Note: I woke up this morning with some other guy's worldview. Figured, "why not," and went with the half-full glass. The glass half full. What's it? Saturday? Chicken one day, feathers the next. No matter, Ho ho ho it's the yoyo life for me, Sailor . . . until the string breaks, as they say.
Water, water, everywhere . . .
and not a hyphen in sight.
Here's a bright-n-tight, reworked article that might be worth a re-read and a rewrite now and then . . .
Regardless of what you want to ultimately achieve in life -- no matter where you're going, you will not make it if you don't believe in your own capabilities and potential as a worthwhile human being.
"Luck," regardless of how much people seem to daydream about its magic power, plays a very, very small role, if any, in the attainment of anything in this life worth having.
HARD WORK, and an unrelenting pursuit of one's goals and values is what wins out in the long run.
This is doubly true of body building.
Harry Paschall . . .
and its lesser know twin:
DAMNIT! Where's the one I'm looking for?
HERE:
But these ones are good too . . .
Where in hell were we.
Ah, yes . . .
Harry Paschall once wrote that the primary job of the muscle magazine should be to help the body builder keep at his training, and to offer encouragement in his efforts. This makes an awful lot of sense (and cents as well, even at times for the rare few who refuse to be greedy cunts with big egos and near-empty leaky inner holes).
In essence, I would like to take steps in this direction right here and now with this article.
I often think (I too occasionally fall prey to this malady, but heal from it quickly).
Okay, enough now . . .
I often think that if every fellow who trained with weights would spend half the time that he wastes brooding over the fact that doesn't look like Reg Park on working out, this country might develop a new race of people! The transformation of all these self-pitying might-have-beens into rugged, muscular and athletic humans would certainly be something of a renaissance in the field of physical culture. True, we probably still wouldn't have too many Reg Parks or Bill Pearls around, but we'd have a higher number of fit men with a greater level of strength.
The fact still remains, though . . . this is an individual project.
It's up to every person to take his own life (pardon me?)
into his hands and shape it into the form of this personal ideal -- mentally, spiritually and physically. Nobody could or should force a person to take steps toward self-improvement. The drive and determination has to come from YOU, and it can be pretty tough to put forth a determined effort if deep down you don't believe that you'll improve.
Autosuggestion is one method of aiding you, but sometimes this form of "super concentration" cannot be mustered. Yes, where's the chicken, alls I'm gettin' is feathers today, Buddy.
This is true for all of us, particularly true when a young man is starting out, and he's got about as much muscle and strength on his frame as an anemic anchovy. A microcytic minnow doomed to live with anorexic albacore in a puddle of muddy water leading to nowhere better. For all eternity, no less!
Let me give you an example of what I mean. I started systematic weight training when I was sixteen and so underdeveloped (having a naturally small bone structure), that I was the guy that the 97-pound weaklings picked on! Oh, I was a weak, ugly kid when I was born. The doctor took one look at me and smacked my mother. Then he walked over to my father and said, "We did everything we could but he still pulled through."
I wanted muscles like a cat wants fish. I bought a set of weights and was determined to stick with it and get the kind of build I wanted. My starting poundages were ridiculous. In the squat I used a little over 50 pounds and I
refuse to say what I began curling and pressing.
At any rate, I mention the above to show you that I had (to say the least) plenty of obstacles of a purely physical nature to overcome. Matter of fact, I used an earlier photo of myself on the cover of one of my books.
I told myself that if I'd only stay with it, work hard, and kept adding weights whenever possible, I'd make progress. But there were other obstacles too, obstacles that I've learned many beginners have -- ones that can be much tougher than the physical ones. (This better not be a setup for any "no respect" schtick, Mister.)
I'll mention mine and if you identify with them please don't tear up the magazine and leap into the air in a fit of rage. Hold on, and we'll examine them so that you'll be able to deal with them and progress in spite of them. First, I had a family that all but rolled on the floor in sarcastic and hysterical laughter at the mere mention of my wanting bulging biceps, broad shoulders, powerful legs and back and all-around physical fitness.
