Negativity: The Good The Bad and How to use it.

Negativity is usually thought of as, well, negative. A lot of the time this is definitely the case. We miss a lift that used to be easy before an injury and we get down on ourselves. You don't get along with a coworker and all you do is bitch about it. The list is endless, but if we put our thinking caps on I bet we can figure out how to leverage this destructive mindset. 

Let's take the first example. You were squatting four slabs of beef but hurt your back and had to take a few months off. Now you are stuck at 225lbs. That sucks compared to where you were without a doubt but what if you used how pissed you are about your situation to drive progress? Instead of saying, "Geez! I'm a weak sack of crap!" And stopping there, you could follow this thought up with, "I am going to work my tail off and crush my former PRs!" The first thought is short term wallowing. We need to realize that if you were off for months it may take months or more to get back to where you were. That's okay. What's a few months or even a year in the grand scheme of things?

Always have the long game in mind while taking the steps now that will let you hit your smaller goals now in the near future. It's the same in all of life's circumstances. Take your negativity and strangle it to death while achieving your goals. Use it to motivate you. Don't let it be a crutch or an obstacle. No excuses. Just incremental progress until you have achieved what you were shooting for then find a bigger better goal to pursue. Do some research and you will find that the most successful people typically had big set backs and short comings. The difference between them and the people who are still failures is hitting the grind again harder than ever and time.  Dedication and time breed success.

Talk soon,

Dan is a top 10 ranked amateur

strongman competitor in the 242lb and 275lb classes and a pro powerlifter in the RPS 275lb class. He is also an Elite level lifter in the USPA/IPA. He holds instructor level ranks in Taekwondo, Muay Thai, and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. He has been training people for strength and martial arts since 2004.

You can follow Dan on Instagram @RoninStr
For training and nutrition advice and tips email roninstr@gmail.com

Cutting Weight for Meets

So if you are in a strength sport then you are going to be dealing with this issue quite a bit as you progress in your lifting career. I have been on all sides of the weight cutting game from MMA where I fought in as a middle, light heavy, heavy, and even super heavyweight. These days it's still a part of my process when approaching a competition in strength sports. There is a huge difference in how appropriate it is depending on your sporting activity. I would say when done properly in MMA or combat sports it is almost always to your advantage to cut weight. These sports have a huge skill/athleticism component to them primarily and the strength component though present is a secondary attribute.

 

Now if you are competing in a barbell sport I advise against cutting with a few exceptions. First if you are trying to qualify for a national or world meet or competition then yeah, you are at a level where you need to probably think about what weight you would be most competitive at in regards to that meet specifically. Second if you are trying to break records then absolutely cut to where you have to. We are talking about making history here. At least temporarily.

 

So why do I think cutting needs to happen at a higher frequency in combat sports but not the strength game? A key point here is the differences in the sports, not just from a strength vs skill standpoint. In MMA if you are a rookie amateur fighter weighing 175lbs fighting in the 171-185lb class you need to understand there is a guy that walks around at 195lbs who cut 10lbs to kick your 175lb ass. Ideally you were matched well and are at similar skill levels so really you are fighting you but a 20lb heavier version. Cutting weight is a survival skill. Also the goal is to win fights not to get as strong as possible. So you could conceivably stay a middleweight forever and continue to improve.

 

Alternatively, in powerlifting it is about building the physique that can withstand bigger and bigger weights. The focus is completely different. If you are a 6' 2" guy in a class under 200lbs it is in your best interest to keep growing and not cut to the 198s. This may mean you don't win a meet for a while but it will let you fill out your frame to ultimately kick some tail as a 275 or 308lber. That philosophy in combat sports will get your ass kicked an awful lot. Barbells don't punch you in the face. Further the fatigue from cutting weight will affect your strength much more than you movement patterns. This is minimized a bit if you get a 24 hour weigh in with USPA or NAS strongman. It'll hurt you big time in USAW or USAPL as you only get 2 hours to recoup. So in general, I think you should weigh what you weigh and don't stress about what class you are in unless you are qualifying. Enjoy the journey, hit some PRs, and only cut weight when you have to.

 

A final thought to bear in mind. We are participating in sports that are fringe and no one outside of these sports cares what our numbers are or how we placed at worlds. If you are world record holder in the squat that is awesome, but the Normies don't really comprehend what an 1100lb squat feels like and most of them don't even know what a kilo is. Heck last week a random guy came up to me in McDonald's and told me he has a buddy named Bruce who squats 1800lbs. I said that Bruce has the world record by like 600lbs and he goes "Yeah I know!" The guy may not have been dumb but the truth is most people have no concept of what weights are heavy. I don't care what the world record is for skipping 500m is but I am sure there are folks out there that do. Lifting is an awesome recreational activity. Treat it as such or don't, but realize most folks don't care either way so if you are cutting weight to win a local meet and say you are the Carmel, Indiana LA Fitness powerlifting champion of the world then you probably needed a mom who was nicer to you growing up. Powerlifting can't fix that bud.

Talk soon,

Dan is a nationally ranked amateur

strongman competitor in the 242lb

and 275lb classes and a powerlifter in the 275lb class. He holds instructor level ranks in Taekwondo, Muay Thai, and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. He as been training people for strength and martial arts since 2004.

You can follow Dan on Instagram @RoninStr
For training and diet plans email roninstr@gmail.com