a difference.
Iron Maiden, as far as not reaching goals, I was referring to all the times I’ve tried to gain mass, but only gained fat. It’s hard to stay positive when you don’t move forward. Currently, I am re-evaluating what my goals are.
Great post.
Can’t do it? That’s because you havent tried hard enough yet - try harder.
I am introducing my clients to their new best friends - the squat rack and the kitchen. They can now curl away in the rack and spice up those pizza slices with extra mozarella …oh wait, no - they are now being obliterated with squats, deadlifts, bench presses, pull-ups, dips, and a GOOD STRICT diet.
God somebody’s gotta show the light to all these poor souls at Bally’s. The way I look at it, God sent me there to enlighten them -or was that Beelzebub the devil? I forget, but you get my point.
'Kin-eh…Berg…'Kin-eh
His head is round
And kinda big
But full of stuff
That makes you dig
Inside your own
Noggin of yours
Yes indeed
You Iron Whores
So off you go
To apply this thought
Cause if you don’t
It’s advice for naught.
~ Cake
Jeff, maybe you are stopping well before failure. You might just have one more rep than you think you have. Just something to think about.
Mmmmm didn’t Jeff make progress with his fat loss? Success. You can succeed again Jeff. I would say Jeff is trying hard enough. Possibly for mass gains he is making some incorrect choices. Oi I full. 
Attitude…mind set…or self image( do you see yourself as a person who succeeds?) Ciao. 
This is an attitude that should extend well beyond training. I decided a long time ago to take two specific words out of my vocabulary – “Can’t” and “Deserve”. I haven’t missed them. Take responsibility for your failings, correct your mistakes, and kick the hell out of any obstacles that get in your way.
Great post Goldberg.
p.s. Patricia – STILL GROWING.
Personally I think Goldberg started this thread just so he could slam someone with that quote by Lance Armstrong. hahaha kidding.
JeffRage: You’re missing the point. It’s not about actually doing or not doing a whatever you want to, it’s about believing that you could. For example, take Goldberg. He can’t dead 2000lbs. Obviously him just believing (aka “right attitude”) that he could do so wont make the weight go up either. But having the right attitude will give him the unrelenting willingness to try try again to achieve this feat. Does that mean he’ll ever dead 2000lbs? Some might say ‘yes’, others ‘no’. But one thing is for certain. If Goldberg didnt believe he ever would, he wouldn’t be as relentless in his training and then there would really be no chance of him doing it.
Here’s a paraphrase of a quote I once heard that I find helps me when I have doubt:
“If you were to face only one opponent on the battlefield, and you dont believe in yourself, you’re outnumbered.”… Or something like that! haha
Later
Go read “The Strenuous Life” by Teddy R. If you still don’t get it, stab yourself.
or as Bruce willis puts it in tears of the sun
“cow boy the fuck up!”
You guys got to see me in the gym, I work out with the intensity of a bullfrog!
I guess I see it more like a recipe. If I follow my “fat loss recipe,” it doesn’t matter if I’m pissed or happy when I’m stirring, as long as I get the ingredients right, I’ll get the desired results. Of course, I haven’t found the “recipe” for mass gain yet.
ArcaneCocaine, yes I had great success with my fat loss.
~Sakuraba~, when I was younger, my “dream goal” was to be 150 @ 10%. But after many years, I determined that that goal was untrealistic.
Sully, how many reps/sets?
Jeff,
If I had as many people writing posts to me as you do, I think I’d get fuckin’ pissed.
Then I’d go do something about it.
