Old School Lifting - Friend for life

You know when I was younger I learned the hard way that there aren't many pure souls out there. People with a strong moral compass, that never waiver in their commitment  people who are straight up every time. Fortunately I have a couple of lifelong friends that fit this criteria but as I sat there at PTC Perth today it got me thinking about the Iron.

Strength training is like a tonic, it doesn't matter if the weather is crap,that you had a fight with your partner or you are buried in a tonne of work. At the end of the day that cold hard steel bar and those plates are your 'pure friend'. 

The iron is consisten, it persists and never falters. It always asks the best of you.  Fads come and go...crossfit, pilates, Zumba, Tai Bo. Longevity prevails: simple raw strength forged by nothing more complex than a power bar and 20kg plates.

Between sets I watch some of the younger members, guys still in the flush of it all in their 20's. I wonder if they realise the friend they have in this iron. I have watched this sport, this endeavour for 25 years and while much as changed in that time the simplicity of the Iron endures. I wonder if my young friends will still be hitting the weight in 20 years time. Will the passion be there when like me they are juggling work, kids and the myriad of complications that life sends your way. I hope the do, I hope they remember that this is a marathon not a sprint and that these sessions build character as much as they do muscle.

There is nothing more pure that stepping up to a loaded bar with nothing more than blood, guts and willpower. 

Stay Strong 

Thomo