POWERLIFTING IS NOT AN ENTRY LEVEL POSITION.

"You don’t love everybody indiscriminately. You love only those who deserve it.

And then if a man is weak or a woman is weak then she is beyond, he is beyond love?

He certainly does not deserve it. He certainly is beyond......but
he can always correct it. Man has free will. If a man wants love he should correct his weaknesses or his flaws and he may deserve it, but he cannot expect the unearned either in love nor in money, neither matter nor spiritual." - Ayn Rand

True powerlifters are veterans of the weight room. They are experienced lifters who have travelled for many years to achieve an effective operating level. They have spent large portions of their fitness journey in the gym, building muscle, gaining good weight, and getting stronger. All while making minor mistakes which they learn and build from, further cementing their muscular and mental foundation.

They have put in the footwork by going to ANY gym, researching weightlifting publications, pouring over fitness articles, flipping pages of bodybuilding magazines, doing too much bench and bis, running too much, talking to people that look better than them, absorbing knowledge, learning about nutrition that sustains developments. These are the dues smarter, stronger lifters pay to enter another realm of self improvement.

The first two years of actually giving a shit about weightlifting with no relapsing is called Muscle Puberty. It's awkward, strange, exciting, and different, just like actual puberty! You feel things you have never felt. You look at people differently. You make a shit load of embarssing mistakes and you make them often. But throughout the transformation you learn a lot. It is an education that cannot be replicated in any form. You cant teach that exploration to anyone. You learn more from your failures than your successes in this phase and on the other side crawls out a man who is seasoned and primed.

Every person who commits their energy to being stronger and healthier MUST GO THROUGH MUSCLE PUBERTY. No man on earth gets to bypass the sloppy, awkward 10-pump chump getting movie theater hand jobs and goes straight to long lasting sex with beautiful babes in their own apartment. That right is earned, not given.

I love IG and credit much of my success in the gym to people I have met and the workouts they share. The problem with IG though is it gives power to any ass hat with a passing interest in weightlifting the ability to identify as a powerlifter. This has eroded the respectability of this incredibly difficult sport. The market is flooded with doily knobs and undeserved egos. They are overtaking powerlifting. Attempting to create a bastardized, user-friendly version. What I see is basically the mass exodus of people jumping off the cross-fit train because that trend is over. Onto the next thing which unfortunately is powerlifting. 

I pin the infestation of mediocrity on three distinct features of powerlifting.

THREE REASONS POWERLIFTING APPEALS TO SOFT BODIES:

1. It's perceived simplicity. 

"Only 3 maaaaybe 4 lifts? lots of rest? I can eat like an asshole? fuck yeah, I powerlift now!"

It's not three lifts, its three lifts dissected, focused, and flawlessly executed with extreme precision. You don't just do the exercise, a powerlifter masters them. Powerlifting is not simple, you are simple. And weak if you latch onto this sport because it looks easy and doesn't leave you in a lasting pain of labored breathing, screaming muscles, and enduring uncomfort. Don't pin your intrinsic shortcomings onto this sport. Believe it or not you can be a powerlifter AND a hard working weightlifter. Who created this bullshit rule of only being one thing? Where is this lie coming from? You don't walk into a gym on day one and point to a picture like you're getting a haircut saying "that is who I am going to be and nothing else." To quote Patrick Bateman "because I want to FIT IN."

2. It's G-rated inclusive community vibes welcoming any idiot without credentials.

This is my least favorite aspect of the PL community takeover by vanilla mediums. Being competitive and sincerely truthful is not a flawed trait. The climate of "WE ALL SUPPORT EACH OTHER. EVERYONE'S A WINNER. NO ONE LOSES WHEN WE GIVE IT OUR BEST" is toxic. fuuuuuuck you. Get out of this echo chamber before you lose your hearing. Can I get some accountability please? Is it out of season?

If someone's lifts are shitty as a friend/teammate it is your obligation to tell them. If someone went to a competition or has become a self identified IG powerlifter personality and performs like wet hot wrinkled blankets in the trunk of a '93 Chevy Malibu they need to be called out. This seems harsh but it comes from a good place. I'm not advocating the "fuck em' let em' fail" mentality. Im saying this heavy petting, safe space, pillow biting, milk drinkers, cuddle club has to end. It's offensive. Positive criticism and owning up to training, diet, and form failures are not negatives. They are realities which force a person to be held accountable of their failures and successes. If I had shit on my face I hope my friends would tell me. If someone is ate up you say "Dude, You are ate up. Stop doing that, maybe try this instead...."

