For a lot of lifters, the mindset of being able to cope with the struggles of life, are often trained in the weights room. Standing in front of adversity after adversity, we prepare for our next biggest challenge ahead of us. Sickness, loss, death. It's true when they say what doesn't kill you, makes you stronger.
"To me, training has never really been about the muscle size or strength. It's been my way of dealing with life."
- Dave Tate, elitefts
185x1 - October 2019
Fixed Mindsets
I was curious. I went back to old training logs to see how much I could pull from the floor. Conventional Deadlift. 4 years ago, at my peak - I used to max out at 115kg.
That's where I went wrong. I started putting limitations on myself, thinking that there was a glass ceiling above my head based on my size, that would be impossible to surpass.
I often train alone - mainly due to my own schedules not aligning with others. But it's exciting. Knowing you've been able to make progress over year(s), by doing the same thing repetitively.
What's that saying again? Habit breeds excellence? It's true. Sometimes, there is some merit in testing how far you can push yourself without having someone by your side can help build resilience and character.
The Journey
My gym history goes back at least 10 years now, and whilst it was common to strive for getting "shredded for stereo" and all about aesthetics, I fell into the trap of wanting to look good to feel good about myself.
(I mean, don't we all?) OK, so I've heard some reasons why people join a gym is to be able to burn off fat so they can eat more, but let's not get into that.
Speaking with other lifts and friends over the years, there's often a reference to strength standards dependent on you time in the gym. This is assuming that you are training regularly and not suffering from fuckarounditis (yes, it's really a thing - you might suffer from it.) - It was when I discovered the leangains website, and started seeing strength standards for intermediate lifters and advanced lifters. Although I can't recall the year I found out about the article, I was no longer a beginner lifter anymore. Sure I've had higher lifts in my younger years, but I needed to strive for something bigger to represent all the hard work (and lack of fuckarounditis) over the years.
Strength Standards
As I searched around, I discovered a website that takes into strength considerations based on similar age and weight. I think it's beneficial to say that by discovering this showing the numbers that others can do at the same conditions, unlocks the idea that we can achieve it too. I've attached it for your own research.
Find the strength standards for lifts here:
https://strengthlevel.com/strength-standards/hex-bar-deadlift/kg
Intermediate: Bodyweight x 2
Advanced: Bodyweight x 2.5
Elite: Body weight x 3
Elite: Trap Bar: - Body weight x 3.34 - currently chasing
175x5 - November 2019
195x1 - November 2019
The Standard
Strength doesn't come from pontification.
The strength of humility speaks volumes to many of us as we continue to fail in life.
There's nothing stopping us from reaffirming to ourselves that we are strong.
Keep chasing the person you want to become. It's the very least we owe to ourselves.
Note: Sorry for the rambling, there will be further updates to this as the growth continues.
