Strongman Training Journal Part 5

REAL Happiness (and training).

6 weeks ago when I started writing this journal and titled it my “Strongman Training Journal”, I’m pretty sure you figured that I’d be talking a heck of a lot more about training.  You probably assumed that I’d be outlining exercise reps and sets as well as how to perform what exercises and when.

Well, it’s true that my original intent for this journal was to teach you about my training plans, programs, tricks and tips.  But, if you’ve ever met me or listen to any of my “rants” you understand that I ALWAYS probe several layers deeper when trying to understand or relate a concept.  So in order for me to produce a background or frame of understanding for you to truly grasp my training methods, I thought it was important that you first understand what my innermost convictions and values are.

Elliott, what the heck do Core Values, Convictions and  Principles have to do with lifting heavy shit?

Everything! — You probably know that I am a strength coach / personal trainer that helps men and athletes realize their sports and fitness goals at my gym.  So, for over 10 years I have been in a position to observe and support people on their way to a “Fractioned Self-Realization”.  What I mean by “fractioned” is that when I aim at helping someone lose weight or gain muscle mass or jump higher, I have traditionally attempted this by manipulating their external environment with little regard for their intrinsic motives (ie. what they really want).

What EVERYONE really wants, no matter what they say or how they go about achieving it is To Be Happy!  If you probe deep enough you will learn that the person who wants to lose weight really just wants to be happy.  At first their answers may sound something like, “I want to lose weight so that I can find a hot wife.” But if you keep asking why? – you may get something like, “So we can have lots of great sex.” then, “So my parents will see that I am really not just a fat loser” and, “So I can share my life with someone I love.” and ultimately, “So I can be happy.”

Here’s the funny thing about happiness… you can choose to be happy at any time and under any condition.

In his book, “Man’s Search For Meaning”, holocaust survivor Victor Frankel describes how he met a deep and profound JOY while staring at a cold bowl of water with some fish bones swimming it, while at a Nazi concentration camp!  If Dr. Frankel could find happiness while eating a meal unfit for even the ugliest dog, after being striped of all his clothes, belonging, children and wife… then I think someone living in San Diego who is upset about his beer belly can find happiness in his circumstances too.

Here is my point… before any of us can make a meaningful physical or outer transformation, we must first commit to and strive relentlessly for an inner transformation.  — Jesus once ranted (and he is THE best ranter ever!), “Now then, you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside you are full of greed and wickedness. You foolish people! Did not the one who made the outside make the inside also? But wash first what is inside of the cup, and everything will be clean for you.

His point is this… if you seek to be new, better, different, less fat, holy, whatever… it would be far more effective to begin the “cleaning” process from the inside rather than the outside.  Consider, it is easy to clean the outside of a cup without cleaning the inside, just wipe around it with a wet towel.  But, it is much harder to clean the inside of a cup without at least getting some of the outside clean as the rag and water touches it.

To become happy we must seek FULL self-actualization!  If we start with a fractioned method for reaching true happiness, we will always come up short.  Full self-actualization means an inner and therefore an outer transformation.

If you want to look stronger, first BE stronger; if you want to look prettier, BE pretty; if you want happiness, BE happier!  The magic is in the BE-ing first and the DO-ing second.  We all want to know the “blueprint” for success!   I know because I’ve been there, I wanted someone to tell me what to DO?  How should I DO it?  What do I DO next?

I get e mails everyday from people who want me to tell them what to DO so that they can lose weight or gain muscle mass or run faster.  And every answer I give is fractioned… it is only 1/2 true.  What I really want to tell them is that they need to TRANSFORM… become someone else, become born again, new from the inside first.  But I would never sell any e-books if I said that — people just don’t like that answer.

My Renewed Power Plan For Strongman (sports) Achievement

Last year I was an amateur strongman competitor, this year I am a Professional Strongman.  My title shifted from amateur to Pro in the worldly sense but change of title did not automatically bring about the shift in consciousness` associated it… in fact, I’ve been scared shitless!  These guy I now compete against are good, very, very good!  And many of them a lot stronger than I am.

So, I know that going about my lifestyle and training in the fashion that yielded results last year will not be good enough this time around.  As you can imagine my new plan begins with “inner training” first, followed by what exercises, when and for how many reps.

Inner Training balanced with Outer Training

If you look at the image above, most of it is pretty self-explanatory. To the left is my “cleaning the inside of the cup” training  and on the right is an out line for my “outside of the cup training” So, instead of going into great detail for each one (I can probably write an entire post about each) I am going to share some of my thoughts on something that has been a topic of contemplation for me lately…

Failure

I once heard that, “you can know the success of a man by the amount of times he has failed.” This basically affirms my conviction that there is NO such thing as failure.

People are often shocked that I post videos of myself FAILING at some of my lifts in training, I am even more shocked that these are some of my most viewed and commented on videos on YouTube. — Watch these 2 short videos of me getting my ass kicked by some massive weights below.

When we fail at attempting ANYTHING, we are then armed with incredible feedback about how we can go about our next attempt.

When you saw me drop that 370 pound stone, I didn’t simply fail… I learned that my hip flexors were too tight at the time and didn’t allow for the hip extension that is necessary for me to move the stone higher.  And when I nearly severed me legs from my body by dropping that 355 pound log… I learned that I need to lock my elbows faster when dipping under the log so fast.

My next competition is my first professional competition.  It is in Orlando on April 16th and 17th.  I intend to win.  I always intent to win.  But if I “fail” I have come to grips with the fact that it is strictly feedback for me to adjust my course for my next attempt.  The only real failure is quitting.  And whats even worse , is not even trying.

I have a question for you this week. Feel free to post your response below, but if you don’t please take the time to reflect on it anyway.  Think about it when you are alone and can really focus.

Question - “What would you attempt, in any area of your life, if you absolutely knew with 100% certainty  that you couldn’t fail?”

Now, when you’ve got a nice long list of things that you would attempt if you couldn’t fail… consider the following. — THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS FAILURE… only feedback.

Related posts:

1. Strongman Training Journal Part 4
2. Strongman Training Journal part 1
3. Strongman Training Journal part 2
4. Strongman Training Journal part 3
5. Strongman Training – REAL Strength & Conditioning pt. 2