04 Apr LCS and a piece of advice

Had a guy come in the other day interested in LowCountry Strength. We chit chatted a bit and I gave him my spiel about joining. You could kind of tell he was interested but seemed a little intimidated. I don’t go out of my way to make LCS comfortable for everybody.  It’s not for everybody.  I will honestly admit that, and I’m not going to cater it so.  Do you have to be strong to train here?  No.  But I want you open to learning, helping, and being a part.  I’ve had some great training partners come through the gym that weren’t the strongest initially but were consistently here.  Now, they’re an integral part.

So this kid asks me what would be the one piece of advice I’d give a newer lifter looking to get serious.  Without a second’s hesitation, “find those that are more serious than you.”  Gyms are full of lifters who think they’re hardcore for training by themselves and smashing PRs.  Pfft.  How do you know you’re serious until you’ve trained with someone who’s more serious than you?  Look at every successful lifter.  How many of them train by themselves and how many train with a crew?  Most train with a crew.  Raw or not.  Most have a small (to large) groups(s) they train with.  You might have a few lone exceptions but exceptions don’t prove the rule.

A good crew is going to call you on your bullshit.  They’ll tell you that you’re sandbagging.  They’ll also tell you when to be smart and shut it down.  So what if you’re not running the same program?  Who cares.  Are you squatting?  I bet at some point they’re squatting.  Chains off, bands on, switch bars, multiple racks, it’s relatively easy to make it happen.  Take the ear buds out of ear, because lets be honest, the music ain’t helping.  But a well timed verbal queue can do more your squat than that 2nd chorus of 5FDP.

I had a another gentlemen ask me what he could do to get better.  He wasn’t in my town but I knew a gym close to him.  I ask him why he wasn’t training there.  It was 15minutes further away than his other gym.  What the flying fuck?  At that point, you can’t be helped and you need to realize your priorities.  If your priorities aren’t lifting, that’s cool.  I understand that, but don’t lie to others and yourself.

So you want some advice?  Stop being a know-it-all.  Go get help.  Go make friends.  Hell, they don’t even have to be good friends.  Some of my best training partners weren’t always folks I’d hang out with.  You don’t have to see eye-to-eye on every political issue to have faith in your training partner and faith in their ability to make you a better lifter.

The following two tabs change content below.

• Bio
• Latest Posts

Low Country Strength

Will Kuenzel is the owner of Lowcountry Strength (www.LowcountryStrength.com) in Charleston, SC. Will started his athletic endeavors as a pole vault; finishing up his collegiate career with a best vault of 16’9” at a whopping 160lbs. He the track and field world to pursue bodybuilding, his first show in 2005, he won 1st place in Men’s Novice as a middle weight. One year later he took 2nd as a Men’s Junior heavy weight. Since 2007 he has been a competitive powerlifter and totaling elite as a 220lber. His best lifts in multiply equipment are a 710lbs squat, a 605lbs bench press, a 615lbs deadlift and a 1930 total. In 2008 Will started Lowcountry Strength out of his garage. Since then it has moved into a 16,000 sq/ft facility and shares space with a mixed martial arts studio. With all disciplines of powerlifting, strongman, MMA, jiu jitsu and other sports in the Charleston area getting trained under one roof, Will heads up the strength and conditioning for a wide variety of athletes and clients.

Latest posts by Low Country Strength (see all)

• LCS Off Season Week 7, Session 1-3 - February 20, 2019
• LCS Off Season Week 6, Session 1-3 - February 20, 2019
• LCS Off Season Week 5, Session 1-2 - February 20, 2019