[quote]UtahIron wrote:
[quote]orion wrote:
[quote]UtahIron wrote:
Try being someone who is totally blind (I am) and goes to the gym five days a week. I’m like a walking motivational speach.
Of course, I don’t view myself in this way, but I do get the whole “OMG, how do you do it?” from time to time. It’s annoying sometimes, but if I can indirectly enable someone to work harder, so be it.
Great vids to listen to, BTW.[/quote]
Buit if you are totally blind, how do you masturbate in front of a mirror?[/quote]
I’ve got a talking mirror that tells me what I’m doing…duh.
LOL[/quote]
Level up your mirrors programming.
It should tell you how great your butt looks in the moonlight.
In a sultry female voice!
[quote]magick wrote:
[quote]csulli wrote:
I really hate it when people try to trivialize someone else’s work with some kind of cliche like a single mom going to college and working two jobs and raising her kids or a starving child in Africa or something. Fuck that kid in Africa; his existence doesn’t make all the work an Olympic gold medalist had to do any less difficult.[/quote]
I think the point is that doing what you love to do cannot seriously be called an indication of “strong will” or any indicator of how manly you are or what have you.
I mean, you’re doing what you love. It’s sort of expected that you have passion and dedication for something that you love.
It’s the people who do something that they most decidedly do not love in order to help someone or something that they do love that gets the most kudos from me.
This is why I cannot take anyone who says that they’re manlier than me because they lift heavier weights seriously. So you lifted longer than me and/or may have better genetic potential than me. OK. How exactly does that make you manlier again?[/quote]
Maybe some of the best guys in the strength sport world are complete whack jobs who get off on everything in the weight room and love every minute they’re in there no matter what they’re doing. Maybe. I think most of them are just willing to do whatever it takes to be the best, and that means going into the gym and doing what you need to do to get better, which is oftentimes the stuff you hate doing the most. Champions are not made in the limelight with a smile on their face, they are forged in the shadows amidst grimaces and cries of pain.
It’s the difference between training and working out. I could work out all the time, I can go into a gym and just play with a smile on my face for hours. But that won’t get me where I want to be. The best are where they are because on the days when others decide they’re too tired or sore to come into the gym, or just go through the motions because they’re not feeling it, or skip the part of their program they don’t like to do, the best are in there putting in 100% and turning their weaknesses into strengths. You’ve gotta put in the time doing the stuff you hate to excel at the things you love, and it takes a special kind of person to love that process. For most of us, it’s a grind.
I think that’s something you can apply to anything, really. It comes down to being objective about your goals and what you want to achieve and putting in the work to get there. Doesn’t matter if it’s lifting weights or starting your own business or raising a family or whatever, there’s nothing out there that’s all sunshine and rainbows, you have to push through the dark times to reap the reward you’re looking for. The same things that make these guys successful in the gym, their drive, their dedication, their willingness to put in the work, are the same things that will make you successful in other pursuits.
You can debate whether the pursuit of goals in strength training is selfish or less worthy than other pursuits (and I might agree with you) but the fact remains that these guys have achieved a great deal of success in their chosen pursuit, and seeing the result of years of dedication and hard work is inspiring to many of us.
That’s how I see it, anyways.
I hate RDL’s. But I do them because they are one of the best hamstring exercises.
Jonty is 100% correct.
And magick, I’m not trying to claim that what I do is anything special, but for people who actually want to be the best, it takes a shit load of will power and sacrifice. Ask Scott Mendelson how much he “loved” vomiting up in his mouth, swallowing it, and then force feeding himself another bite of food. Or ask George Leeman how much he “loves” what all the steroids did to his body permanently. Ask almost any of the top level foreign Olympic lifters how much they “love” being estranged from their wives and children for vast stretches of time.
Yes it’s often selfish, but it isn’t easy for them dude. And almost all of the truly good ones would never try to claim they were better than you or manlier than you just because they can lift more weight.
[quote]TheJonty wrote:
Champions are not made in the limelight with a smile on their face, they are forged in the shadows amidst grimaces and cries of pain.[/quote]
Not sure how this is any less cliche than the starving child in Africa or the mother working three part-time jobs to feed her children.
[quote]
It’s the difference between training and working out. I could work out all the time, I can go into a gym and just play with a smile on my face for hours. But that won’t get me where I want to be. The best are where they are because on the days when others decide they’re too tired or sore to come into the gym, or just go through the motions because they’re not feeling it, or skip the part of their program they don’t like to do, the best are in there putting in 100% and turning their weaknesses into strengths. You’ve gotta put in the time doing the stuff you hate to excel at the things you love, and it takes a special kind of person to love that process. For most of us, it’s a grind.
