The Rise to Greatness

I have returned. This break from training has been great. I ate plenty of whatever I wanted, I stayed up late, I drank, I laid on the beach, I stretched, I spent time with family and friends. These past two weeks have been a huge mental re-set for me, and that's what I needed - physically I think I am in great shape, but I needed some time to relax, have fun, and bring back the HUNGER for training. And now it's back. It has settled into my bones and I feel a fire burning. 

I wanted to use this post to say something to myself and for myself: I have everything I need to succeed. Of course there is more knowledge out there, I don't think I know everything. Of course my form on all my lifts isn't perfect, of course there are training methods or assistance lifts that could help me that I am not doing. I'm not saying I can't improve in all those areas, because I ABSOLUTELY can. But I have every single tool I need to succeed. I have good form on every lift, and when my form starts to break down I know it. I know a ton about the basics of programming, diet. I sleep well, I eat well. I'm young. I have everything I need to succeed in my two biggest training goals: Get Bigger and Get Stronger. 

Now all that is left is to push. 

I have moved into my 4th year of training. I started lifting 4 summers ago. I wasn't an athletic kid, or a fast kid or a strong kid. I was untrained, I wasn't knowledgable or genetically gifted. My goals were completely different than they are now, and the things I wanted I wanted for all the wrong reasons. And the journey from there to here has been a transformation. Training has changed the way I think, the way I feel about myself and the world around me. It has changed who I respect and why. I made it my business to learn everything I could about training, strength, conditioning, nutrition, competition. I have followed people better than me. And I have made gains, lord knows that. In those 3 years, even with ups and downs, detours, a LONG spell of spinning wheels at the beginning, I have added around 50 lbs to my frame. The first time I maxed out, my powerlifting total was about... 545 lbs. So I have added over 600 lbs to my total in these 3 years. I didn;t do everything right as a beginner - not by a long shot - but I did a hell of a lot more right than most people. I soaked up knowledge like a sponge, and slowly but surely I grew, from a complete, weak, untrained and unaware beginner, a boy, into the man I am today. Am I the strongest or the biggest in my gym? No, but I've had quite a few beginners, just starting on their own journeys, come to me for help, whether they know me or not. And that is one of the biggest accomplishments I have achieved, in my mind. I went from a person who you wouldn't even take notice of in the gym, to someone with presence, someone who people (even if it is only a few people) look to for guidance. I don't know if it is my size, my strength, the type of lifting I do, my perseverance and consistency, but people have begun to notice, to respect me for it, and to allow me some sort of influence over their own training. It is quite an honor, and something to be very proud of. 

However, this is only the end of the beginning. I don;t want to downplay my accomplishments. I have made huge strides, worked my ass off, been consistent. But I will not be a big fish in a small pond. I may be leaving the realm of "beginner," but just because I'm nearing the top of my gym's food chain doesn't mean I'm anywhere near Greatness. Right now, young lifters may look at me with respect, with admiration. But the time is coming for them to look at me in awe and disbelief. The time is coming for me to not only be the biggest, the strongest lifter in MY gym, but the biggest strongest lifter in any gym I walk into, wherever, whenever. It's no small feat. It's not going to happen in a few years, or with a mild effort. But it is going to happen. And when I think of how much I have grown already, how proud I am of this tiny leg of my journey - "the beginner years" - I can't wait to develop even more, mentally and physically, as I rise to greatness. 

I have all the tools I need. I am never going to stop learning, improving my technique or my diet or my lifestyle or my programming. But now is the time to push myself harder than I have ever pushed. Every set, every rep, every PR. Every extra gram of protein, every extra minute spent in the gym, every minute where I rest and recover properly is a step forward, a step on my journey. A step away from goodness and towards greatness. It's not going to be easy. I need to learn to dig deep - perhaps it is time to start using things like competition to motivate myself. Perhaps it is time to slip from the very reasonable and logical mode of training into a mode driven by dreams and goals which are unreasonable, which seem impossible - but which I will someday achieve. The time has come to break all the mental walls that could hold me back from becoming something no one has ever been, from doing things that no one has ever done. The Rise to Greatness has begun. And I am going to savor every minute of the journey, digging deeper and pushing harder every single day. 

Lets keep at it.