Here Comes The BOOM!

In the sport of weightlifting there are more downs than ups; more bad days than good and more failed attempts than PR's. So why do we do it? Why put yourself through the mental and physical grinder day in and day out? Vicious determination. Every weightlifter I have met from noobie to the Olympic hopeful and everyone else in between, I have noticed a common characteristic that we share. We are all viciously determined to master this sport and die trying. It takes an uncommon type of courage to do what we do in spite of the daily failures we face.

This courage and tenacity is something akin to the steel nerves our grandparents had during World War II, or the courage our mothers and fathers showed in the Vietnam era. Just like those of us who now stand on the razors edge so that our children may be at peace at home, we must find the inner strength to stand up every time we are knocked to our knees. Bloody and battered we stand up looking our opponent in the eye making and making them blink. We are the crazy and insane and yes we are the "fringe element". We wouldn't want to be any other way. 

As I sit here writing this article on the twelve year anniversary of the September 11th attacks, I am inspired by the resiliency of our people and our country. It is at times like this that you actually get to see a rare glimpse of our sheer willpower and strength collectively. The lucky few of us who have tapped into their ability to harness this and use this type of strength on command are truly a special breed. 

In Weightlifting as in life, you will lose and you will lose often. We cannot let defeat beat us and deter us from achieving our goals. Every time you lace up your weightlifting shoes or chalk up your hands before a pull, think for a moment about just how special you are. Like a species of animal on the endangered list, we are few, but unlike the animals on that list, we are most definitely mighty. 

Biker clubs have a common patch that they wear. I am not talking about the doctor and accountant that take off their suits by day and don a denim and leather costume to play biker by night. I'm talking about the real, hard nosed criminal element biker. The ones who instill fear by a simple look or posture, the honest to goodness bad asses. They all wear a 1% patch, meaning they are the 1% of society that does what they want. They don't care about our social norms or acceptable behavior, as a matter of fact they loathe it. 

We as Weightlifters are like those 1%'s, we wear our scarred hands and over developed quads like a biker wears a club patch. People stop and stare at us as we go by partially out of fear and partially envy. Our women are stronger than the average male ever thought of being and that alone freaks people out. They have no idea how intoxicating it is to take weight...a lot of weight, and be able to quickly put that weight over your head and stand up with authority. 

So lets all take a page from all of those who have come before us and all of those who stand up for us today. Channel their strength and feel the primal rage surge within you as you walk up to that bar and rip it off the ground with force. Win or lose, don't stop. Stand up every time and reset your mind and body. The most successful people are those who have failed the most and learned not to fear that failure, but to use it.