Train For Chaos

By Adam Driggers/Team Samson

What does your training look like? What do you spend a lot of time doing in the gym that doesn’t translate to the platform? I competed in this sport for 15 years and have been around it nearly 20 years and I have witnessed some truly crazy things that make no sense. I’ve dropped a few below to give you an idea of what I mean.

[wa-wps]

I’ve witnessed a guy measure and tape the floor so that he knows where to put his feet on the squat. He did this in the warm-up room and the platform.

I’ve watched guys in suits tight enough to cause their feet to fall off spending 5 minutes trying to square a deadlift bar on the platform.

I’ve looked on in amusement as guys in squat suits get under the bar, back out, back under, back out and back under because their training partners are telling them they are a ¼ inch off center.

I have a guy in my own gym that is bothered if the bench is not centered with the ceiling.

And I’ve watched guys come to powerlifting meets with no gear, they call that a raw meet. I know that’s not weird to everyone but this is my article.

What’s the point?

I know some of you think a lift can happen only when everything is perfect but I want to tell you that perfection is out of your reach at most meets. You’re simply not in control.

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Remember the guy that taped the floor for his feet? I often wondered what that guy is going to do if the meet director pulls the tape because it messes with another guy’s thought of perfection. What will happen to his lift if I slightly budge the mono and make his marks off center? These are things you can’t control and yet this guy would spend a lot of time and energy trying to control the powerlifting universe. I never witnessed him finish a meet. He always bombed. I’m sure he did along the way but I never seen it. Was it because he needed perfection and it was a ghost? I don’t know but it’s something to think about.

If you need the deadlift bar straight before you can pull, please quit now. It’s not less weight because it’s straight. I have an idea, try just squaring up on the bar. Forget bending over multiples times to roll a bar in place that’s going to roll right back where it was as soon as you let go. Just square up on the thing. It’s not hard people.

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The next time you walk up to a bench and try to square it to the ceiling I hope you cramp up and can’t take your attempt. Maybe then you will realize it has absolutely nothing to do with the lift and the problem is in your weak mind.

I didn’t mention music before but if you need certain music you might need to think about what you’re doing with your life. Seriously, I understand the power of music, but if you can miss a lift solely because of music buy a Toni Robbins book. I once hit a bench at the APF Nationals to Smooth Criminal. Yes, the Michael Jackson version. You know why I can hit a bench with Smooth Criminal by Michael Jackson playing because I don’t obsess about it in the gym. If a song I don’t like is playing in the gym, screw it, I’m hitting my set anyway. If I can’t control it at the meet I’m not trying to control it in the gym.

My training partners learned quickly to leave me alone on the squat unless I was way off.  If a training partnered pointed out I was a bit this way or that way he was told to mind his own business. I don’t need his help that much. There is way too much to think about and adding something that small is ridiculous. Let me explain to you how to fix it. STOP WORRYING ABOUT IT IN THE GYM!

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Train for chaos. Don’t bring everything to a halt in the gym because something isn’t perfect. Roll with it instead. Why do anything in the gym that you can’t control at the meet. What if your guy can’t come to the platform? What if the clock is low when you realize the bench isn’t square with the ceiling? What are you going to do when the platform because of the freaking building won’t let the bar sit straight on the deadlift platform?

The answer is nothing. You’re just going to half to deal with it.

So the question is why are you trying to deal with it on a daily basis in the gym? Let that stuff go and just lift. Worry about the big things and let the small things go.

Train for the chaos of a meet when everything can go wrong and throw your perfect gym world into total mayhem.

Train for Chaos.

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Team Samson Powerlifting

Team Samson was founded by Adam Driggers who built the Team Samson compound. Some of the biggest names in powerlifting have trained with Team Samson including Dondell Blue, Al Caslow, and Gary Frank. What began as a small group of members has grown into an accomplished team of lifters that continue to chase after new strength gains. Team Samson is made up of pro lifters Brian Carroll, Clint Smith, and Jonathan Byrd along with lifters in various stages of their lifting career including Adam Driggers, Keith Price, Filipe Gusmão, Mike Holman, Paul Key, Shane Ford, Shane Shepperd, and Tony Garland.
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