26 May 5 Types of Lifters
By: Jonathan Byrd
What type of lifter are you? No really, what type of qualities do you bring to the gym, to your teammates, or better yet what do you bring out in yourself? I have applied a lot that I learned from football to both my lifting and life in general. I was lucky to have some great men to help mold and shape both my drive and work ethic. I had a great head football coach in college, Jim Sypult.
[wa-wps]Coach Sypult was a very fiery coach, and at times pretty intimidating. My freshman year he once used all the time outs in a row in the first half just to yell at us! Funny thing is, it worked! Coach told the same stories year after year, and there is one that stands out more than any to me. He would always say there are 5 types of people in this world. He swore that it applied to all groups, walks of life, and sports. Well 10 years later, I STILL think he is right. See he said that the 5 types of people, the doctor, lawyer, fighter, fucker, and wild horse riders are what makes up the world.
The more time I spend around the sport of powerlifting the more I see every one of those 5 types. It amazes me how right he was, and how well I have done by avoiding four of the five types. This is how I see the 5 types of powerlifters.
The DOCTOR:
See the doctor is the type that is going to always tell you what is wrong. “Man don’t worry about it, you had a few injuries, you are still better than them” The doctor will always make an excuse for either himself or for his training partners. He isn’t going to take blame or self-evaluate, he is just going to doctor up a reason!
The LAWYER:
The lawyer is one who claims someone is always out to get him. “Ah man the judges were out to get you!” Those are the same ones who will stay at their local meets and never face any major competition. The lawyer is the type that gets on the internet and bitches about judges, other lifters, and anything else they can find to complain about.
The FIGHTER:
The fighter is always looking for an argument. Simply looking for confrontation, with no real agenda of getting better as a lifter. The fighter can tear apart a gym quickly, you really need to avoid this guy!
The FUCKER:
The fucker is always negative. “Fuck this team, fuck this meet, fuck the judges.” These guys just don’t care about anything, and are typically pretty vocal about it. Always late, do their own thing, train different than the crew, or even completely different movements on locked in training days.
The WILD HORSE RIDER:
Now being called a wild horse rider was the biggest complement you could get from Coach Sypult, and I really think that to be a longer term successful lifter you need to be one! The wild horse rider is there to get the job done. He comes in ready to work, ready to help, and always puts forth his best effort. Sometimes it can’t be about you, it has to be about your training partners. Either way the wild horse rider has the wild man streak but enough sense to calm it down when need be. The wild horse rider is the guy you see at big meets all over the country. Who can show up and get the job done in any circumstances. They show up ready to win, and train that way day in and day out.
So ask yourself, which qualities do you represent? How many of these types of lifters can you pick out? One comes to mind for me for every type. That’s not to say that these are bad people, but clearly if you are a wild horse rider, their views just don’t match yours!
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Jonathan Byrd
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