Elliott Hulse said it first. I stumbled on Elliott through my friend @julianalexander and the videos from Real Social Dynamics (RSD). The mantra become the strongest version of yourself appealed to me. In this post we will look at one element of this mantra: Physical Strength.

Watch this video to get in the right mood for this post ;)

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The contents of this post:

1. My life before lifting
2. Learning how to lift
3. Philosophy of strength training
4. Goals & benefits
5. Sources to check out
6. Conclusion

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My life before lifting

I was always a sporty person. Early in life I did gymnastics and what the Germans call "turnen" (something like floor gymnastics; handstands, roll-backwards, barren and all that good jazz). I did soccer, tennis, swimming and fencing. However, my diet was really poor. At age 7 or so, I decided that green vegetables are just not my thing and refused eating them. In hindsight, I am baffled that I came out of that period without developing diabetes.

In puberty, my interests shifted away from sports and to computer games. Only after going to university and befriending @julianalexander, I rediscovered the joys of physical activity. Julian was into weightlifting, so I tried it out with him and soon got hooked. It just appeared like the most effective way to strengthen the body - bones, nerves and muscles.

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Learning how to lift

What Julian was into was not just going to the gym and aimlessly pumping away at the machines, like most boys our age would do. He explained to me, that the goal of his exercise was not to look swollen, but to increase his strength. Meaning, the amount of weight he was able to move.

When you talk about moving weight with the human body, there is a right way to do it, and about a million wrong ones. Of course there are differences between individuals' body composition, so every squat will look slightly different, but the correct form of performing a lift is basic physics.

The first thing I had to learn, when I started going to the gym with Julian was the correct execution of the movements. Julian's particular program was called Starting Strength and incorporated 4 basic functional movements: the squat, the deadlift, the benchpress and the overhead press. A functional movement means, that more than one muscles group is at work. Isolated training on the other hand focuses exclusively on one muscle - for example, the bicep. The neat thing about functional training is, that most everything can be done with one simple tool: the barbell.

Learning the correct form is the key to becoming stronger. An incorrect technique will result in injuries down the road. So, if you are interested in becoming physically stronger, pick up a barbell, and practice the movements.

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Philosophy of strength training

What I come to appreciate through lifting is the competition with oneself. Starting in the beginning with a blank bar seemed stupid and a little humiliating to me.

"No weights at all? I m not a weakling!".
No, you are not. Nobody said you were. That's not the point.

The point, I learned, was to train a movement pattern into muscle memory. I learned to put my ego aside in the gym and brought myself to ignore the weights of the people around me. Everybody is at their own point in the journey, so it is unfair to compare your weight to somebody else's. It's like apples and oranges.

Over months of regular training, you start to see progress and you set new records. This is the competition I have come to crave. Beating myself is possible - I am stronger today, than I was yesterday/the month before.

Another philosophical learning is consistency.

As with everything in life, consistency is key. One training day in a life, will not make you stronger. 100 days will.

Lifting is so fun for me, that I don't plan on quitting it - ever! I hope when I am in my 70s I still move the barbell.

Lifting is a lifestyle

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Goals & benefits

The most obvious goal and benefit of strength training is an increase in strength - physical strength; the amount of weight I can load up and move. Having only 4 core movements, make it easy to test for improvement. Believe me, when you have been training for about 3 months, you will look in awe at your results. The gains come fast. Strength is not the only thing that increases through training though. It is also healthy for your bone density, your joints and your central nervous system.

This translate into more opportunities in everyday life. Being strong lends functionality to your life. Your body becomes more resilient to injuries. You can move the bed over, if you need to. Opening the peanut butter jar is no longer a problem.

Add to that the boost in confidence. Knowing my physical strength gives me a sense of accomplishment and thereby lifts my self-esteem. Not to mention the physical exhaustion through the workout helps alleviate aggression.

Good and healthy looks are another nice side benefit.

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Sources to check out

In my lifting journey, I mostly used the internet as a knowledge source. Here I want to share some important sites and channels:

Inventor of "Become the Strongest Version of Yourself"

• Elliott Hulse - he does Strength Camp and has gone through a very interesting transformation, that is all visible on YouTube. I highly recommend all of his content.

Inventor of Starting Strength

• The Art of Manliness feat. Mark Riptoe - an awesome playlist for beginners of 5x5 Starting Strength. They go into a lot of detail. Mark Riptoe is also the originator of the Starting Strength program. Here the Introduction Video:

Stay Limber

• Joe DeFranco - he coaches Triple H from RAW and has really neat content. Especially recommend his Limber11 Flexibility Exercise

Generating a workout plan

• To generate my workouts I use the site Strength Standards. Just enter your One Rep Maxes (the most weight you can correctly move one time) and select your workout method - if you are a beginner I suggest 5x5 Starting Strength. Your workout will then be calculated.

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Conclusion

Starting Strength has changed for my life for the better. I am stronger now, more confident, healthier, can correctly use my strength in everyday situations, I am more disciplined and have learned a lot about human physiology.

Lifting is an experiment, that I recommend to everybody. Male, female, old or young. It is never too late to start, and you will be surprised how fast you will progress.

Make yourself stronger!

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