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.


Curtis was the first ever, real-life powerlifter I had ever met. He pretty much taught me how to bench and squat. I remember one of the first times I squatted with him he showed me how to actually squat and use my belt. My Pr squat going into that session was like 265 pounds. After some[read: a crap load!!!] of technical work and words of motivation, I smoked something like a 285lb squat. Curtis put three wheels on the bar and told me to squat it. And I did. Words cannot describe how I felt. He and his wife are some of the kindest people I know today.

So why am I writing this? To brag about a 315lb squat? No. Its something a little bit more than that. I see a lot of people who go in the gym, and think they're king shit. They don't want people to work in with them, they get frustrated with people who ask questions, or they just sort of exude an air of superiority, when, really, they're just pretty average fish in a small pond. Now I think these people are assholes, but why do I have such a problem with it? It makes skinny, snot-nosed, punk-ass kids like I was (and still kind of am) not want to talk to the "big, strong" guys. It makes them not want to ask for help or they just generalize that whole group of people into jackasses. Not because of fear, as some of these jackasses would hope, but because they think all people are assholes like that guy who told them to piss off.

I'm writing this so that the next time you see someone who is genuinely interested in lifting, be it crossfit, bodybuilding, weightlifting, strongman, or powerlifting, you help them. If they turn out to be a leach, oh well at least you tried. But what if the person you help loves whatever sport you help them with. Everyone who has gotten bit by the iron knows about it. Its a weird obsession/love that makes you risk crippling yourself for it. It makes you not go out and party with your buddies 4 nights a week. It makes you actually plan out what you eat so you can improve. Imagine if you could be the reason someone else felt that way about something. Isn't that pretty cool?

Alex Reiser

The phrase "Live, Learn, Pass On" is solely Elitefts's idea. I only used it for personal interpretation