We live in a society that now more then
ever wants to have their pudding without first eating their meat -
to have their cake and eat it, too. In other words they want all the
accolades with none of the work. Even worse, they somehow have this
notion that they deserve it; that by some unidentified force they
have been born with a right to expect to be blessed with any trait
or possession those who came before them have had and more, with none
of the work that was required to earn it.
This is possibly never more true then
when it comes to training and nutrition. We are now more then ever
in a society, as it pertains to every aspect of life, but most certainly
the physical realm, of weak willed, impatient, weaklings that feel
that they deserve the same accolades and accomplishments as those
of us who bust our butts every day, day in and day out.
They feel they have a God given right
to all their hopes, dreams, and desired abilities just due to the
fact their Mommy and Daddy had a few drinks in the back of a sedan
19 years ago and nine month later they were blessed to waste some
of our precious oxygen. A population who feel they have a right
to everything, and when they don’t get it with only an inkling
of the work needed put forth, piss and moan that, “The man's
getting me down.” or “I don’t have the genetics,
your so lucky” etc. etc., blaming anything and anyone but their
own feeble efforts.
We live in a world full of people
who have a keen eye for seeing athletic or physique accomplishment,
achievement, and possession, while at the same time seemingly having
a pair of blinders on that block out the work, struggle, and sacrifice
imparted by those they champion to reach extreme heights.
I touched on this in-part in my article
“Champion The
Journey Not The Destination” as a broad explanation
of where people are going wrong in what traits they look up to in
those they place on pedestals. Now I go bit further and flesh out
just a few quick examples from my own life that I hope will clarify
this a bit further and serve as a wake-up call to a growing population
of those in search of, and worse, in expectation of, the “easy”
way, to their wildest dreams.
Food/Eating: Now I'll be honest, I
get a pleasure of nearly daily posting on my face book page what
I call my “Food Porn” series.
I purposely post pictures of the most
dense, calorie crammed meals I can for others to view and comment
knowing I’ll get responses running the gamut from lust to disgust.
One comment that never fails to rise, whether it be in person or
on my food porn series is, "Man if I ate like that I'd be a
blubbering fat pig! Your soooo lucky! You must have the genetics
of a Greek god!"
Um??? Not unless THIS is a Greek god:
Yhea, that’s me at roughly 20
years of age prior to me topping the scales at around 315lb of untrained
adipose tissue. What did it take to make a transformation then?
How can I now eat what then made me look more like the Goodyear
blimp then a muscled pimp, if not my supreme genetics? Hard work,
dedication and a love of the journey.
Everyone wants similar results and
champions me for transforming my body from what it was to various
forms of slender, svelte, ripped and rugged. They all want the magic
recipe, but when laid out in simple plain speak, none of them want
to face the music and believe reality. Instead they travel from
expert to guru, pill to potion, in search of the “one”
that will assure them they can get what they want with no back-breaking,
will-wearing effort.
Where do they end up? The same damn
place as they were prior or worse. Wake up people. Yeah, I can eat
a ton of calorie dense foods, none of which are or should be labeled,
“Evil” as many do, they are simply fuel. Fuel that the
body I have built in years of sweat, and the activity I demand of
it, requires.
They neglect to see the years of low
carb living, the plates of salads and greens, chicken breasts, and
olive oil or the now mounds of food I don’t GET to, but MUST
eat to keep my progress inching ever so slowly forward; the calorie
bombs I have to eat, not get to, to maintain the weight and performance
I demand.
They see me deadlifting 725lbs for
a new PR, a new record, and champion the accomplishment, and desire
to reach it themselves, or even better yet hate on it for “poor
form” which always makes me smile...
What they fail to see is, of course,
the big picture. Everyone loves the glamor, the flashes, lights,
and dreams of a great accomplishment. They all want to desire it,
and have it given to, or imparted on them - blaming my success again
on superior genetics.
What they blind and plug their ears
to is the truth. The truth of a man who fought from the age of 7
for even his life. Having had his leg ripped off, pelvic shattered
in 17 places, the main artery in his leg severed, and the leg as
a whole hanging by just a thread of an adolescent hamstring; while
the ambulance rushed him and his mother to the ER explaining along
the way how he would not survive the trip let alone be able to save
the leg.
They don’t want to see the hours
in surgery, months in bed rest, and years of recovery. They blind
themselves to the tears, the fighting, the never taking “you
can't” for an answer. Always pushing more, proving himself
and others wrong. The years and reps at 135, then 225, then 315,
all well prior to reaching 500lb let alone 725lb accomplishment.
The aches, the pains, the timeless hours spent laboring in sweat
with a smile on my face. Knowing only where I will be, not a clear
path of how to reach it. Guessing sometimes right, sometimes wrong
but always pushing on the path closer to the goal.
People love to ogle at my paintings,
drawing sculpture, and state how they only wish they had such a
gift.
What they fail to see is a kid who
dropped out of high school drawing. A kid who struggled, and hell
still does, to make a decent stick figure. They fail to see the
years of formal and informal training. The all-nighters reading,
learning, and practicing his craft. The weeks and months of drawing,
painting, paperwork and preparation to get into graduate schooling
all of which came prior to the moment in time they champion as a
gift.
Why? Why do they fail to see such
things? It proves the only thing they have to blame for their
lack of reaching their dreams is their own neglect of living the
life and actions it takes to grab them. That they don’t have
the spine to live in the joy of ever pushing forward to something
greater than themselves all the while being kicked in the gut and
knocked down many more times then they reach new pinnacles.
People live only
in the minute, and seemingly don’t have the mental capacity
to recognize the journey. They see only the snap shot and
not what comes many year prior or after the action. They don’t
see or want the sacrifice, the work, or the repercussions
of the actions, only the prize with none of the sacrifice
before or after.
It’s time
to wake up. Accomplishment ain't easy, so you better learn
to enjoy the ride and to champion and enjoy the journey, yours
and those you look up to. No one is going to give you
a thing in this world you don’t earn through actions.
You were not born with the rights to great achievements, traits
or possessions and furthermore nothing you have done yesterday
gives you the right to them today.
Achievement, accomplishment
is a constant journey from first to last breath, so you better
learn to love and learn to live it or learn to live without
it.
Coach Phil Stevens is an accomplished
strength athlete with considerable experience in both powerlifting
and strongman competition. Phil is the 2007 APA World Champion
in the 242-pound class (total). He currently holds the APF
275-pound class raw National bench, squat, deadlift, and total
records. Phil’s marquis lift was his 700-pound raw deadlift,
performed on February 14, 2009 in Phoenix, Arizona.
Phil has been ranked in the “Top 10” in the deadlift Nationally across all powerlifting federations, also serves as the Arizona State Chair for the North American Highlander Association, as well as the founder of Lift For Hope, an annual strength-competition
with proceeds donated to Charity (www.Lift4Hope.org).
