The 7 Deadly Sins of Lifting
Series of Motivational Articles
by Aharon J. Sailor
Recently, I’ve read Powerlifting Basics, Texas-Style: The Adventures of Lope Delk by Paul Kelso. The book talked about the basics of powerlifting training and competition through stories based on true events. In one of the chapters, the character of Preacher Harley goes on a rant about lifting based on the 7 deadly sins, which were established by Pope Gregory the Great and further explored by Italian author Dante Alighieri in The Divine Comedy. Some good points were made and I want to explore them a little further.
PRIDE
Pride is defined as “exaggerated opinion of one’s qualities.” A proud lifter is one who has been only lifting for 3 months, thinks that he is in incredible shape, and goes to the beach wearing a tank top and shorts and struts down the beach/boardwalk like he’s the biggest and most ripped guy on the planet. What would possess anyone to think that they look THAT good only after 3 months of training? In order to truly get to that point, you have to put your pride aside and HUMBEL yourself to train long and hard so you can be big and ripped enough to strut like that anywhere. However, it doesn’t stop there. You have to remain humble so that you can become better and help others become better.
ENVY
Envy is “to feel discontent at another’s success and desire to have it.” Now, we all have famous athletes of all kinds that we admire. However, when we become envious of them, we think that we have to exactly what they do in order to get where they are. Then what happens is that after a month of following one person’s routine, one becomes envious of another person and follow that person’s routine. What one person does in the gym doesn’t work for everyone in the gym. You have to figure out what works for you and use that and then alter that as you hit plateaus and such.
ANGER
Anger…anger, anger, and anger. We all know what that is. However, when it comes to lifting, there is good/positive anger and bad/negative anger. Good anger in lifting is when you are mad at the weights for defeating you time after time and you use that anger in the gym and become bigger and strong. Bad anger is when you rebel against ANYONE that you asked to help you with your training and thinking that you know more than they do just because (and here’s the kicker) you can bench more than they can. Now, if it weren’t for their guidance and support, would you be where you are at? Most likely not. Just because you may be stronger than they are doesn’t give you the right to rebel against them and be angry after they were kind enough to help you. People like this make me angry so let’s move on
SLOTH
The definition of sloth is just plain laziness. However, in relation to lifting, sloth takes on a different form. I can assume that if you are reading this, you like to train. A slothful lifter is so obsessed with lifting that they become slothful in or forget about other areas of their lives, especially in the areas of education and career. When I started lifting, I was college student. I didn’t just drop everything to solely focus on lifting. I had to learn how to balance everything and give everything equal time. That the key to not being a slothful lifter – BALANCE!
AVARICE
Ok…I realize that avarice is an uncommon word but it’s a fancy word for greed. An avaricious lifter is one who wants to know what they can put up before they know what they are doing. I have just one word for that – STUPID! How can you be that stupid to go and do something that you have never done before without learning how to do it? When you do that with lifting, you run the risk of severely injuring yourself or even worse – killing yourself. In lifting, you have to crawl before you walk and walk before you run.
GLUTTONY
Gluttony, in the sense of lifting, does not refer to eating vast amounts of food. If you exercise as vigorously and intensely as a serious lifter does, you find that your body needs more food to function properly. A gluttonous lifter is one who goes and purchases every supplement and wonder drug on the market because of the “promise” of quick results, which is often not the case. It’s just a waste of money. Some supplements are OK to purchase (like protein powder), but buying any and every supplement is NOT NEEDED! In all actuality, if you have a solid diet, you don’t need supplements. I have a friend who doesn’t believe in supplements and is bigger and stronger than most guys in his gym who use supplements and anabolic steroids. So, don’t go buy every supplement you see. Be selective and eat food!
LUST
Lust, or intense sexual desire, can cause serious trouble. A lustful lifter lifts only to gain big muscle so that he can attract the opposite sex. You should NOT lift weights just to impress someone. You should lift for self-satisfaction or to aid you in becoming better at particular sports. Having big muscles does not equate to being more appealing sexually. Someone who thinks like that proves how superficial a person can be.
Paul Kelso states that the order of the 7 deadly sins from most severe to least severe is: pride, envy, anger, sloth, avarice, gluttony, and lust. I have a different view on this. I believe that the severity order should be the opposite and here is a scenario to show you what I mean:
A guy meets a girl who he finds attractive but the girl doesn’t find him attractive. So the guy joins the local gym to get big muscles because he believes that big muscles will get him the girl.(LUST) He hears about all kinds of supplements that promote that they will make anyone HUGE so he goes and spends $500 on supplements. (GLUTTONY) On his first workout session, he decides to see if he can put up big weights even though he does not know the first thing about lifting. (AVARICE) After 2 weeks of lifting, he feels that he needs to spend every waking moment in the gym, so he starts skipping out on work to be at the gym to lift all day long. (SLOTH) He then hires a personal trainer to help him out. After another month goes by, he discovers that he can bench more than his trainer and decided to fire his trainer and tells his personal trainer that he knows more than he does and doesn’t need him anymore. (ANGER)
The guy picks up a bodybuilding magazine and sees the current Mr. Olympia on the cover and reads the article on Mr. Olympia’s 6-week lifting and diet routine. He decides to follow that routine because he wants to be just like Mr. Olympia. (ENVY) After lifting for only 3 months, the guy feels like he is the best looking guy on the planet. He puts on a tank top and shorts, heads to the beach, and starts strutting down the beach thinking “I’m the best looking guy out here and you all need to see that and worship me!”(PRIDE) He sees the same girl from 3 months ago and tries to talk to her but she just walks away.
The 7 deadly sins of lifting are VERY DANGEROUS if you don’t check your attitude and ego. If you humble yourself and have the right attitude about lifting, you can achieve your goals and more…and pick up a hot girl in the process.
Aharon J. Sailor runs Infinite Strength Management, an athlete him self knows how hard it is to make it to the spot light so he offers easy help with any financial problems. Visit His Myspace!
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