Mental Toughness

The Road Blocks In and Out of the Gym

“Pain don’t hurt.” 

No truer words have ever been spoken.  

Dalton, a cooler from parts unknown who sometimes plays a character name Patrick Swayze, uttered these words late one night in the hospital far away.  It seems he was about to get a knife slash stapled shut without pain killers.  Utilizing breathing techniques and harnassing the chi of 1000’s of years of being real, he got the staples sans morphine. 

But I digress.

And I have to disagree with Dalton.

The problem is that pain does hurt. 

And when people ‘sense’ pain or that something is hard, they have very real emotion and take action because of it – they quit.  This is one of the biggest challenges I face everyday.  Trying to get people to see their potential and help them reach their goals, without the roadblock of ‘pain’ getting in the way.

Now, I’m not talking about pain from an injury, I’m talking about the pain of doing things the right way or doing things that will challenge you.

For example, one guy I train was having trouble locking out a deadlift.  Lack of strength wasn’t the issue, it was his grip.  But unfortunately for him, I wouldn’t allow him to hit an alternated grip or use straps.  He would have to pull it with a hook grip.  A hook grip is where you place your hand around the bar and anchor your thumb to the bar with your fingers.  This Olympic weightlifting technique allows you to lift more weight without the limitation of grip strength getting in the way.  It became very clear that the hook grip was very painful for him and he couldn’t get over this mental barrier to lift the weight.  Well, after 20 minutes of insults, he finally pulled the weight.  Which, as I pointed out, could have been done 20 minutes earlier if he had just ‘manned’ up. 

Did I do this to be mean?  Did I do this to pick on him?

No, I did it because he said he COULDN’T do it.  He shook his head, wouldn’t look me in the eye and walked away from the loaded bar.  The thing is, I have a very different reaction than most people when I encounter this situation.

I don’t just walk away.

When someone tells me that, it becomes imperative for me to show them that they CAN do it.  Because when they do that, that small victory might be enough to show them they are capable of MUCH MORE.   

Pain is Fleeting, Regret Lasts a Lifetime

“Pain is temporary. It may last a minute, or an hour, or a day, or a year, but eventually it will subside and something else will take its place. If I quit, however, it lasts forever.” – Lance Armstrong

I’ve written previously about how in the weightroom and in life, people take the path of least resistance.  You can see this when form breaks down because an exercise becomes too challenging.  And you can see this in life when people lie, cheat and steal

.  Sacrificing form and technique or taking the easy way out is just par for the course for many people. 

Not because they don’t know any better, but maybe because they have just gotten used to doing the same things everyone else is doing.  “I can’t do that” or “I’ll try next time” or maybe, “I can’t catch a break!”  Sound familiar? 

News flash, breaks don’t just happen – you have to make your own breaks!

LIFE isn’t about taking the easy way out, LIFE is about reaching beyond your potential and being different by doing the right things. Or doing the things that are hard or seem impossible.

Yes people lie, cheat and steal, but not you. Are you mentally tough enough to do the hard work, set the example and prevent anyone in your life from using bullshit excuses to keep them from being extraordinary.

I will be relentless and not walk away when I hear “I can’t”…

Will you?