Do you walk out of the gym feeling all pumped up, mighty and strong? But are you truly STRONG? Really? Compared to what?
The good news about weight lifting is that it is just you and the bar; you only compete against yourself. The bad news about weight lifting is that if you look hard enough you can always find someone, bigger, stronger, leaner, more ripped, or maxing out with loads beyond your wildest dreams. If you’d like to indulge in this self- destructive behavior for a moment, take a look at this infographic of the Crossfit Top 10 Men & Women strength stats.
It is easy to look at these numbers and cry like the weak ass that you are…(I cried too!)
For a competitive person, there’s nothing like friendly competition or even a fiery rivalry to motivate you to be better every day. But, this can easily go too far and you might end up pushing yourself beyond your limits or beating yourself up when you never seem to get there. In the gym where I train here in Holland, the only women who do dare to touch (and lift) heavy weights are the few I’ve taught the program to myself. Even though the competitive vibe is not there, sometimes I think it is better for me not to have too many other female bodies to compare myself to constantly. It keeps me focused on what I am doing.
Each individual body is different and with my dual goals to be lean and STRONG, I have no illusions about staying ahead of the other ladies forever, but the other day I was nearly dethroned on the bench press by a 12 year old girl! Ouch!
Ilham is not just any 12 year old; she is at the core of our hardcore group. She is sweet, shy, and unassuming; but Ilham is very dedicated and she works hard in the gym! If any of us message her that we are going to the gym, she will be there. (Except that time when I thought she had a day off school and she replied that she couldn’t really skip school for the gym-good girl!) If we don’t text, she chases us!
She has a great combination of enthusiasm, natural talent and patience with the process of steady progression. We’ve been super cautious adding weight to the bar because of her age, but now I have another reason to keep a foot on the break with Ilham… I’d like to stay a step ahead of her for at least one more year. Too be honest she’s only 5 kilos behind me on the benchpress and she has excellent form, so wish me luck!
While I’m busy competing with a 12 year old, you might want to check out these resources to see how you stack up against more globally recognized strength standards. For women, here is an excellent article on strength standards by Sally Moss on Gubernatrix and for both men and women, here is an interactive tool to see how you measure up based on your weight and level of experience. If you are still feeling pretty pleased with yourself after checking out these charts, here’s a recent post on 70’s Big to keep our egos in check and remind us that we’re not so special, Every man can squat 405.
Stronger every day!