I think that’s something you can apply to anything, really. It comes down to being objective about your goals and what you want to achieve and putting in the work to get there. Doesn’t matter if it’s lifting weights or starting your own business or raising a family or whatever, there’s nothing out there that’s all sunshine and rainbows, you have to push through the dark times to reap the reward you’re looking for. The same things that make these guys successful in the gym, their drive, their dedication, their willingness to put in the work, are the same things that will make you successful in other pursuits.[/quote]
What you’re talking about is motivation, and the difference between those who are actually willing to devote all of their time and effort to pursue their goal and those who just speak words but never follow through.
But that’s just it. Can those people who do have motivation to follow through act be a standard for you to follow? Sure. In fact, I have no problem with that. They have achieved what you want to achieve in the future, and/or their drive and ability to motivate themselves to such heights is what you want for yourself. If so, copy and admire them for it as much as you want.
But, like I said, you’re expected to throw yourself everything to achieve your greatest goal.
It is the case that those who CANNOT (I really wish we can use italics here, cause caps are annoying) do so are failures. Those who CAN are not strong-willed or amazing or true heroes or warriors or w.e. for being able to do so. It’s that those who CANNOT are just weak. They fall from the standard, and for that they are pitiful and pathetic.
In other words, in my mind those who CANNOT are just pathetic (fyi, I am included in this; I am most decidedly not one who CAN at this point in my life), and those who CAN are just… normal. They are the standard-bearers, as in they are the standard that everyone MUST strive to achieve.
…
Maybe I think like this because I don’t like hero-worshiping all that much lately. I think it leads to a case where those who CANNOT start to think that those who CAN are untouchable, and that they can’t ever achieve their own goals in the same way that those who CAN did.
[quote]csulli wrote:
And magick, I’m not trying to claim that what I do is anything special, but for people who actually want to be the best, it takes a shit load of will power and sacrifice. Ask Scott Mendelson how much he “loved” vomiting up in his mouth, swallowing it, and then force feeding himself another bite of food. Or ask George Leeman how much he “loves” what all the steroids did to his body permanently. Ask almost any of the top level foreign Olympic lifters how much they “love” being estranged from their wives and children for vast stretches of time.
Yes it’s often selfish, but it isn’t easy for them dude. And almost all of the truly good ones would never try to claim they were better than you or manlier than you just because they can lift more weight.[/quote]
I’ve realized I made a mistake and wrote in a short-sighted manner in my earlier post.
You see, you’re absolutely right. Those people have a goal in mind that they very much want to achieve. And to achieve those goals, they’ll do anything within their power to get it.
Much like the single mother of three who has a goal that she very much wants to achieve. And to achieve those goals, she’ll do anything within her power to get it.
All of those people are people who CAN afaik, as I’ve written in the above post.
The post I wrote was meant more towards those jack-asses in the gym who thinks they’re awesome for dead-lifting 450lb (arbitrary low poundage intentional) or something and thinking they’re better than everyone else. Or those who think that they should be congratulated or looked at in awe for lifting such weights or what have you.
I suppose I’m just saying that I don’t like the big fish in a small pond type of people.
[quote]magick wrote:
[quote]csulli wrote:
And magick, I’m not trying to claim that what I do is anything special, but for people who actually want to be the best, it takes a shit load of will power and sacrifice. Ask Scott Mendelson how much he “loved” vomiting up in his mouth, swallowing it, and then force feeding himself another bite of food. Or ask George Leeman how much he “loves” what all the steroids did to his body permanently. Ask almost any of the top level foreign Olympic lifters how much they “love” being estranged from their wives and children for vast stretches of time.
Yes it’s often selfish, but it isn’t easy for them dude. And almost all of the truly good ones would never try to claim they were better than you or manlier than you just because they can lift more weight.[/quote]
I’ve realized I made a mistake and wrote in a short-sighted manner in my earlier post.
You see, you’re absolutely right. Those people have a goal in mind that they very much want to achieve. And to achieve those goals, they’ll do anything within their power to get it.
Much like the single mother of three who has a goal that she very much wants to achieve. And to achieve those goals, she’ll do anything within her power to get it.
All of those people are people who CAN afaik, as I’ve written in the above post.
The post I wrote was meant more towards those jack-asses in the gym who thinks they’re awesome for dead-lifting 450lb (arbitrary low poundage intentional) or something and thinking they’re better than everyone else. Or those who think that they should be congratulated or looked at in awe for lifting such weights or what have you.
I suppose I’m just saying that I don’t like the big fish in a small pond type of people.[/quote]
The difference is that the single mother at university with 3 jobs DOESN’T ENJOY it, but she does it cause she has to, whereas the powerlifter, despite how much “pain” or whatever he goes through, is extremely passionate about it.