Also, have you competed? No? You are not a powerlifter (STOLEN VALOR!). And even if you have, that doesn't make you a seasoned veteran of the sport. Stop this coach/competitor arrogance you have unjustly adapted. At best you are familiar with powerlifting which is nothing close to absolute. No one qualified for Wimbledon playing games of ping-pong at Dave &Busters.

Keep competition alive. Renew rivalries. Show disdain for your opponents. Don't give a fake, ass-out hug and hand out Hot Pockets. You don't have to like everyone who does what you do. It's ok to create tension. It's the ultimate motivator.

3. Endless options to accessorize. 

Six month old powerlifter walking in the gym on max day.

These "gear-dos" want to belong more than they want to lift (but they will never admit it). This has got to stop. How much shit does one person need to have laid out on the gym floor? Do they have a flight to catch immediately following their third set of two? They are shopping cart bums on a gym floor. Pushing around a bizarre/haggard collection of useless bullshit which requires more effort to hold onto than put away until it's needed.

You are not a fucking powerlifter. You are not training, you are maintaining. Treading water. The infestation of shapeless, heavy breathing, rolly polly, lifters flooding the floors with utterly useless hi-speed gear far beyond their skill level is reaching critical mass. Mastering the big three is crucial and should show in up in everyone's workout. However, making the big three a crux of a beginners entire program is simply swindling the cherry lifter from reaching any respectable potential. Drop the barbell and drop down for push-ups.

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HOW CAN YOU FIX THIS?

This applies to more than weight lifting culture, it applies to everything you give a shit about in your life. All organizations, crews, circles, or institutions survive and thrive when all participating members displaying unwavering pride in their craft and community. It is the job of every person to uphold the standard. No special treatment or soft spots. Maintain and enforce expectations of a new face. Educate them on the standard that must be met. Stop throwing parties for every dolt walking into your circle. New people are to be treated as suspect. They are considered irrelevant and meaningless until they have proved themselves else wise. You treat them as outsiders because that is what they are. Exclusivity isn't arrogance, it's authoritative. 

It is not enough to know only your field of responsibility. As a competent leader you must know the responsibility of every person under your command. Move as one, communicate as one, strike as one. 

I give you "Expectations of a Cherry" the definitive guide to behavior traits that should be displayed when a new face shows up. If you are a new guy print these and commit them to memory. If you have new guys coming into your fold, watch for these. Every new turd should be vetted and approved by the majority of your establishment.

Expectations of a Cherry:

-Shut the fuck up (the most important one)

-Keep your head down, your eyes open, and your ears up. 

-Assume anyone who talks to you is better, stronger, and smarter than you.

-Clean up

-Leave no trace.

-Work harder than everyone.

-Stay longer than anyone.

-Respect everyone.

-Never feel comfortable. If you feel comfortable you are wrong.

-You are expendable and replaceable.

-You are to give everything and expect nothing.

-You are entitled to nothing.

-Take everything seriously and nothing personal

-Prove your worth

-Give others a reason to need you

-If you don't belong then don't be long.

and finally 

-Don't fucking quit.

This basic day one shit, men. Those who don't apply these expectations are letting strangers with full bladders in their house ready to piss on that unbelievably comfortable Crate & Barrel couch. They will destroy standards ultimately making a mockery of your institution. They are termites in a house. Invasive, greedy, and having a field day eating away the foundation of what you built. It's not easily seen sometimes but it must be addressed immediately. If everyone who does "their own thing" lives without fear of reprimand, they will get comfortable and breed. (gross). Their offspring will inherit these bad habit genetics. Creating an endless feedback loop of garbage in, garbage out. It will ultimately become overridden with sloppiness, selfishness, and mediocrity. Ending with the entire building condemned by the city. An empty shell of its former beauty.

REMEMBER: There is nothing wrong with being a new guy. It's OK if you don't everything. The fastest way to retain knowledge and gain experience is accepting the reality that you don't know what you are doing. Don't be afraid to be vocal about it either. Everyone is a new guy across their entire lifetime. You are new! You are suppose to know nothing that's the best part of being new. Play your part until you get promoted. 

"Those who are not strong

give up and turn to religion, nationalism, democracy,

or some other form of escape." 

- Thus Spoke Zarathustra