The Prevailing Bodybuilding Spirit
By Rob Drucker
I had a bad day at work, and this gave me a perfect excuse to skip my squat workout. As I drove home from the office, I utilized the power of negative thinking to justify my lack of desire to hit the weights. My inner voice flooded my subconscious with phrases such as:
"Work was exhausting, and there is no way I can train this evening."
"Even John Davis wouldn’t have trained under my circumstances."
"Nor would have John Grimek.”
"I'll be able to train much harder if I wait until tomorrow."
"I didn't get enough sleep last night."
"I really need to work on my JavaScript program when I get home."
"Why do I put myself through so much torture?”
"People who say that there is no excuse for skipping workouts don't know what they are talking about."
"This traffic is giving me a horrific headache."
"I may injure myself if I workout before I'm ready."
"Nobody understands what it is like to face the squat rack after a hard day's work."
My subconscious mind kept the negative talk going during my entire 45-minute drive home. When my truck finally rolled into my garage, I was all set to skip a workout. That is, until I looked at a power rack I built from wood several years ago. My rack is painted “Dinosaur” blue and it resembles a primitive and powerful beast. When I looked upon this primitive monster, an inexplicable force drew me closer to it. In my mind, I saw myself taking the heavy rusty bar that was resting on the rack supports and doing squats with it over and over as if I were King Kong. With this vivid movie playing in my mind, my “bodybuilding spirit” was awakened. This spirit wasted no time crushing the negative thinking of my subconscious.
With my motivation suddenly restored, I walked into the house and kissed my wife and two-year old daughter. Then came the big announcement to my daughter - "Daddy has to train now; we can play with your toys after I get done." My daughter didn't quite get it. She asked me if my "train" was a diesel or a steam engine.
After my announcement, I marched into the master bedroom and changed into my training attire. As I was changing clothes, my wife was sure to tell me how hot it was outside. For you single folks, here is the translation to what she said: "Please don't train - spend time with me instead. You can always train later."
But I couldn't train later. I had to train that instant, while my motivation was in high gear. "Things are going to get hot outside indeed", I thought to myself as I headed straight for my garage. And things did get hot - set by set. I started the workout with the barbell squat. No fooling around. No excuses. There would be a personal record set this evening no matter what, I told myself.
With each succeeding set of squats, the weight was increased until the fifth and final set. The final set would be a "do or die" set. The weight was my heaviest ever and the goal was five solid reps.
I spent several minutes mentally preparing for the assault to come. First, I closed the garage door so that the neighbors wouldn't hear me screaming when the going got tough. Next, I changed the CD in my portable boom box and upped the volume for extra intensity. The song selected was ZZ Top's "Mississippi". Then I did a mental rehearsal and I "saw" myself completing five perfect reps. Finally, I walked up to the power rack, lowered my body a bit, and drove the weighted barbell onto and across my shoulders with an attacking force.
The barbell felt HEAVY, but I recalled my "do or die" pledge. I then took a step back, breathed in deeply and started the set. After the first rep, I knew that I had a major battle on my hands. I quickly made some adjustments to my mental approach, and then I continued my attack on the heavy bar with a vengeance. "TWOOO", I moaned. Then "THREEEEE", I slowly growled. Then, "FOUUURRRR", I screamed for what seemed like eternity. Then, the big moment had come - the do or die fifth rep.
After completing the fourth rep, I was exhausted and the weight felt like a 300-ton locomotive. But, now was no time to give up. The big moment had come - the “do or die” final rep. I quickly reflected upon the critical importance of living up to my pledge. Then I began to descent with the barbell with an ironclad determination to get back up don't matter how hard it would be.
As I started to lower myself with the heavy barbell for the fifth and final rep, my back started to give out, but I forced myself to hold it tight and straight. Had I not done so, I surely would have had an injury. After breaking parallel, I tried with all my might to rise upward, but I hit, just for a fleeting second, what seemed to be an insurmountable sticking point. Refusing to give up, I mobilized my forces by drawing from an unlimited energy source deep within my soul. Suddenly I had the will of a fierce Tyrannosaurus Rex engaged in a bloody battle. With this will firmly in command, I thrust the barbell upward with the power of an Apollo rocket.
A new personal record was set! More importantly, I learned that it is possible to have a great workout, even if your day hasn’t gone so well, and even if you are temporarily drowning in self pity.