I am always finding inspiration.
For some reason, everything I see inspires me in some shape or form.
I am inspired to be better than I currently am as well as to not be like the things I see that bother me.
I've tried to change, to calm down, to be less intense or less serious or even less passionate but it lasts very little. I'm just not a calm guy who lets things slide. I'm intense, passionate and fired up.
It's like telling Dan Gable to stop being so intense. It doesn't work. It will never work. Your gut instincts will always tell you what is right vs wrong. Hard work is NOT a crime and neither is encouraging and even pushing people to work hard.
I explain more in this Video....
[youtube width="640" height="360"]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DV3nevi_qOc[/youtube]
Since the filming of this Video I wanted to share more of what inspires me with hopes that you too will become more inspired in your life.
Here are 2 recent documentaries I've watched. Take it ALL in, get inspired and learn more than merely what you see or hear in these documentaries. There is a LOT of learning between the lines if you catch my drift.
[youtube width="640" height="360"]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ckku5qEt-vA[/youtube]
[youtube width="640" height="360"]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fBfYpoz4Ycs[/youtube]
Random Thoughts:
1) Hard work is a gift, not a punishment.
This is important to understand for your own work / training as well as for parents of athletes. I see a lot of Coaches who are tough and hold a high standard either getting fired or leaving because they can't tolerate people who say "you're too tough".
2) Basic Support Gear When Lifting.
After my ACL surgery about 11 or 12 years ago I went on a "let me only lift what I can lift without support gear" journey. I felt like I was cheating if I wore a weight belt.
It was my personal opinion and an inner challenge I guess. But, every time I spoke w/ Louie Simmons, he reminded me how Football players have uniforms, wrestlers wear head gear, etc.
He questioned why athletes don't use any uniform when lifting. Mark Smelly Bell reminded me that it's stupid to attempt to max out without support gear. Maybe I'm getting smarter as I get older, I hope so, but I've been wearing a belt when I squat when I get 2 or 3 sets in and it feels good. I'll post a video of the belt I prefer to use as well sometime this week on my youtube channel.
3) Reading before you go to bed.
Even if it's just 5 minutes, I highly recommend you read before bed time or at some time during your day. For me, the time before falling asleep is important that I unwind and relax my mind and body. During the night time I don't read books that hype me up. Instead, I read books that put me in a good mind and help my mind fall into a state of optimism, abundance and confidence. Stress before bed time is never good.
4) Bodyweight Lunges for 400 meters
These are just straight up awesome. Cory Gregory of Muscle Pharm inspired me the challenge itself inspires me. The burn you feel in the legs, the mental challenge, the knees feeling better, etc. I love it all.
It's important to keep finding challenges that you love. There is always a new mountain to climb.
5) Box Squats VS Free Squats?
[youtube width="640" height="360"]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ANLp3hRvwYU[/youtube]
6) Get Comfortable Being UNcomfortable
Do this in the gym and most of all, in LIFE.
I recently held my 9th fundraiser for The Leukemia & Lyphoma Society. As the years pass by, we get less younger athletes competing and more adults competing. The younger athletes in high school worry too much about who they can or can't beat in the events.
The adults compete just to challenge them self. They're not too worried about where they rank amongst everyone else.
At the end of the day it's you vs YOU.
Understand that it's perfectly OK to be nervous about competing. BUT, find a way to harness your nervous energy or fear and learn to make it work FOR you, not against you.
Competition pushes you to train hard, here's some prep footage of us as we approach The LIFT STRONG Fundraiser through the years....
[youtube width="640" height="360"]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9eaW_SsY40s[/youtube]
600 lb Tire Flips from 2011
[youtube width="640" height="360"]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-TJKZh4gRzE[/youtube]
7) Business Advice from a Multi, Multi, Multi Millionaire....
I had a meeting with a very smart business man and he said to me, you can't make every decision based on money or you'll lose. And, you can't make every decision based on your emotions or you'll lose.
Sounds like simple advice but sometimes in business we get too far on one end of the spectrum or the other. There is some sort of a balance amongst it all. Somewhere......
Got questions on my training or anything pertaining to these Videos?
Post in the comment section below.
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9 Responses
Great post Zach! Thanks for sharing
Munsey, thnx, home boy. Hope you’re crushing shyt!
Tremendous post, Z!
Got to keep stoking the fire within!
I am PSYCHED to see you in May at the cert, brotha!!
Achieving true strength is a mind game. This is as true inside as it is outside of the gym.
Zach, your inspirational posts affirm the reality that our greatest competitor is our self. Highlighting this, walking the walk, and setting an example as someone who does the work – day in and day out – defines a successful life.
Thanks for hammering home the message that working harder, setting goals, working a little harder still, and making sacrifices – all pay off in a life worth living. Ever meet a truly satisfied, content person who wakes up thinking the world owes him or her a living? Yeah. Me neither.
The Socrates quote is a killer. My God – so true! It is never too late to climb out of the barcalounger, put down the video controller, turn off the TV, reject the mind altering substances and keep passing the biscuits & gravy…and fine tune our machines. It’s all we have. And once you start working the physical, the endorphins boost the mental. At every age. Just start. Then do it a little more.
Keep at it, Zach. You’re fuel.
“The good Lord gave you a body that can stand most anything. It’s your mind you have to convince.”
– Vincent Lombardi
Tim, thank you, thank you, brotha! I never would have known the power of the mind unless I went through hell myself, and, seeing all the athletes I train, the most successful athletes have the best attitude and they believe in themselves….
They harness nervous energy into strength….
They face challenges rather than run from them….
I take responsibility instead of making excuses….
These things hold true for the young and the old, age never discriminates against a weak or strong mind but the FIRST step towards success is deciding you WILL get it, from there, the mind changes for the better.
Zach,
another solid post. As a working father of two, I appreciated the mention of making lunches at night! Good stuff; definitely need to check out “Undefeated”!
Pritch, lunches at night, or, up early for the wifey to make her coffee and lunch as well, ha ha
I’m ALL good w/ that, I know and my family knows they can count on me to get the job done and those little things count 🙂
That podcast with Mr. Corey and Barbell Shrugged was AWESOME!!!!
400m Lunge is a legit workout!