The Philosophy of Iron

Deadlift training at any age can put you in a euphoric zone.

For some of us, training is a painful event that we just need to complete.  For the more sadistic, this can become a bizarre game of pushing beyond realistic boundaries in order to feel unique or powerful.  And yet for others it is a blissful, almost euphoric state entered at least 2 to 3 times each week.  
It seems that how you personally view your training can influence its benefits over your lifespan.  


There is already evidence that your mindset impacts your health with regards to exercise.  In the 2007 Harvard University study, Mind-Set Matters by Alia J. Crum and Ellen J. Langer, an experiment to test whether mind-set regulated the relationship between health and exercise concluded that one's mind-set exerted a definitive, measurable effect on exercise / behavior and ultimately health.  Other studies point to a correlation between the correct mind-set and training longevity. While it is this author's opinion that there are still too many factors to consider for any of these studies to conclusively show what the "correct mind-set" is, those of us who have been consistently training for decades have our own rules of thumb.  

When I train, I tend to behave like a pit-bull with a new chew toy.  I am intensely focused on the task at hand and I try to avoid interruptions while in that state of mind.  
I am not psyching up or ignoring others.  I'm just focusing on my technique and trying to feel everything that's happening. This is my daily or tactical mind-set.  I'm not saying that you can't have a word or two with an associate during a rest period.  I'm saying you should have your goal of executing perfect technique on every movement for that day at the forefront of your thoughts.  It is your top priority in the gym. Everything else is secondary to that.  

My long-term or strategic mind-set comes into play when I plan my training around competitions or realistic goals.  It involves logically scheduling deload weeks based on my age and ability to recuperate from whatever type of training I'm doing at the time.  It requires that I understand the relationship between volume and intensity so that I load without incurring lots of injuries.  It means studying the underlying principles of general adaption, specific adaptation to imposed demands, protein synthesis, peaking, and every piece that makes up the whole of my discipline.  Or at the very least, it means adapting a generic training template for my own use that doesn't digress from the principles listed above.  

It is important to point out that you must also choose your long-term goals logically.  I could have goals of being the top ranked 148lbs powerlifter in the world AND winning the Boston Marathon.  Unfortunately, the training for each of these is completely different and would negatively impact each other.  I could be so gifted that I might still succeed at both, but the point is that it would always be more efficient for me to CHOOSE ONE.  
Then I focus on that goal until its fruition.  Keep this in mind when you train.  If you want to have a six pack then focus on everything that moves you to that goal.  If you want a 400lbs bench press then forget about the six pack and focus on what moves you to THAT goal.  The training is not the same. 
It cannot be because of the body's specific adaptations to the stimulus we thrust upon it.  Get greedy with your goals and you'll fail to reach all of them.

While in the gym, you focus on the tactical mind-set because you can't climb a mountain looking at the peak.  Try it and you'll end up walking off a cliff.  
In the spaces in between training bouts, you focus on the strategic mind-set because you can easily lose your way to the peak if you don't check your location with a compass and map from time to time.  
Remember that you are on a mission and move toward your goals whenever possible.  That mindset of calmly driving toward a goal with the confidence that you will get there is what you want.

If you take a look around your average commercial gym, you'll eventually find a small number of people who seem to be fixtures.  They are always there at their scheduled times.
They live in the same town, work in the same industries, and have children in the same schools as you.  
Yet they somehow manage to always make it in to train on time all the time.
Rarely will you see them doing an imperfect snatch overhead while standing on a bonsu ball followed by multiple burpees and flopping around on a chin up bar like a fish or some other nonsense.  They move from exercise to exercise with purpose.  Their training usually takes about an hour.  To the untrained eye, it looks like they are practicing the exercises with much less weight than necessary.  They don't appear to be straining or in pain. They look almost as if in a focused, trance-like state of mind.  They are polite enough to spot you on a final set to failure, but won't join in on the conversation about last night's game.  Ask them if you hit depth on your squat and they'll tell you to squat lower, sit back, or that the bar is too high on your back.  They come in wearing whatever old clothes they have because they don't trend to gym fashions.  They have a deeper purpose.  This is the philosophy of iron and it turns average people into juggernauts.  

Stay Strong!