6/24/12
Plyo push ups: 3x10
Bench: 135x10, 185x10, 225x10x3
Bent over row: 135x10, 210x10x3
Incline bench: 185x10x3
DB row: 110x10x1, 110x20x1
circuit:
dips: bwx 20x3
pec dec: 160x15x3
Shoulder raise: 60x10x3
pull ups: 10, 8, 7
straight bar curl:85x10x3
Comment: felt good lifting today. It’s been a long week and I was glad I could get in and train hard.
Thought:
Sport
Sport is not about having fun. Sport is a metaphor for life. You put in work to succeed. Generally the people who work the hardest achieve the most success. Those who fight for everything are usually the successful ones. Understanding that by giving it all you might not win a championship, be the most dominant, or even successful in the eyes of others. But at the end of the day if you really gave your all, you will be content in your own mind. You will be content and be able to look back and say I gave it my all. Hard work never changes as the fundamental determinant for success. It is the only constant. You push and you drive until you can?t, and then you push further.
You need an open mind and creativity. To see areas of growth, to find more efficient ways to get work done. Remember hard work is the only constant. When you add hard work to increased efficiency you get greater productivity.
You will realize bad attitudes are a plague. They feed off of each other. Negativity breeds negativity. Blame becomes the standard. Excuses are made. Criticism is no longer constructive, but an attack. This is a mechanism of self-defense to blanket insecurities. Hubris and selfishness distract you from moving forward, it breaks down relationships, and breeds hate and anger. Teaching and work will be replaced by excuses, attacks, and selfishness. Will you be a critic or a teacher? Will you point at others or yourself?
With teams you learn about accountability, trust, and respect. You realize that by not doing your part you will let the team down. You have not only failed yourself, but you have failed others. You were selfish, looking for the easy way out. Respect is gained by a consistent effort, an investment in others, and dedication to a unified cause. Everybody has down days. Will you motivate others when you are up? Will you push yourself for others when you?re down? Will you be respected?
Maybe you are part of a team with a tradition of winning or success. You become lackadaisical, expecting others to make up for your slack. You develop a sense of entitlement. Then the team fails. You were content with your lack of effort. Relying on past greatness, a reputation, or work done by someone other than yourself. You gloat in something you?ve done NOTHING to earn. The result you is you will eventually lose. Then there is nobody to blame but yourself. You were reaping the benefits of past hard work. You have wasted what was stored, destroyed what was built, and forgotten your foundation, hard work. You have spit in the face of your alumni, ancestors, and creator. Will you bring pride to your program?
You realize competition is a test. Test yourself to evaluate where you are. You can be the best in your town, city, or state, but that doesn?t mean shit until you put yourself up against the best in the world. And then when you are on top of the world you determine the new standard of success. Testing exposes your weakness, your pride, your faults, your lack of preparation, your lack of judgment. From competition you can make one of two choices. Learn from your mistakes, refocus your training. Or you can submit. You can break never to return to the challenge. Which will you chose?
If someone challenges you, accept their challenge. You realize they are challenging your will, your drive, your teachers, they think their method is better. Win or lose you will learn something.
It?s about sacrificing your personal comfort for a greater cause. Sacrificing your energy, time, and body for a cause. You sacrifice because you can. You were given the capacity to succeed by countless individuals. God made you, your parents had you, teachers taught you, a person invested in you whether you realize it or not. You owe it to every person who has sacrificed for you to do your best. This is where humility comes in. You realize that without others you would be nothing so you show respect to your teachers, creator, and opponents.
Sport is practice for life. It builds you up so that you know how to sacrifice yourself for your family, community, and those who have nothing. It teaches you to invest in those, just as those before you invested in you.
This is why we love sport. We see the payoff of hard work. We see the drive and ambition in a tangible setting. Sport gives hope to those who have none. Fun comes from being with those you love. Fun comes from seeing hard work pay off. Fun comes from succeeding when challenged. Maybe sport is about having fun, there?s just a small price you have to pay to have fun.
God bless, vigilant.
DF
?As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another? Proverbs 27:17