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Influence form older lifters
This summer, I was squatting for a new personal record: 235x3x5. There was a really huge guy in the rack next to me doing like 4 plates for reps. On my first set, I struggled like hell to get the weight up on the last rep. After the set, we made eye contact and he nodded. I nodded back. My second set, I was really struggling. 5-6 seconds between the last 3 reps. After I racked the bar, I hung on to it, knowing that I would collapse if I tried to allow my legs to take my body's weight. When I finally got feeling back in my legs, I started walking towards the drinking fountain. As I walked by he stopped me and said, "Man, you're putting a lot of effort into those sets. I can't believe that you work that hard." I thanked him and introduced myself. His name was Tony. We talked for a little bit and then his timer went off to start his next set. I walked around for a while until I felt I had control of my legs again. I was preparing for my third set when I heard that negative voice in my head. I knew I wouldn't be able to do another 5 reps. I got pumped up for the final set and got set under the bar. I barely squeezed out one rep. My eyes closed, I zipped up the man-suit and prepared to go down again for what I knew would be my last half rep. I was a quarter way down when I heard Tony's voice, directly in my ear. With his encouragement, I made another rep. "Don't quit." I go down again. "Dig deep." I squeeze out another rep. I can't feel my legs anymore. My whole body is screaming at me to stop it. To end the vortex of pain I'm in. "You're getting 5. you're not quitting." It now seemed like I had no choice, it was something I was 'going' to do. I go down, feeling the taste of stomach acid in my throat. Tony is now yelling in my ear. "Come on! Drive!". I complete another agonizing rep. I stand there, the weight on my back, unable to think. "You will not quit. You will not quit.", Tony says. I open my eyes for the first time. Everything is hazy and blurred. It looks like a brown mist is closing in on my vision from all sides. I'm going to die. "One more and it's all over. You got this." I start to go down. I don't even remember what happened. My next memory is me waking up on the floor of the gym, 10 minutes after I started the set. 235 pounds sits racked above me. Tony is stripping the plates from his own bar. He helps me up and walks me over to the bathroom, where I vomit profusely. Apparently I did it. Slowly, stopping and hitching on the way up, I did the last rep. He claims he never touched me or the bar the whole set. He's not one of those guys who does that. When I finished, he knew I was about to black out, so he pushed me forwards, let the bar hit the hooks, and softened my ungraceful crumple to the floor. To this day, he says he's never seen anyone give more effort into one set than that.
What Tony did was very important to my growth as a weightlifter. Please, if you are an experienced lifter, and you see someone who is not as experienced, help them out. Not in a 'do this' way, just give them some respect. Appreciate them for what they're doing, or how they're doing it instead of considering yourself above them and ignoring them. Remember that you were there once too. You don't have to be their best friend, or even talk to them, a simple smile, nod, or "How's it going?" goes a LONG way. Trust me, it really means a lot.
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One Day as a Lion
"I have but one life to live, and but one death to die. I will die fighting this cause."
-John Brown
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