Thats the comment I heard from the person next to me when we were both doing back extensions yesterday: ?Youre out of your mind.? He said it almost matter-of-factly, but there was a subtle hint of disdain in his voice, like he knew something that I didnt. For my part, I didnt say a world, but just glanced at him and went on to my next exercise.
I know why he made this comment. From the looks of him, he doesnt lift regularly: a middle-aged guy who was not overweight, but also not an avid weight lifter. He took a look at me ? a relatively small person at 160 lbs ? and thought I was an out-of-shape newbie.
I lift regularly, but as a middle-aged natural lifter Im not someone who has muscles bulging out of my clothing. He thought that we were the same, that I was inexperienced and might do something wreckless or stupid like so many young people do when they enter a weight room.
When he saw me doing the back extension holding the 100 lb dumbbell close to my chest, I know what he thought. He thought that I was going to blow out my lower back muscles, because he knew that if he tried this himself, it was sure to happen.
He thought that this was an incredible weight for someone my size to attempt, and he thought that I was stupid for trying. He thought I was like one of those kids who enter the weight room and grab ridiculously heavy weights in an attempt to show off to their friends and look soooooo stupid with their poor form. He was wrong.
You see, what he didnt know is that Im not a newbie. He didnt know that Ive been lifting intensely for 5 years. He didnt know that it has taken me years to work up to this much weight on a back extension. He didnt know that Ive taken the time to work up to this weight slowly, carefully adding small weights over a long period of time.
He didnt know that Im someone who listens to my body: if I feel a twinge, or a pull in a certain spot which feels wrong, that I will back off immediately. He didnt know that Im meticulous about doing antagonistic pairings of exercises (I was in the middle of a superset of back extensions and decline crunches).
He didnt know that I know what is good form, how to push the limits, and when I have crossed the line. He didnt know that I mix my regularly routines up often and was in the middle of a short-rep/high-weight cycle.
In short, this guy really didnt know what he didnt know. And he didnt know so much.
His comment shook me up for a while and made me step back and rethink what I was doing, which was a good thing. But in the end, he helped me reaffirm that everything Im doing was right, and good. He through me off balance for a moment, just long enough to help me feel really positive about what I spend so much time doing, and love doing.