Ideas From A Traveling Strongman

            There are strongmen around the country who travel to schools, churches, prisons and occasional corporate offices upwards to 300 days a year. Some travel all over the world, some just in the U.S like my friend Bud Jeffries does. Now what they do is not always the same, I've witnessed first hand two very distinctive differences in their performances. Some do what’s called Junk Feats where they’re feats that seem legit but really are as fake as you can get, an extreme few are legit. The other is called the Real Deal where they take certain objects and although the feat may seem like a fake it’s really a legit one like bending steel, tearing a deck of cards right out of the package, hammer levering and so forth. A traveling strongman has to be creative and learn their distinct patterns for a performance. This can be ideal for your training.

            Some strongmen perform the same feats in a show where there’s a pattern or routine for them that sets their mind to think automatically to do the next feat. Some others perform certain feats on a certain day either to change it up a little bit or because they got hurt doing a certain feat that it’s tough for them to perform at their best. It’s like a fitness program, you set your mind to specific exercises and you follow a routine that is suitable to what you want to accomplish. I have literally seen some off the wall feats but also I look for a specific type of routine that has meaning and can be used in a creative and fun way. Although I change my workouts frequently, I still find certain exercises that go hand and hand with my mind and my body that works for me.

            One thing many people ask about strongmen who are on tour is how they get themselves motivated? How do they go day after day finding that inner strength to show their positive side and their will to teach and show these incredible feats to other people? Well, in my opinion, they learn to pick up things from a certain place, program their minds to set a certain tone that gives them that “Winning Feeling” of putting themselves out there to the crowd and learn to use their own story and share it with the people their performing for. Quite frankly I don’t know how the hell they do it but that’s my take on it.

            Last thing I want to point out is that there are certain strongmen who perform just for the sake of performing and don’t have anything else to give back to the people other than some arrogant prick who can bend a silly bar just to make certain people inadequate; however there are some guys and gals out there that give back to the people they’re performing for, sharing their story of how tough it was for them and how they’re just like the rest of us only in a different format. My friend Bud happens to be the latter because underneath all that muscle and smiling persona, he’s really an awesome and sweet guy who wants to make a living helping out the other guy. Show that you are a special person and that you have a brighter future where you don’t need to be macho to get what you want. It takes a man of character and a man of great heart to tell you that there’s no need to bully anyone, no need to be afraid of whom you are. You are an awesome person and you can go places if you apply yourself with the right mindset and the right tools to get you there. He is truly a one of a kind strongman and an incredible human being. 

       If you want some good ideas on how to be creative and how to apply your training in a certain way, talk to a strongman, they're very creative in what they do (at least some I've heard of) and have some wonderful motivational tips that can jump start your training and how it applies to you like how certain feats are to a strongman performing, they're there for a specific reason. 

You Are Never Alone In Your Training

Back in the 30's and 40's, there was a man that trained hard in the basement of a church in Brooklyn, NY and had no workout partner nor did he have a lot of people to talk to unless they visited him. The only thing he had was a barbell, a bench and a maybe a few dumbbells here and there. He went to become one of the strongest men in the world at Olympic Weightlifting. He was a World Champion, Olympian and an Senior Nationals Champion and went undefeated for over 15 years till 1953. His name was John Davis.

Why did I put a significance of this powerful man on here? Good question. You see most of his career was being Champion at so many levels and yet throughout most of his training days he didn't have a workout partner. Motivation must have been very difficult for him cause in that basement the only friends he had in his training quarters was a barbell and a freaking bench. Yet without being discouraged he pushed hard and trained like a mad man.

He is one of the perfect examples of someone who doesn't always need to have a training partner. A lot of people go to a gym because theres people there and they can either encourage you or shut you down or help keep you motivated there are many reasons for that. The truth of the matter is that you can have a workout partner or train by yourself. Never be discouraged because someone isn't there pushing you.

For me as an example most of my training is by myself. I rarely have a workout partner and for obvious reasons I really like training alone and have made it a habit. The reason why training by yourself is a wonderful thing is because you don't need to hear the negativity coming from others who don't believe in what you do and making your goals feel impossible to you. The beauty of it is its that you learn how to discover yourself and motivate the only person in the room and that's you. The difference between training with people vs. training by yourself is that there can be distractions with training with others but in some cases training with others can create bonds and friendships with one another and push each other but in other cases training with others can throw you off and they tell you to do this or that cause its either the right or wrong way to train. Training by yourself on the other can either make you or break you as a trainee. Its never easy training alone because the only thing that can keep you motivated is yourself. This is where learning who you are and giving yourself the opportunity to build the ultimate motivation.

With training with just yourself like our friend John Davis did you become friends or bitter enemies with what you have to train with. You may not have this mindset but if you have trained just by yourself long enough you can almost listen to the equipment you have or a bodyweight exercise that in your mind is either impossible or reachable and you either believe in your mind you can do it or not. Sometimes I can almost hear some of my equipment speak to me and there have been days where they are bitter and believe I can't do it but there have been other days where they encourage me and tell me I'm getting stronger and getting better. That does sound a little eerie and creepy though don't you think? You'd be surprised what you can discover when training by yourself.

Never for one moment think you're alone in your training. Training alone has its benefits. No distractions, no one to give you a hard time and no talking or shouting, no one to stand around to tell you what you're doing is wrong, none of that. Its just you and whatever you have in front of you. Listen to the things in front of you, what are they saying? Do they believe you can or can't do something? Or do they encourage you to get better and coach you. Believe it or not some of my greatest coaches are the actual little amount of equipment I have. John Davis had his Barbell as his best friend and look what it made him? A Champion. Become your own champion and let the things you have do that for you.