The mind of the true Strength Enthusiast is unique.
Many Strength Enthusiasts do little outside the gym, giving the impression that we are boring, self-absorbed ego maniacs who can only get excited by the site of our own muscular reflection staring back at us. To be honest, I suppose in many cases that is a accurate description of most of the folks you find in health clubs all over the world, but these knuckle-heads are not Strength Enthusiasts. These unwashed masses make up a cadre of useless, sagging skin-bags I like to refer as Gym Rats.
Think of Gym Rats in the same way you would think of Mall Rats – those pre-pubescent, cell-phone-clutching, mush-brained, designer-clad teenagers who know as much about true shopping as Richard Simmons does a bench press.
Mall Rat’s hang out at malls because they have nothing better to do. They have no place else to go. They are there to be seen, ogled and pandered to. Mall Rat’s have an overblown sense of self-importance that is usually bolstered by daddy’s credit card, giving them instant purchasing power with none of the discipline and wisdom needed to make the most of their excursion. Gym Rat’s are the same way.
Gym Rat’s hang out at gyms to be seen. They have no place else to go. More often then not they can be seen admiring themselves in a mirror or leaning against a wall and talking to the object of their desire, who sometimes is a member of the opposite sex and sometimes not, hoping to impress their new found buddy with this body part or that. In the end, Gym Rat’s are there just to be seen looking good. But the Strength Enthusiast has nothing in common with rats.
The Strength Enthusiast is the person sitting by themselves in one corner of the gym, usually out of the way, with a towel over their head which is being strategically used to block out any and all distractions as they prepare for a personal best.
Strength Enthusiasts do very little talking in the gym, unless of course they are encouraging themselves to blast a bar through the roof, or coax another rep out of a training partner.
In the final analysis, Strength Enthusiasts are philosophers.
Strength Enthusiasts spend their entire lives thinking about how to improve their minds first and their bodies second. Strength Enthusiasts focus on how to improve upon the past. Strength Enthusiasts almost always do things the hard way. A Strength Enthusiast will take the stairs before he takes an elevator. A Strength Enthusiast, given the choice between squats with a barbell or squats with a Smith Machine, will choose the barbell every time. If it’s a choice between a light set of pulldowns in the latest fancy machine or dead-lifts, the Strength Enthusiast will choose dead-lifts.
So, in light of what we know it needs to be pointed out that Strength Enthusiasts know more about chasing down obstacles and overcoming them than most anyone on the face of the planet.
I am a Strength Enthusiast.
If you are a closet Strength Enthusiast, then you might very well appreciate the latest Podcast, a story from Celestial Navigations called ‘The Wall‘.
Celestial Navigations is a story telling Troupe based out of California and achieved much fame on The Smothers Brothers Show back in the late 70′s and early 80′s. Their fearless leader is film star and actor Geoffrey Lewis.
I have enjoyed these stories for years, but ‘The Wall‘ is by far my favorite.
As a someone who has spent his entire life facing down obstacles, this story motivates me like no other. Give it a listen. Close your eyes and imagine yourself standing before Your Wall. Maybe your Wall is a bench press. Or maybe it is an illness you are trying to overcome, or some sort of academic challenge. Whatever your Wall is, this story can help you visualize pounding right through it.
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