Last week I attended a fantastic education session on raising resilient children. As a dad it’s a topic close to heart. The speaker was fantastic, very dynamic and his story was from experiencing many of theses challenges.

Now what has this got to do with lifting or Eddie Hall?

I believe an awful lot.

Building resilience is how we get stronger both physically & mentally.

We all have our story, and for some the beginning is not easy reading. Ultimately it’s our story and we can create the next chapter to be whatever we want it to be.

There will always be naysayers, Just yesterday whilst doing a demo I had people telling me I couldn’t lift a yoke as it was too heavy! This is only their perception & reality, we can choose or create our own.

Every great who decides to blaze a new trail will have experienced this. Be it Roger Banister & the so-called physiological impossible 4 minute mile, to recent strength lifts like Eddie Halls incredible 500kg deadlift. Now Eddie had experienced failure when he dropped the bar going for a world record. At this resilience workshop I leanred a new & amazing concept. Sometimes negative experiences can lead to Post traumatic stress, this is widely known. This new concept is Post traumatic growth! Where that pivotal experience can be used as a catalyst for growth.

As Eddie did in this case, we can use our resilience to either disregard the naysayers or use it as fuel to prove them wrong.

 Eddie's Deadlift

https://youtu.be/T9Y4o_BqC0A

Babies when learning to walk don’t stop because it’s hard or when they fall, they persist until they CAN walk.

So we are born with plenty of resilience we just need to learn to use it or build it again.

Personally I don’t think there has been a better time to be involved in a strength sports. Until the last 20-30 years lifting weights in any shape or form was a fringe activity & often belittled by the majority.

Now it is widely accepted and a hugely diverse group of people lift.

The exposure has grown, look at crossfit’s growth in the last 10 years. Now unfortunately some people trash talk other lifting sports. I’m all for a bit of banter, but personally believe whether you’re a bodybuilder, powerlifter, olymic lifter, crossfitter or recreational lifter we probably could find more common ground with each other & our pursuits and what it takes to succeed, as opposed to the all too cliché pissing contests. The big picture is, it’s getting a lot of people lifting & building resilience, surely that can only be for the greater good.

Strongman has risen too, & it’s not just for the Giants, now Men’s & Women’s have multiple weight classes are getting great exposure. In my opinion this will only help grow the sport further as it’s more relatable to the spectator. We still need the giants defying what we perceive to be possible, thing is giants are not in great abundance.

Hopefully in the non-too distant future all the best lifters from all the classes can compete at a huge event. We are almost there with the Official strongman competition coming up in North Carolina in December, all that’s missing is the Open men’s

So now I’ve gone off on a bit of a tangent, so what do I think leads to us losing resilience in regards to lifting & maybe life?

Most people overestimate what can be achieved in the short term (days & weeks & hugely under estimate what can be achieved in the long term (months, years )

Personally it’s taken me the best part of 10 years to get to a high level in my chosen sport, the time will pass anyway so may as well make the most of it!

I am lucky enough to train some great people who chip away week in & week out. A magical thing happens when you combine consistent effort & desire together. You will surpass expectations and what you thought to be achievable.

I heard if you try to eat a 12oz steak whole you’ll choke, so just cut it into bite size pieces, the same approach is required with our lifting.

This newfound confidence can then flow through to all facets of life.

So who won Eddie or the Educator? I’d say both as they have inspired more people to take action, may have changed what was thought possible & continue to raise the profiles in their fields.

Happy Lifting!