Avoiding Hard Work: Your Subconscious, Authority Figures, and the Countless People Rooting Against You

Being a strength coach (or “trainer” if you like that language – YUCK!) is so odd. One of the weird things that happens is people just unload their internal dialogue on you. 

“It’s not like I need to deadlift 400lbs anymore or anything,” a guy will say to me. 

I’ll just nod and change the subject, but let’s get into it. I wasn’t going to turn you into a professional powerlifter during this conversation in the vegetable aisle, but since you brought it up.. 

Four hundred pounds is a random number. It’s not something that needs to be extreme either. Achieving such a feat wouldn’t require that crazy of an effort and, frankly, if you could, you might like how you look and feel. But, you can commit to not deadlift four hundred pounds if you want, I just think what you mean is something else. 

You don’t want to be irresponsible in the gym. You don’t want to get hurt and you don’t want to make lifting weights your whole personality. The thing is.. 

We don’t want any of those things for you either. 

There will never be short supply of people (including yourself) justifying who you should seek safety and avoid hard work. Without glamorizing hustle culture, you can be strong and not succumb to all the reasons you’ve got that make you illegible for such a pursuit.