I had "friends" who constantly prodded me about being wrapped up in such nonsense. After all, they assured me, those guys with the muscles that ya see on the magazines were born that way. It sounds silly to me now, but it may not sound silly to you if you're a kid who's hoping beyond hope that someday you too (maybe, maybe, maybe!!!) will have a better build.
If you're in this boat now, you know exactly what I'm talking about.
If you're going to overcome psychological obstacles of this nature you simply must have something stronger inside you than the forces that oppose you, and here I do not imply that when the going gets tough, get that liver working overtime.
You won't get it from any musclebuilding course, but you should know what it is and how to use it. It's an unshakeable confidence and belief in your own choice of what you see as a worthwhile goal, not one of
someone else's pressuring you have taken on, durn it!
To digress momentarily to my own case . . . I assure you that there were plenty of times when the caustic remarks and jabs at every effort I'd make presented a greater difficulty than sticking to my training schedule.
After all, the inevitable ups-and-downs of barbell training offer more than enough of a challenge to a guy, without any additional harassment. To a kid who's just experienced the thrill of added muscle on his arms, or who's just had the satisfaction of increasing the poundage in a lift, over time, that's been giving him problems, a sarcastic, "So what . . . big deal . . . so what does that nonsense mean anyway?" can be like a slap in the face AND I KNOW IT CAN.
Sad, sickly salmon-fish with nowhere to go but down
he whispered to his inner self.
Aw, Rodney, don't gives 'er up yet.
But . . . I've also learned this too: If you will just shrug these people off YOU WILL IMPROVE YOURSELF, YOU WILL MAKE IT. You will make it, and don't listen twice to any screwball that regards your self-interest and development as the subject of a joke made at your expense. Keep at the pursuit of your goal, be it a better physique, more strength, the greatest collection of broken shoelaces ever, or seemingly endless and never perfect stacks of words on stacks of paper signifying nothing much to anyone but you. Fucking do it, and damn the rest of 'em.
Keep your eyes clearly fixed on the goals YOU want to achieve.
Remember, when a person chides and ridicules your efforts he's doing it out of jealousy, meanness and/or ignorance and you've got more important things to concern you than misfits who want to discourage you. People who are satisfied with themselves love to stand above and seem to need to belittle and browbeat others. Brush it off, move forward and . . .
before the usual self-righteous know-it-all twats crush you like a bug, smiling all the while and chin-deep in mediocrity and its crippling complacency.
Written instruction is in a sense a limited means of communication (as, ultimately, all words are in their very elusive illusive nature . . . hey, it could be worse. you could be a blind worm on the end of a hook, thinkin' he's gettin' taken out for a nice day at the lake). The words here appear less forceful than they would if I were speaking to you personally. Consider then, that if I were personally instructing you, I'd have grabbed you by the shoulders and shaken you out of your slump. I'd have yelled, ranted and raved until I got the point across to you, and listen up, Mister, I didn't just read The Death Dealer's Manual, I WROTE the damn thing!
The purpose of this article is to guide and encourage you along the road ridden toward your goal, this one never rote-written, but you can only be guided as far as YOU YOURSELF are willing to go. And I think you know this is a worthy goal, or you wouldn't have read this far. Don't succumb to outside influences that urge you to give up what may be one of the most rewarding activities you'll ever take part in.
These remarks are primarily addressed to the newcomer (and the more experienced trainee who may have temporarily become cynical and embittered at this point and I blame them damnable skinny fish for this). It has been directed at ANY OF YOU who might be having some difficulty finding a meaningful reason for lifting and continuing to do so.
Keep at it. It's well worth it, and
the alternative sucks, trust me.
Keep at it, despite any remarks from others
or your own internal self-hate occurrences.
Keep At It, despite those "well-meaning" know-it-alls who
pretend to know what's best for bloody everyone
but who really couldn't care less about YOU.
KEEP AT IT, because you know within yourself,
deep down . . . that it's a goal worth achieving
and reaching for.
DO NOT let ANYONE tell you it isn't.
Enjoy Your Lifting!
And stop imagining what Bukowski and Dangerfield
would write if they were both housed within
one person's mind for a time.
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