Training

Working out is what the general public does to get in a little better shape. They go to the gym because they have to. They don't have a passion for it, they don't love it, and they don't live for it.

These people go to the gym as a way to meet new friends or just to "stay in shape" and improve their health. To them, working out is a hobby or a necessary evil. But to those of us who are married to the iron for life and feel most at home pushing heavy weight in some hole in the wall hardcore gym, it's our passion. The squat rack is our church, the dead lift platform our temple.

I've gone to battle with the iron and come out on the losing end many times. I've strained, pulled, and torn muscles and ligaments. I've screwed up my back and injured my knees. I've sweat, bled, and puked... all in the same workout. But as Clark Griswold said to his daughter when her eyes froze over while searching for the perfect Christmas tree, "It's all part of the experience."

The quest for strength is one of man's basic instincts and there are few things more important in life than physical strength. It's something that has been pursued fervently since the beginning of time, because, as the old cliché goes, only the strong survive.

Lifting weights can have an endless array of health benefits, but let's be honest; that's not why most of us do it. The people at the local 24 hour fitness center do it for those reasons, but not us.

We do it for that feeling of going to battle, the rush of hitting a new max, and the pain and suffering that come along with it. We do it because we love to set goals and bust our ass in pursuit of them. We do it because it allows us to release all our pent up anger and aggression. We do it because we know most others don't have the balls to train like we do.