Don't Be Cheap

Nothing says "expensive taste" like a quality handlebar mustache....
 

People are always looking for the best deal when it comes to shopping.  How can I get the most for the least amount of money?  Heck we will even spend money on things we don’t need just because it’s on “sale”.  We feel good about the purchase; we feel like we accomplished something because we managed to obtain something at a price below what the particular product was actually worth.  We avoid what will cost us and seek out what we can afford. 

   Frugality is certainly commendable… when it comes to shopping.  But this same mentality can be detrimental inside the gym.  While efficiency in movement is held in such high regard (and rightfully so), avoiding those aspects of training that will “cost” us – such as a complex movement or a need to increase the intensity through resistance or speed – in favor of what is “affordable” (READ: easy) will lead us to stagnation and mediocrity. 

   For instance: the snatch and clean and jerk.  These two movements as many of us have come to understand bring about as much frustration as they do joy.  For every one made lift we are perplexed by nine other misses.  For every one PR there are nine setbacks along the way.  For every one day we think “I finally get it!” there are nine days where we feel like “What the hell am I doing…?” 

   These lifts cost us.  They cost us time to dedicate ourselves to learning the technique.  They cost us time away from friends and family.  They cost us attention and a laser beam like focus.   They cost us pain as we struggle to get under heavy weights and stand them up tall above our heads.  They cost us anguish as we try to figure out where we went wrong and what needs improvement.  They are expensive, and many of us are not willing to pay that price.  We look for cheaper options, we look for something that we THINK will provide us the same value but will not cost so much.  We run.  We do half squats with lighter weight.  We do cardio.  And more cardio.  And even more cardio.  Anything to convince ourselves that we are getting the same value as those two lifts, but at a cheaper price.

   Trust me.  You are not. 

   We don’t train all of our members here at the Attitude Nation in weightlifting because we think the sport is fun.  I have seen Jon and Donny and Jessica train daily… believe me, it does NOT look fun.  We do not train the lifts to impress, or to show off our knowledge.  We train our members – ALL of our members – to learn these movements because we know from an overall strength, power, coordination, flexibility, stability, and developer of true core strength there are NO BETTER movements.  Regardless of skill level we are going to take you through the progressions, ingraining the technique into your mind and training your motor patterns to duplicate these movements under stress.  This training – although costly - will reap more benefits than anything else you could do in the gym. 

   Not only are these lifts the most beneficial from a physiological point of view, but there is a psychological benefit as well. 

   If you have smoked a snatch PR after nine or ten failed attempts before, you know exactly what I am talking about.  If not, there is no point in explaining because you cannot possibly understand that kind of satisfaction. 

   And no doing 150 wall balls for time is NOT the same thing.

   If you are serious about your training – no matter what your experience and skill level – do not make the mistake of settling for “cheaper” exercises that will cost you little and provide less in return.  Be frugal in the supermarket or at the mall but in the gym strive to drive the biggest car and wear the most expensive jewelry.  Do not stand back and watch others and say “That looks cool I wish I could do that”.  Do not become stagnate in your training but instead journey deep into another world where never before imagined gains await you.  Being mediocre sucks. 

   And nobody who snatches and clean and jerks could ever be mediocre.