I Am a Genetic Freak...

… well, not really.  Well let me take that back.  I do have certain gifts.  I don’t know which gifts are genetic and which are learned.  I am a decent athlete with a pretty good work ethic.  I also have a pretty good background in different athletic events.  I am however, not built to play center in the NBA.  My mother could have tried the cute little, “you can be anything you want to when you grow up” but that one was pretty destined to be out of the question.  My 5’7” stature is more suited to sell popcorn at the basketball game than to play in it.  Everyone has strengths and weaknesses in every facet of life.  Intellect, physical prowess, sense of humor, and taste in movies are just a few.  I happen to know that Smokey and the Bandit is the single greatest film ever made.  See… great taste in films.  It took me several tries to get a C in college algebra.  Math genius… not so much.  This aside, I do know that we each have strong points and weak points.  What you must do is learn to exploit your gifts and battle your deficiencies.  I have the uncanny ability to just look at food as fuel about 99% of the time.  I however am not a natural barbell snatcher.  In most of my competitions, I was behind everyone going into the clean and jerk.  I however have pretty strong legs and was able to comeback and win some, because my clean and jerk was much better.  As a result, I work on snatching every single training session.

The point of this piece is to change your paradigm a bit.  Don’t just quit on something just because it doesn’t come easy.  If I hear one more time, “but I have never been flexible”, or “I am addicted to carbs” or “I have never been a great runner”.  I frankly don’t care.  The world doesn’t care.  All it cares about is behavior and results.  The size of the cross you have to bear is irrelevant to the stopwatch, the scale, or the judges.  Your story may make a great, made for TV movie, but that is about it.  My shoulder hurts right now as I type this… who cares.  Every lifter has something that hurts.  The judges won’t spot me 10 kilos on my total because I am injured.  I can’t put anything overhead right now, so it is back to the squat rack.  I can always get stronger.  I refuse to lie down; I will get better despite a bum shoulder.  There is always a path to greatness; your job is to find your path to it.  

I don't know if this guy is genetically gifted, but he is a National Champ after going six for six this past weekend... congrats Travis Cooper!