Why Do You Train?

Because slow and weak is no way to go through life…

[quote]WhiteFlash wrote:
I’m not a competitive powerlifter. I train using a ws4sb set-up with some olympic variants thrown in.

I’d consider myself a performance enthusiast at this point. I train 'cause I want a double bodyweight bench, a double bodyweight clean and a triple bodyweight squat all while weighing 185-190 and maintaining a +40" vertical and a sub 4.5 40yd dash.

At my current weight [178-ish] I’m at around a 285lb bench, a 355lb squat [although I’ve done 405 before my knee surgery], a 235lb clean, a 38" vert [done 41.5"] and right around a 4.5 40.

I train because I want to be stronger, faster, more athletic and to look and perform better than I did yesterday.

EDIT: I’ve also benched 315, but that was with a pinky on the rings grip and I was carrying about 10lbs of extra padding. I can’t go wider than a bit inside of thumbs length away from smooth due to shoulder issues now.[/quote]

pretty much the same with me (different stats though, lol) plus I am planning on trying to walk-on to play football when I get out of the Marines in 11 months. I dont rule out compteting in Powerlifting someday though.

FTR I was quite sane before I started power lifting. But with every PR, I lost more and more of my mind, and I like it. I dread getting into gear when a meet is coming up, but then I put on my suit and get bruised up and hurt and I know that if I can take just a little bit more of this, I can take a whole lot more of what real life dishes out on a daily basis.

because i have to

[quote]dsdjd wrote:
because it is the only time during the day i feel like a man. it is the time i don’t have to answer the phone, appease my boss, cut the fucking grass, fix whatever is broken, be nice, kiss ass, talk to my kids, feed the cats, empty the dishwasher, put gas in the car. I don’t have to talk to anyone, explain anything, make excuses, or ask permission. i can ignore everyone except the hot chicks who distract my attention thank god. I can sweat, strut, flex, groan, fart, and nobody gives me shit. I have 60 minutes each day that is mine, where i feel empowered over some part of my otherwise boring life, some place and time where I can feel good, and strong, and powerful.

other than that, I can’t think of a single reason to train. maybe i’ll quit.[/quote]

This pretty much sums it up for me here…

i could wrtie a bounch of things about the mental spect or how it improves ones life…but…i just gonna say …is because its plain fun…

and then you become a freak for the rest of society for considering lifting heavy things…something fun

Conan said it best…

“To crush your enemies, see them driven before you, and to hear the lamentation of their women.”

because I am weak and small, and I want to be strong and muscular + its fun too xD

btw I am no powerlifter I just train strenght training ( I am doing 5/3/1 ).

Because there’s nothing better than going pretty much anywhere and knowing that you are larger and far stronger than anyone around you.

a close second is because i love just how skewed your perceptions become. for example, you laugh when you hear a 6’1, 220lbs athlete referred to as “massive” “huge” or what not.

because lifting heavy is what makes me feel alive.

Because nothing beats the rush of hitting a PR on bench, squat,deadlift or military press. Also, the carryover to any sport is huge when you are both strong and lean, this is what I strive for. to be brutally strong, but athletic.

Therapy.

[quote]firstamongmany wrote:
Therapy.[/quote]

I second that wholeheartedly. Along with the Rollins quotes from his article Iron & the Soul

“It took me years to fully appreciate the value of the lessons I have learned from the Iron. I used to think that it was my adversary, that I was trying to lift that which does not want to be lifted. I was wrong. When the Iron doesn’t want to come off the mat, it’s the kindest thing it can do for you. If it flew up and went through the ceiling, it wouldn’t teach you anything. That’s the way the Iron talks to you. It tells you that the material you work with is that which you will come to resemble. That which you work against will always work against you.”

“The Iron never lies to you. You can walk outside and listen to all kinds of talk, get told that you’re a god or a total bastard. The Iron will always kick you the real deal. The Iron is the great reference point, the all-knowing perspective giver. Always there like a beacon in the pitch black. I have found the Iron to be my greatest friend. It never freaks out on me, never runs. Friends may come and go. But two hundred pounds is always two hundred pounds.”

[quote]jaybvee wrote:

[quote]firstamongmany wrote:
Therapy.[/quote]

I second that wholeheartedly. Along with the Rollins quotes from his article Iron & the Soul

“It took me years to fully appreciate the value of the lessons I have learned from the Iron. I used to think that it was my adversary, that I was trying to lift that which does not want to be lifted. I was wrong. When the Iron doesn’t want to come off the mat, it’s the kindest thing it can do for you. If it flew up and went through the ceiling, it wouldn’t teach you anything. That’s the way the Iron talks to you. It tells you that the material you work with is that which you will come to resemble. That which you work against will always work against you.”

“The Iron never lies to you. You can walk outside and listen to all kinds of talk, get told that you’re a god or a total bastard. The Iron will always kick you the real deal. The Iron is the great reference point, the all-knowing perspective giver. Always there like a beacon in the pitch black. I have found the Iron to be my greatest friend. It never freaks out on me, never runs. Friends may come and go. But two hundred pounds is always two hundred pounds.”

[/quote]

I love the second quote…its my creed.

I train to scare old women and make small children cry.