[quote]legendaryblaze wrote:
[quote]magick wrote:
[quote]csulli wrote:
And magick, I’m not trying to claim that what I do is anything special, but for people who actually want to be the best, it takes a shit load of will power and sacrifice. Ask Scott Mendelson how much he “loved” vomiting up in his mouth, swallowing it, and then force feeding himself another bite of food. Or ask George Leeman how much he “loves” what all the steroids did to his body permanently. Ask almost any of the top level foreign Olympic lifters how much they “love” being estranged from their wives and children for vast stretches of time.
Yes it’s often selfish, but it isn’t easy for them dude. And almost all of the truly good ones would never try to claim they were better than you or manlier than you just because they can lift more weight.[/quote]
I’ve realized I made a mistake and wrote in a short-sighted manner in my earlier post.
You see, you’re absolutely right. Those people have a goal in mind that they very much want to achieve. And to achieve those goals, they’ll do anything within their power to get it.
Much like the single mother of three who has a goal that she very much wants to achieve. And to achieve those goals, she’ll do anything within her power to get it.
All of those people are people who CAN afaik, as I’ve written in the above post.
The post I wrote was meant more towards those jack-asses in the gym who thinks they’re awesome for dead-lifting 450lb (arbitrary low poundage intentional) or something and thinking they’re better than everyone else. Or those who think that they should be congratulated or looked at in awe for lifting such weights or what have you.
I suppose I’m just saying that I don’t like the big fish in a small pond type of people.[/quote]
The difference is that the single mother at university with 3 jobs DOESN’T ENJOY it, but she does it cause she has to, whereas the powerlifter, despite how much “pain” or whatever he goes through, is extremely passionate about it.
[/quote]
That single mother is probably very passionate about her kids though.
Not sure how you can compare succeeding in Powerlifting with being a single mother with three jobs/starving kid in Africa/<>.
First, a starving kid in Africa has not made a CHOICE to be in that circumstance. He survives or dies and no one outside of his village gives a fuck. Regardless of any level of heroism or courage he may have had to display in his life, it will most likely never be recognized. But the point is, it’s not a hobby…
Second, the single mother with three jobs made a choice. She spread her legs and had kids. She is (hopefully) meeting the obligations of her choices. That’s not heroism. That’s being a parent… If she didn’t want to raise kids and work, she should have A) kept her legs shut, or B) chosen a better/more stable provider to have kids with. Humans throughout history have had it FAR tougher than most poor people working today. If she wanted to, she could surely improve her lot in life. Her choice to remain a single mother working three jobs simply means she planned poorly. NOT exactly “motivational” stuff here…
Third, is our powerlifter. He is obviously stable, as he can afford to eat enough, sleep enough and work few enough hours to train and still produce gains, OR he has enough extra cash for the PEDs that will compensate for a lack in any of the above. He CHOSE to be disciplined, work hard, no pain and no gain, etc… Not many people make that choice. But to call that person a “warrior” or a “hero” or an “idol” is to shit upon those words… Why? Because weightlifting - in all it’s forms - is fundamentally a SELFISH pursuit. Not saying the accomplishments are not impressive, but I certainly don’t want ,“he benched 450” written in my epitaph…
Now here’s a motivational vid that I enjoy when I need a little fire in my belly:
[quote]angry chicken wrote:
Not sure how you can compare succeeding in Powerlifting with being a single mother with three jobs/starving kid in Africa/<>.
First, a starving kid in Africa has not made a CHOICE to be in that circumstance. He survives or dies and no one outside of his village gives a fuck. Regardless of any level of heroism or courage he may have had to display in his life, it will most likely never be recognized. But the point is, it’s not a hobby…
Second, the single mother with three jobs made a choice. She spread her legs and had kids. She is (hopefully) meeting the obligations of her choices. That’s not heroism. That’s being a parent… If she didn’t want to raise kids and work, she should have A) kept her legs shut, or B) chosen a better/more stable provider to have kids with. Humans throughout history have had it FAR tougher than most poor people working today. If she wanted to, she could surely improve her lot in life. Her choice to remain a single mother working three jobs simply means she planned poorly. NOT exactly “motivational” stuff here…
Third, is our powerlifter. He is obviously stable, as he can afford to eat enough, sleep enough and work few enough hours to train and still produce gains, OR he has enough extra cash for the PEDs that will compensate for a lack in any of the above. He CHOSE to be disciplined, work hard, no pain and no gain, etc… Not many people make that choice. But to call that person a “warrior” or a “hero” or an “idol” is to shit upon those words… Why? Because weightlifting - in all it’s forms - is fundamentally a SELFISH pursuit. Not saying the accomplishments are not impressive, but I certainly don’t want ,“he benched 450” written in my epitaph…
[/quote]
Above does an excellent job putting these different things into the proper perspective. Truly excellent, not just grade-inflation excellent.
