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What means to be Tough and Hardcore

hugerobb

hugerobb

VIP Strength Advisor
Sep 15, 2010
2,027
56
what it means to be tough and hardcore
many times i'm sure people have asked this question either to themselves or to others such as friends and colleagues. feelings of self doubt, self consciousness and feeling the need to please everyone also seem to enter the fray when it comes to this.

after being in the game in and out since 1980, i have seen several things, and things tough competitors have had to put up with in addition to training, the war in Iraq, Afghanistan, the economy going bad, needing to find a job to sustain themselves and their families, loss and death of close friends, etc.

to competitors out there, and those who want to take it to the next level will probably know exactly what i mean when i say this, "what started out as fun and games, to be big to impress friends and girls, all of a sudden became a serious endeavor, which time had to be carefully allotted to get training done, in addition to working a job that makes enough money to sustain competitive eating, training at gym, equipment, and supporting your family as well."

Dare i say it, the stronger and bigger i became, the more humble i became, and the more i avoided socializing too much and trying hard to be the center of attention, because deep down i knew all those were distractions, that in the end just wasted my time, and caused jealousy and hate amongst others. Most big guys or giants amongst men as some would put it when speaking of competitive strongmen and powerlifters, usually are homebody's and don't party and go out that much, cause they know they will just be a target for hate and envy amongst smaller men yet at the same time loved and cherished by women for being extraordinary, and usually CAREFULLY select friends to hang out with, and so forth.

I notice this attitude the most when i train in commercial gyms, training nowadays in a competitive gym is a privilege, as strongman/powerlifting, are not considered mainstream sports, and as such unlike spoiled NFL players, we don't get to do this full time, we don't have a psychology coach, free massage therapy/ access to oxygen chambers to improve our breathing, or better yet, OUR OWN TRAINING FACILITY AND COMPOUND IN WHICH TO TRAIN IN, free of average/sub-average joe's that have nothing better to do than distract us with their b.s. and complain to management when we train "competitively".

This is something i'm sure all competitive lifters had to deal with at one point. We use the gym or as i like to call it Training Compound to "train", with a set goal in mind, to be the best in a competition, peak out, etc. we aren't interested in socializing with anyone or to create a scene. It can be rather annoying to us, when people stare at us, make comments of us trying to show off, or complain to management and say we create an intimidating atmosphere, and say we're crazy just because we rack deadlift 500 pounds 12 inches off a floor, which is simply just us doing our job, and nothing more.

This are the things that makes competitive lifters have to be hardcore, it would be too easy to give up and not train under such circumstances, but a competitive lifter can always make their own gym, train elsewhere, or better yet train in their own house with carefully selected professional grade equipment.

To me this what being tough and hardcore is all about, i have to say people like us are WAY MORE MENTALLY TOUGH AND HARDCORE, than spoiled pro athletes, and/or guys on t.v. with supplement contracts and so forth, because they get to train at carefully selected atmospheres while avoiding reality, and when they do face it after their sheltered life of media coverage and being on magazines, they become has beens and no one ever hears of them.
 

ajdos

Friends Remembered
Sep 8, 2010
2,282
399
Great post-I have felt those same things and thought those same things many times. My gym is mostly avg joes with no clue, maybe a handful of dedicated lifters who are goal oriented and living the lifestyle. Luckily my friend of 14 years is co-owner and another friend of mine of 12 years is the manager so the bs complaints get dead ended and I am allowed to train competitively.
The haters in the gym are mostly just punk asses who know they dont have the will power and work ethic so they whisper 'I could do that if I was taking juice'...truth is I could give them 5 grams of test 200mg of dbol a day, and GH out the ying yang and they would only look slightly better than they do at present, because there is so much more to this endeavor than lifting and taking supplements/drugs...it is a lifestyle that demands 24 hrs a day of your life, eating, cooking, cleaning, working, sleeping, repeating.
Most people cannot handle the discipline needed to eek out a couple pounds of muscle, they want it easy, for bbers and hardcore lifters part of the satisfaction of the gains is knowing how much work it took to get them and that only a few have the fortitude to push themselves to that level to gain them.
Great post hugerobb, I really enjoyed that.
 
Deacon

Deacon

Old School Meso Vet
Oct 29, 2010
135
2
what it means to be tough and hardcore
many times i'm sure people have asked this question either to themselves or to others such as friends and colleagues. feelings of self doubt, self consciousness and feeling the need to please everyone also seem to enter the fray when it comes to this.

after being in the game in and out since 1980, i have seen several things, and things tough competitors have had to put up with in addition to training, the war in Iraq, Afghanistan, the economy going bad, needing to find a job to sustain themselves and their families, loss and death of close friends, etc.

to competitors out there, and those who want to take it to the next level will probably know exactly what i mean when i say this, "what started out as fun and games, to be big to impress friends and girls, all of a sudden became a serious endeavor, which time had to be carefully allotted to get training done, in addition to working a job that makes enough money to sustain competitive eating, training at gym, equipment, and supporting your family as well."

Dare i say it, the stronger and bigger i became, the more humble i became, and the more i avoided socializing too much and trying hard to be the center of attention, because deep down i knew all those were distractions, that in the end just wasted my time, and caused jealousy and hate amongst others. Most big guys or giants amongst men as some would put it when speaking of competitive strongmen and powerlifters, usually are homebody's and don't party and go out that much, cause they know they will just be a target for hate and envy amongst smaller men yet at the same time loved and cherished by women for being extraordinary, and usually CAREFULLY select friends to hang out with, and so forth.

I notice this attitude the most when i train in commercial gyms, training nowadays in a competitive gym is a privilege, as strongman/powerlifting, are not considered mainstream sports, and as such unlike spoiled NFL players, we don't get to do this full time, we don't have a psychology coach, free massage therapy/ access to oxygen chambers to improve our breathing, or better yet, OUR OWN TRAINING FACILITY AND COMPOUND IN WHICH TO TRAIN IN, free of average/sub-average joe's that have nothing better to do than distract us with their b.s. and complain to management when we train "competitively".

This is something i'm sure all competitive lifters had to deal with at one point. We use the gym or as i like to call it Training Compound to "train", with a set goal in mind, to be the best in a competition, peak out, etc. we aren't interested in socializing with anyone or to create a scene. It can be rather annoying to us, when people stare at us, make comments of us trying to show off, or complain to management and say we create an intimidating atmosphere, and say we're crazy just because we rack deadlift 500 pounds 12 inches off a floor, which is simply just us doing our job, and nothing more.

This are the things that makes competitive lifters have to be hardcore, it would be too easy to give up and not train under such circumstances, but a competitive lifter can always make their own gym, train elsewhere, or better yet train in their own house with carefully selected professional grade equipment.

To me this what being tough and hardcore is all about, i have to say people like us are WAY MORE MENTALLY TOUGH AND HARDCORE, than spoiled pro athletes, and/or guys on t.v. with supplement contracts and so forth, because they get to train at carefully selected atmospheres while avoiding reality, and when they do face it after their sheltered life of media coverage and being on magazines, they become has beens and no one ever hears of them.

damn this was so well said - I would say serious lifters in general no matter what they lift
 
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