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After spending time with Coach Reeve and Coach Istvan Javorek over the weekend while speaking at The NC State Strength Coaches Clinic we spent lots of time speaking about athletes who overcame adversity.
Coach Reeve & Coach Javorek have so many stories and memories of athletes it is awe inspiring.
I've seen my fair share but my experience pales in comparison compared to these two Gentlemen.
Of course, we spoke of wrestlers and olympic weightlifters the most 
These stories of athletes achieving greatness and overcoming adversity reminds me I have MUCH room to grow. Reminds me that YOU have lots of room to grow as well!
These stories remind me to push the envelope in training, not just in how I organize the workouts and make
them more effective, but also through raising the intensity and above all else, getting stronger. So, with these stories fresh in my mind, I went balls out at my gym.
The past 2 weeks of training has been beyond my norm. I can't let this "age thing" be an excuse until I'm 95 years young Was it me vs the weights or simply me battling against myself?
I think you KNOW the answer. My workouts are a battle of will and you need the same battle at least some of the time. That's what I call "REAL World Strength".
A Navy SEAL told me something back when I was only 18 years old, half my life time ago!!! He said the worst thing in life is to lose your edge. "Never lose your edge!"
You need the same mentality because training the body doesn't suffice, you MUST train the mind as well. If you lay in bed at night knowing you left some in the tank or held back in life and lifting, you will NEVER gain that opportunity back. It's gone.... forever.
You need to beat your previous best.... add one more rep or 5 more lbs.
Get more done in less time and take your mind to the next level. Coach Reeve calls this "Density Training" and he was using this in the early 1970's when he was competing as a high school and collegiate wrestler. His wrestling strength and conditioning workouts would crush the average human, heck his wrestling workouts would crush the ABOVE average human!
Coach Reeve wasn't just training his body though, it was mental training as well. Giving himself the edge that he KNEW he trained harder AND better than his competition.
This is what life is ALL about, getting outside your comfort zone....
REMEMBER: Get comfortable being uncomfortable.
Are you always doing low reps? Try high reps for a change.
Always resting 60 seconds? Try resting 30 seconds instead.
Always doing sets of 5? Try ten heavy singles instead.
My legs are crushed from my "Death by Squats" workout. I'm still feeling it.
It was me VS me during that workout. Pushing the set further each time. I wanted to stop at certain points but I took it one rep at a time.
Doing an extra rep each time my body told me not to.
Life is about pushing limits.... Who holds you back, anyway?
Is it everyone around you, or, is it YOU?
Remember, it's YOU vs YOU.
YOU determine the outcome, let no one else tell you otherwise.
When I was 22 or 23 I attended a Tony Robbins seminar. I used my entire pay check to get a front row seat which was over $1,000. back then that was a BIG deal for me.
It was 2 weeks worth of work but man did it change my life FOREVER. I coulda gone the cheaper route and taken a back seat where it was cheaper but I wanted to be UP FRONT, heck NO, I thought to myself when I saw the option for the cheaper seats in the back, back seats ain't my style!
I learned LONG ago that if I am to do anything in life, I should be going for first place and nothing less.
You should be gunning for first place as well. If you don't someone else will take your place.
If you've read my Blog, my e mails and watched my movies long enough, you know I've experienced LOTS of losses in my life. 2nd place sucks and losing in general is nothing to aspire to. I have learned LOTS from my painful mistakes and losses.
But, when it's time to represent for my family and for those I teach, I am proving that you must lead from the front. I am out to WIN and dominate. Period.
I think you should do the same.
Drop your comments / questions below. Looking forward!
In Strength,
--Z--
Recommended Resources:
Underground Strength Coach Certification
How to Kick Ass Business Immersion Weekend
Jeff Herdman | Lessons in Longevity, Compression Performance Gear & Business 
6 Responses
Awesome and inspiring post Zach, once people understand these principles and apply them to their lives the world will be a much better place.
Awesome stuff Zach. I have never been the strongest or fastest athlete in anything I have done. But the lesson I learned early in life is to constantly challenge yourself to be better than before. If you are a wrestler, don’t always drill with the weaker opponent, grab one of the better or bigger guys and roll with him. Same with anything, challenge yourself against bigger and better opponents or heavier weights and force yourself to improve.
To this day, even in 35 and over lacrosse games, I actively seek out the opponents best defender and make sure I’m matched against him. It’s a mental game to make myself better every time. I’m not going to say it works out well for me every time, but I refuse to back down from a challenge. I believe this makes you a stronger person not just physically, but most important mentally. Reminds me of that commercial where it says if you cant be faster, be stronger. If you cant be stronger, be tougher. And toughness in my opinion is the mental aspect that you can control no matter what goes on externally. It is completely up to the individual, and if you can win this battle, the sky is the limit on what anyone accomplish.
Thanks for always keeping me motivated brother. Rich.
Zach-
Awesome words, bro.
I am going to read them again tomorrow.
The older I get the more true those words are.
Keep going my friend as you push us all to new heights
Train Hard!
Brad McLeod
http://www.sealgrinderpt.com
Inspiring words! Applies not only to training your body but the same principles to your business and life. Stepping out of your comfort zone, though hard to do, is the only way to grow. Thanks for the reminder!
Deb
Zach,
I have been reading you off and on for a while and recently visited your site for the first time in a long time. That won’t be happening again. I have a gym and we affiliate this month and reading your stuff and watching what you said about crossfit gets me stoked to have you in the community thanks brother.
Looking forward to learning from you on this blog.
Wow that’s really true. Once I noticed If you always go for the first place you lose a lot of people because they want to have what you have. But is that a bad thing? No, not at all. It’s a nice sideeffect of being a 1st place hunter. It’s like with a lean and strong body which got rid off you all the useless fat.