Arnold Schwarzenegger must have been the first politician in history to liken the performance of the state economy to a heavy set of bench presses.
Anybody who is passionate about lifting weights will understand such analogies, because when you are bitten by what is known as the ‘iron bug’, lifting weights becomes a labour of love from which much can be learned.
Ever since the biblical Samson tore down the Philistine temple with his bare hands, we have been fascinated by the enigma of great strength. If you are thinking about taking up weight training for competition, aesthetics, or health reasons, you’re in for far more benefits than you bargained for. I’ve been feeling very philosophical about my hobby lately, and today I would like to share a few of the not-so-small things a barbell can teach us.
Heavy lifting teaches us to focus on progress, not perfection. When testing your strength, the only competition that counts is you against you. If you can lift more than you did last month, then you always win.
We look at other people and get frustrated because they have more money than us, more status or more apparent happiness, but if we stop paying so much attention to what other people have, and instead turn all our energy towards bettering ourselves, little by little, it becomes clear that even the greatest of destinations can be reached with the smallest of steps.
And what if we don’t lift more than we did last month? The more this happens, the better we get to understand and deal with failure. Any bodybuilder will tell you that taking a muscle to the point of failure is the best way to stimulate its growth. This analogy is as beautiful in life as it is on a perfectly proportioned physique.
For weightlifters, a failed lift is the perfect opportunity to identify weaknesses. Finding our weaknesses means we can make the required adjustments to our technique, programme or lagging muscles.
Likewise, failures at work or in our personal relationships present the greatest opportunities to learn and grow professionally and personally, if only we can embrace them as such. If weaknesses are never exposed, we can do nothing to correct them.
When we get stronger, we start to believe less in finding the secrets to success, and more in hard graft. True champions reach the top not with any single magic pill or secret training regimen, but more often than not by following a multitude of different training/nutritional/supplement programmes throughout the years.
The only common ingredients through it all are those nothing great has ever been achieved without; good old-fashioned hard work and just sticking with it no matter what. Sometimes we tend to lose sight of the basics and get carried away by hype and fantasy. The power of a strong work ethic combined with steadfast consistency is the only ‘secret’ we should ever need to know both inside and outside the gym.
Heavy weights teach responsibility. When you succeed in lifting them, the joy is all yours, but when you fail, there is nobody else to blame. A specific weight does not become heavier or lighter from one day to the next; a barbell never changes shape or tries to trick you in any way like a live opponent can. The only changeable factor is you.
However, easy or hard a lift turns out to be depends on your own lifestyle choices and training habits. We’re all too quick to blame others for our failures, and assume our fate depends on the actions and decisions of others, but when we stop to consider what we might personally be doing wrong, we can open up the most valuable learning experiences of all.
Lifting weights encourages us to stop concerning ourselves with others, and turn all our attention to diligently completing our own hard work first and foremost.
Getting stronger teaches patience. After each workout the muscles must first recover, and then overcompensate, a physical process that may take up to a week. From one workout to the next, progress can sometimes be inconceivably small.
An increase of only several kilos on a given lift may take an entire year or more to achieve. These days we’re used to having too many things instantly upon demand, but strength training teaches us that anything worth having comes neither easily nor quickly.
Lifting weights teaches us to face challenges with the right attitude. Putting weight on the barbell allows us to interact with the physical reality of gravity, just as our daily choices determine our interaction with the realities of life.
Lifting weights can lead to the development of great physical strength, just as the way we deal with problems outside the gym can lead to the development of great strength of character. If you shy away from the heavy weights, your muscles will remain weak. If you shy away from the awkward challenges daily life throws at you, then your character awaits the same fate.
The conflict of the biblical Samson combines great physical strength and crippling corruptible weakness, but then again, Samson didn’t get his strength from lifting weights.
Building natural physical strength on your own merit also builds strength of mind and character. So if the iron game has enticed your curiosity, it’s time to get under that barbell for the lessons of a lifetime. It could turn out to be the best decision you ever made.
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