Live, Learn, and Pass on

Live, Learn, and Pass on. 

It's a saying I've been thinking about a lot the past few days. The first time I heard it, I was at a presentation at the Elitefts Learn to Train Seminar. At the time I just thought it was just another bullshit phrase that someone came up with. I didn't really think about it at all. Now though? I can't stop. It's eating me up. So this is what it means to me.


When live you DO things. This is when you're in the weightroom busting your ass. This is when you sweat and you bleed. All for what? Well I can't tell you what motivates you. You are the only person that knows. I can tell you what motivates me, however. My progress motivates me. Seeing somebody do something better than me motivates me. Winning motivates me. Failing motivates. Hell, losing just pisses me off and makes me want to do better.

While you live, you learn. You learn the in's and out's of powerlifting. You learn what different periodization schemes are. You learn about different training programs, like sheiko, block, and conjugate. You start to figure out what works for you and what doesn't. You learn all of this while you live, but I guarantee you didn't learn it all on your own. You probably didn't go out and read all of Supertraining and The Science and Practice of Training. No I'm willing to bet my left nut somebody, whether they were on the internet or in person, helped guide you through it with either an article, a video, or they took you under their wing and taught you what they knew.

This is where pass on comes into the picture. I wouldn't be where I'm at without the help of a few people. Hell, I can't even say it was a few people. The big ones are my stepfather and Curtis Garrison. Without Joe, my stepfather, I would probably have never set foot in a gym except for when my coaches in High School made me go. He taught me all the basics. If you have ever tried teaching someone the bare-bones basics of weightlifting, you understand how frustrating it can be. Especially if they are a know-it-all, like I was.