Why I Don’t Want to Power Clean 315 Pounds By
Dan John
Do you think that motivation is a fundamental issue
when it comes to successful exercise or athletic training programs? I don’t.
In fact, I KNOW it isn’t!
How can I say this?
Easily, often, without hesitation, and with supreme confidence.
Look: You are exactly where you want to be right
now. You’ve already taken the
steps necessary to achieve your station in life. Even if you know you could be much leaner,
stronger, faster (or whatever trait or quality that applies most to you) than
you are.
Now you might say: AWell,
that’s not true, I know someone who is 100 pounds overweight and he’s
miserable!@
To which I say, no, he’s satisfied. Clearly, the benefit he’s deriving from his
behaviors still outweighs the drawbacks, or else he’d change those behaviors!
OK, let’s use me as an example. I’m reasonably lean and my goals revolve
around physical capacity-- strength, speed, and so on. And I’ve got a particular affection for the
power clean, probably because I’m fairly good at it relative to other
lifts. Anyway, I sometimes catch myself
telling someone that I’d Alove@ to be able to power clean 315 pounds (my current best
is 275 pounds).
But whenever I say that, I’m lying. Why?
Because, quite simply, if I REALLY wanted a 315 power clean, I
would have already taken the steps necessary to accomplish that particular feat.
Now if I wanted to find excuses for my inability to
clean 315, I could probably find them. I’m
44 years old. I’ve had several very
serious knee surgeries. I’m
ectomorphic. I don’t use
performance-enhancing drugs. I got
picked on a lot when I was in elementary school. Come to think of it, this could end up being
a pretty big list!
I’m not really interested in excuses though. The fact is, I’m healthy, knowledgeable,
athletic, my profession provides me with ample time and energy to train, I know
lots of great Olympic weight lifters and coaches, I have a great gym right in
my home.... OK, this can potentially be a bigger list than the excuses list!
Which leads me to the following conclusion:
I don’t really want to have a 315 power clean.
Man, that really hurt.
But you know what? It’s
absolutely true. I simply cannot escape
the plain fact that I have not done what it takes to achieve a 315 pound
clean. Perhaps, someday I will, but for
now, it’s obvious to me that the enjoyment I get from not having to train
in a way that would permit me to clean 315 pounds outweighs the enjoyment from
being able to actually do a 315 clean.
And that’s OK!
And there’s a great lesson here: maybe some of your goals aren’t
appropriate for you, because they don’t really mean enough for you to take
action.
Question: What’s your #1 goal? Right now.
Do you have one?
Statistically, you probably don’t. But if you do, here’s what I’d like to have
you consider: how important is that goal to you? Have you arranged your entire life in a
way that supports your accomplishment of that goal?
I certainly haven’t (in the case of the 315 pound
power clean).
This article is primarily meant to inspire some
self-analysis, not to provide hard and fast answers. However, if you’d like some avenues to pursue
some serious reflection, here are a few:
1. Develop self-reliant behavior, create the mind
set that all of your limitations are self-imposed (because they almost
certainly are).
2. Get out of your comfort zone, and find a way to
enjoy it. When your stomach is
growling because you’re hungry, think: APerfect! This is what I need to experience if I’m
going to drop that extra body fat!@
3. Find out what works, and then do more of
it. Find out what’s derailing your
efforts, and do less of that.
4. Cultivate
dissatisfaction. After all, that’s
why you’re where you are now, you’re satisfied with it.
5. Seek out and cultivate empowering personal
relationships. The people you spend
the most time with have a profound effect on your life. Make sure it’s a profoundly POSITIVE effect.
Perhaps you’re thinking that the psychology of
motivation is a lot more involved than the way I’ve presented it here. Of course, people who are excuse-makers
always think that way. As long as you’ve
got enough reasons why you can’t succeed, you never will!
NOTE: While this was written concerning weight
lifting, the ideas are just as applicable to distance running, hurdling,
sprinting, throwing, getting good grades, or being a Asuccess@ in any
endeavor. Are you really willing to
sacrifice to gain the rewards that can be gained as a result of the
commitment? Or, are you satisfied with
just talking about some lofty
goals?