[quote]undoredo wrote:
[quote]angry chicken wrote:
Not sure how you can compare succeeding in Powerlifting with being a single mother with three jobs/starving kid in Africa/<>.
First, a starving kid in Africa has not made a CHOICE to be in that circumstance. He survives or dies and no one outside of his village gives a fuck. Regardless of any level of heroism or courage he may have had to display in his life, it will most likely never be recognized. But the point is, it’s not a hobby…
Second, the single mother with three jobs made a choice. She spread her legs and had kids. She is (hopefully) meeting the obligations of her choices. That’s not heroism. That’s being a parent… If she didn’t want to raise kids and work, she should have A) kept her legs shut, or B) chosen a better/more stable provider to have kids with. Humans throughout history have had it FAR tougher than most poor people working today. If she wanted to, she could surely improve her lot in life. Her choice to remain a single mother working three jobs simply means she planned poorly. NOT exactly “motivational” stuff here…
Third, is our powerlifter. He is obviously stable, as he can afford to eat enough, sleep enough and work few enough hours to train and still produce gains, OR he has enough extra cash for the PEDs that will compensate for a lack in any of the above. He CHOSE to be disciplined, work hard, no pain and no gain, etc… Not many people make that choice. But to call that person a “warrior” or a “hero” or an “idol” is to shit upon those words… Why? Because weightlifting - in all it’s forms - is fundamentally a SELFISH pursuit. Not saying the accomplishments are not impressive, but I certainly don’t want ,“he benched 450” written in my epitaph…
[/quote]
Above does an excellent job putting these different things into the proper perspective. Truly excellent, not just grade-inflation excellent.
[/quote]
Typical AC reason why we keep him around.
AC is like the dad I never had. I had a dad he just didn’t teach me shit… or more likely I was just too young and dumb to listen.
I miss you AC. Are you in my neck of the woods yet?
[quote]coolnatedawg wrote:
I miss you AC. Are you in my neck of the woods yet?[/quote]
I am, I’m working in Manashole…
[quote]StevenF wrote:
AC is like the dad I never had. I had a dad he just didn’t teach me shit… or more likely I was just too young and dumb to listen. [/quote]
Awww, shucks guys
[quote]Derek542 wrote:
[quote]undoredo wrote:
[quote]angry chicken wrote:
Not sure how you can compare succeeding in Powerlifting with being a single mother with three jobs/starving kid in Africa/<>.
First, a starving kid in Africa has not made a CHOICE to be in that circumstance. He survives or dies and no one outside of his village gives a fuck. Regardless of any level of heroism or courage he may have had to display in his life, it will most likely never be recognized. But the point is, it’s not a hobby…
Second, the single mother with three jobs made a choice. She spread her legs and had kids. She is (hopefully) meeting the obligations of her choices. That’s not heroism. That’s being a parent… If she didn’t want to raise kids and work, she should have A) kept her legs shut, or B) chosen a better/more stable provider to have kids with. Humans throughout history have had it FAR tougher than most poor people working today. If she wanted to, she could surely improve her lot in life. Her choice to remain a single mother working three jobs simply means she planned poorly. NOT exactly “motivational” stuff here…
Third, is our powerlifter. He is obviously stable, as he can afford to eat enough, sleep enough and work few enough hours to train and still produce gains, OR he has enough extra cash for the PEDs that will compensate for a lack in any of the above. He CHOSE to be disciplined, work hard, no pain and no gain, etc… Not many people make that choice. But to call that person a “warrior” or a “hero” or an “idol” is to shit upon those words… Why? Because weightlifting - in all it’s forms - is fundamentally a SELFISH pursuit. Not saying the accomplishments are not impressive, but I certainly don’t want ,“he benched 450” written in my epitaph…
[/quote]
Above does an excellent job putting these different things into the proper perspective. Truly excellent, not just grade-inflation excellent.
[/quote]
Typical AC reason why we keep him around. [/quote]
And we keep you around for your appreciation of all things BBW! =)
[quote]angry chicken wrote:
[quote]coolnatedawg wrote:
I miss you AC. Are you in my neck of the woods yet?[/quote]
I am, I’m working in Manashole…[/quote]
Ha. I remember you talking about the NOVA gold diggers back in the sama days. After experiencing these girls first hand. It’s amazing how someone some privileged could be so worthless. Have parents spend 250k on elite level private schools, do nothing with life and hope to trap a man that makes just as much as daddy dearest! LOL
[quote]angry chicken wrote:
[quote]coolnatedawg wrote:
I miss you AC. Are you in my neck of the woods yet?[/quote]
I am, I’m working in Manashole…[/quote]
Ah… post “New Year” get together?
[quote]legendaryblaze wrote:
What magick said was exactly my point.[/quote]
I agree, that was good.