Eat a lot and Look Like Crap
There seems to be this push today for this, "I don't care how I look, I just want to be strong", movement. I have trouble believing this is true with most people. You mean, you want to be fat? Yeah, OK. I ate myself up to an obese 312 lbs one time and I hated how I looked. Yeah, I was strong, but not as strong as when I got serious about nutrition and my body fat dropped. Maybe those folks who say that they don't care how they look just don't have the dedication to stick to a diet and their self esteem is so low that they make it seem cool to "eat whatever you want and make it seem silly to be in shape." I'm not talking about putting on posing trunks (yes, I did, I know) and getting spray tanned, but having a decent body fat percentage and still being strong and being able to move some.
Too Heavy Too Often
Maxing is so over rated. I see it all the time, folks that max every 3 weeks and wonder why they aren't getting stronger. Stop, just stop. You will get weaker. Hell, just look at the STRONGEST folks in the world and how they trained. Fred Hatfield never missed a rep in a whole training cycle on his way to a 1014 pound squat and neither did Kirk Karwoski when he did his 1003. Not one rep during the whole cycle. If they train that way, why don't you? Because you know more than they do? Follow the program, have patience. One rep? Save it for a meet. That's what really counts anyway.
Conquering Fear
I was reading an interview with author Hubert Selby Jr. and he said that it hit him one day that he was going to be on his death bed, and I'm paraphrasing here, he wasn't going to accomplish everything that he wanted to accomplish in his life. That death would be coming for him and he wouldn't have anything to show for his life. He immediately started writing.
Ain't that the truth? As far as powerlifting, bodybuilding, and weight lifting goes, have you thought about entering a meet but you are worried about not being as strong as the other people in the meet? About how you'll look in a singlet or posing trunks? About getting up in front of a bunch of people? You really think anybody cares? They don't. You want to do it, go ahead and do it.
Do you have a burning desire to do any of these things but you are too scared? Ask yourself, what are you scared of? Because when it comes down to the end of this whole thing, if you let that opportunity pass by, you'll regret it. I promise. Step off the ledge.
