I had originally planned to start a blog with my first writing being titled “Who is Pittstop Strength?” But today while I was outside cutting my dense, sopping wet grass I realized that there was a more pressing issue to address, and who I am could wait.
I’ve happily made my home, personally and for my gym, in Crown Point, IN, with the larger region being known as NWI. And if you’re local you know but if you heard on the news, Tuesday August 11th we were a part of one of the more devastating storms this area has seen. There was a statistic that out of some 500,000 NIPSCO customers, which is the local electric company, about 350,000-400,000 customers were without power. But more than that they were left looking at the damage caused to their homes, garages, sheds, pools, even trampolines.
Within the minutes to hours after the storm, I was flooded with text messages and phone calls to make sure that I was okay and the sentiment that was very consistent was the phrase, “it could always be worse, you’re alive that’s all that matters.” And that couldn’t be truer when you think about what really counts in life. Even before the storm ended completely, my neighbors and I were out on our front lawns, assessing where to start. And I will tell you if you’re looking for a quick way to meet all your neighbors just wait for the biggest storm your area has seen. You’ll be in the group chat in no time!
And as we go on day six without power, I’m thinking a lot about strength and perseverance as I’m out here cutting my grass only getting 3 to 4 passes before I have to empty the heavy bag. The household chore turned into one of the more intense prowler workouts I’ve done lately. And then the thought comes again. “It could always be worse.”
The problem with that is, I think we have moved to a casual thought process with that phrase. I’m 35 years old; I might not be as strong as I was in high school but I’m still walking upright, so it could be worse. I’m 50 years old; it hurts a bit to walk up and down the stairs but haven’t needed a knee or hip replaced yet, so it could be worse. I’m 70 years old time to sell my house and look for a one-story ranch with little to no stairs. At least I’m not in an assisted living home yet, so I guess it could be worse. These examples could go on forever, and they would all be true. But we’ve gotten comfortable with the comparison to the more detrimental rather than striving for the more favorable circumstance. What if I told you there was a way to reframe your thought process from, “It could always be worse” to… “I’m making it better.”
After a full day of moving tree limbs and branches, picking up heavy generators and raking all the leaves we could, I realized that’s exactly what those around me did that day. We knew it could’ve been worse, but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t our job to make it better.
So how in the world does this apply to strength training and why is it even worth mentioning to the average individual? Because we are who NEED it the most. Young kids getting used to how their bodies move and how to produce force. Young to middle-aged adults need to take advantage of that window to fuel their physical 401k not just their IRA accounts. And aging to older adults need to understand that you have not missed the window to get stronger.
Strength is your ability to produce force against an external resistance. Depending on your starting point your body may very well be the only resistance you need at first, but you will reach diminishing returns rather quickly. That’s why a barbell is so effective. Machines work just fine, dumbbells and kettlebells carry additional load, and all these tools can get you stronger, but there are tradeoffs. Machines dictate your movement patterns, so you are controlled by what the machine asks of you. And because of the way they’re designed working through a full range of motion against gravity is pretty much impossible. Dumbbells and kettlebells can be awkward to progress in a progressively heavy manner and very likely aren’t incrementally loadable. But I will cover this in another blog.
Now coming full circle, how does this make anything better? Here’s a real-world example to the devastating storm above. If I can deadlift 200 pounds (stay with me here it’s just an example) and the huge tree limb blocking my driveway or on top of my car weighs ~ 100 pounds, so 50% of my max, then I can likely get the limb away from my driveway with some effort. But if I increase my deadlift to 300 or even 400 pounds then moving that 100# tree limb becomes a much less demanding task relative to my capacity. The tree limb didn’t get any lighter; I’ve simply increased the amount of strength I have available to deal with it.
Even more comparable to real life as an aging adult, say you had to get on the ground or in your crawl space during the storm. When it passes and it’s time to stand up or rise from the crawl space do you have the relative strength to stand yourself up and navigate the debris and rubble without fear of falling over it? Simply learning how to coordinate your body and muscle mass to contract as hard as possible is where barbell strength training begins. I am not here to talk you into a powerlifting meet, I am here to show you that the competition of life is the perfect stage. All these points could be a post all on their own, and they may be at some point; however, hearing those words repeatedly this past week struck a nerve with me. Life doesn’t necessarily get easier – by getting stronger we just become more capable of handling what life throws at us. They were all correct, it could’ve very well been much worse. The question is… if you had the option… would you MAKE IT BETTER?
