How Bad Do You Want It?

Just saw this video and it's pretty motivating.

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I like it, nice clip.

Do you know who the athlete in the clip is?

saw this awhile ago.. but sometimes i want it too bad i ignore signs of overtraining

I know it's an inspirational video, but if you train as hard as the narrator says you should, you WILL get hurt bad, and often. I've been there, trust me. Your body will grow a ton faster with proper rest and sleep.

That's true, your body will grow faster with smarter training and proper recovery, but I think this video, at least the narration, is not talking about training the body. Being an athlete is more of a mindset than a training regimen, and that mindset is not always concerned with safety or preservation. It's about cultivating that mindset that allows you to make sacrifices for the attainment of a given worthwhile goal. I think this a major difference between the pure athlete and the pure fitness enthusiast. (Not to say that either approach is better than the other or that there is no in between. It's just an idea I've developed through my experience and learning from the experience of others.)

I'd appreciate any thoughts on this idea.

jeremyfrias said:

That's true, your body will grow faster with smarter training and proper recovery, but I think this video, at least the narration, is not talking about training the body. Being an athlete is more of a mindset than a training regimen, and that mindset is not always concerned with safety or preservation. It's about cultivating that mindset that allows you to make sacrifices for the attainment of a given worthwhile goal. I think this a major difference between the pure athlete and the pure fitness enthusiast. (Not to say that either approach is better than the other or that there is no in between. It's just an idea I've developed through my experience and learning from the experience of others.)

I'd appreciate any thoughts on this idea.

I totally agree with you.. I think the video is more about mental training then actually physical training... It's more about attitude.

As already said: The narrator is saying, that succes requires hard work and "explain" what hard work is - hard work is what you do, when you sacrifices anything else...:/

You can find lots of motivating speeching telling us not to sacrifice that which is most important...

Besides, the resistance work performed by the athlete in the clip sucks 8)

Amen

When you want it bad enough, you will train in all aspects of success, that includes training/developing your discipline enough to know when it's time to rest, time to eat, time to sit and reflect on mistakes made and time to develop and refine your plan further. If all it took to succeed was allot of mindless hard work any body could do it.

Amen.

Element,

Thanks for sharing this video. I'm sad to say my narrative expectation was that the closing credits would tell us the guy in the video got drafted into the NFL.

There are a couple details about the story that the narrator recounts ("Once there was a goo-roo.") that may change its inflection.

This is most often a parable accredited to Socrates.

Most importantly, the "young man" who approaches Socrates is not looking for "success" but wisdom. So Socrates says, "When you want wisdom as much as you want air..."

This gives the story an entirely different inflection to me.

At any rate, here's another parable that balances the first and seems to go hand-in-hand with physical training:

A woodcutter worked for many years, but his earnings never increased because, day in and day out, he cut down the same number of trees.

A young woodcutter joined him. Unlike the older woodcutter, the young woodcutter earned more and more because he cut more and more trees each day.

The strong woodcutter asked the young man how he was able to cut more trees.

The young man answered, “After every tree I cut, I take a break and sharpen my axe.â€

Always ask yourself, “When did I last sharpen my axe?â€

I have no idea who the guy in the clip is but I read somewhere (not sure how reliable), that when there was a chance the NFL was going to shut down, a lot of players stopped training and just saw it as a time to take it easy and go out and party, but there were a few who saw it as an opportunity to become better and get ahead, and this clip relates to the latter.

Although the guy's form in the video is pretty bad and what the narrator says about not sleeping or eating kind of bothers me, I do think the narration is more about success in any field rather than just athletic development, and it just happens to be paired with a video about exercising. The mindset to succeed is the important part here and and I think it goes along well with what Coach Sommer says in his "Heart of a Champion" article. There's always room at the top for those willing to make the sacrifices. I've been keeping this in mind not only during times when I don't feel like training that hard, but also in my school work/studying, and looking for a job. Since then I've had some of the best workouts I've ever had, gotten the best grades in my classes, and as of yesterday am now employed at a well known restaurant that will help me make more than enough money to attend the next seminar in May

element3904 said:

There's always room at the top for those willing to make the sacrifices. I've been keeping this in mind not only during times when I don't feel like training that hard, but also in my school work/studying, and looking for a job. Since then I've had some of the best workouts I've ever had, gotten the best grades in my classes, and as of yesterday am now employed at a well known restaurant that will help me make more than enough money to attend the next seminar in May

It's good to hear that you have that kind of motivation and congratulations on your successes! Motivating goals are an amazing thing to have.

I can add this video to this topic.

Everything the guy says could be directed to gymnastics. Especially for all the pro athletes.

Since we're on the subject I suggest reading "Arnold: The Education of A Bodybuilder" to anyone who is interested in great people. Part 1 is all about Arnold Schwarzenneger's early life and his mindset during competition and it turns out he was kind of a douchebag and womanizer but when it came to putting his mind on something and accomplishing it better than anyone else, he was the best. While still a teenager he set the goal of becoming the best bodybuilder in the world and then becoming famous in Hollywood and finally becoming a businessman/politician (if I remember correctly) and he did exactly that with so much dedication I found it pretty inspiring. The 2nd part of the book is a bunch of outdated nutrition info and exercises and there's really no point in even reading it. You can probably find the book on amazon for pennies