Ok, Jeff here is something you can think about… a hard fact that might help push you into the right state of mind. When you have the right attitude your brain (the organ) will allow for greater traffic along all neural pathways in and out. It will also release more feel good hormones which in turn allow for even greater firing capacity of all the nerves of the body. This translates into greater utilization of motor units in the muscle. Get it? The muscle and the body already know what to do, you just have to unlock it. You need to know you are “the shit”. You need to forget about what other people are doing and know you are going to become more than you have ever been. Visualize yourself overcoming these things and pump yourself up, get those juices flowing to such an extent you feel almost “trigger happy”. That’s the way it feels to me. I see it happening so much that I start to feel I’m on the edge, like I’d snap. But I don’t feel crazy, just more, psyched up, hell even berserk. It’s already there for you to take advantage of it, you just need to make the choice. Regular old soccer moms deadlift as much as powerlifters can all the time when thier children are stuck under a car. It took an extreme situation for them to unlock that power. Of course they are not conditioned like a powerlifter and so probably injure themselves quite a bit, but they still do it. Goldie and others have managed to take a bit of the power a piece at a time, therby becoming more without injurying themselves. Every time we overcome we get even more momentum. Each accomplishment allows for an even greater opening of the “gate” within the mind/brain. Take a step and you’ll find that the reward is the beginning of many more steps to come.
aH GOLDBERG…You should be on Oprah!
Attitude is important, stubborness is important, motivation is important…lots of mental stuff helps you achieve the focus needed to give it your best and achieve progress.
On those days when your not focused the training goes to hell.
Not much of a beliver in “positive thinking” mumbojumbo myself, so how to achieve all this is sort of depending on personality.
But in the end its all the same.
Setting up short term goals and reaching them is propably more effective than focusing solely on som sort of final goal.
Great post btw!
Goldie,
Thats what I like about you. You tell it like it is…no bullshit. Great post. I often take alot of what you (and many others here on t-mag) say and use it for motivation. Out of high school (which was 8 years ago)…I weighed 155-160 lbs. All through college and up until recently I have gotten up to 180-185 lbs. A few months ago (after my ex and I broke up) I was down to 180 and looked like sheeeot. I weighed myself Monday morning and I am up to 193! I just made it a personal goal to hit the weights hard and EAT and I am loving it!! And I still have the six pack…;o)
I didn’t mean to draw so much attention to myslef. But, then I guess I’m the only one here that doesn’t understand.
Jeff,
Have you ever taken a Hemispheric Dominance Test? Whether you’re really left brained or not, I think your brain is approaching the attitude issue from the left side. Here are a couple links:
http://mtsu32.mtsu.edu:11063/advisor/hemispheric_dominance.html
http://brain.web-us.com/brain/braindominance.htm
Setting the attitude issue aside, if you posted a training log the next time you decided to bulk I’m sure everybody would be supportive. Plus, if the process plays out in front of everybody, we’ll all have a better shot at understanding.
JeffRage: If you were trying to come off as being whiny and spineless in your posts, you’ve succeeded.
For God’s sake man, have some faith in your own ability to accomplish anything your heart desires! Stop being so wishy-washy.
I know I’m going to regret submitting this post because I hate forum flaming and because I can relate to your problems, but it really bothers me to see someone like you trying to come up with every excuse in the book. Jeff, life is filled with soo much adversity, and soo many people trying to knock you down, when you talk the way you do, it sounds like life and your past experiences have gotten the best of you, but fuck it, dont modify your dreams because you think that the original ones are unattainable. Be your own best cheerleader and have faith.
weeze Sorry about the rant and the run on sentence.
JimMcD, with test 1: You responded as a right brained person to 10 questions, and you responded as a left brained person to 9 questions.
test2: You responded as a right brained person to 1 questions, and you responded as a left brained person to 17 questions.
Mnay of the questions, I could have gone either way, especially in test 2.
~Sakuraba~, maybe I shouldn’t have said anything on this thread. I didn’t mean to come off as whinny. I just honestly treied to explain that I didn’t understand how attitude applies to training. Don’t feel bad, I knew I’d get flamed for responding.
Jeff, I understand what you’re saying here, but I have an article that may be interesting to you about this topic. It’s called “The Psychology of Big” and will likely be posted at T-mag in the future. But if you’d like to see it now just PM or e-mail me and I’ll give you a sneak peak.