It is the eve of my first powerlifting meet.
I am competing in the USPA Battle of the Beasts located in good ole Tuscaloosa, Alabama.
I would be lying if I said I wasn’t nervous. I am.
But I believe worked up nerves mean that you are ready.
The road thus far has been nothing short of long.
I decided back in May that I was going to compete. Looking back I should have made the decision earlier.
I didn’t. I was fearful. Frightened to get under the bar, on the bench, and step on to the platform to see how strong I was.
With a little encouragement I was moved to do so.
At that time, I also decided to bring on a coach.
I could have trained alone, but I needed somebody with the knowledge, wisdom, intelligence, and experience that I lacked.
Enter Chris Lentini.
Or as all of us smurfs call him: Angry Papa Smurf.
Angry Papa Smurf is not an angry man.
He is happy. So happy that I would dub him the master of the power of positive thinking.
He is the type of man who gets pleasure out of identifying weaknesses, and destroying them until they are stronger.
Now-a-days those types of men are rare.
His big thing for all of us smurfs is to continuously make mental and physical progress.
Records may be set and smashed, or they may not. But mental and physical progress will always be made.
Always.
I think about the mental and physical progress I have made thus far.
Physically my body is in the best shape it has ever been in. Strong. Lean. Powerful. It’s in peak condition.
Mentally I have made gains, but there is a room for more. There always is.
Getting under the bar, setting up on the bench, and stepping on to the platform will always frighten me.
After all, you’re open and vulnerable to all of the things that can go wrong.
You could miss a lift.
You could miss all of your lifts.
You could get disqualified.
You could get injured.
There’s so much.
But that’s the chance you take.
My mindset tomorrow is to go in and do what I have to do.
And what I have to do is lift some heavy ass weight. Some of the heaviest I have ever lifted.
PRs may be set. They may not be.
Mental and physical progress, however, will be made.
Always.
I’m going to sleep now.
PS. Thank you Crystal and Bennet for letting me borrow your car today. I took a solo trip down to Montgomery and it was nice. Don’t worry, I’ll fill up your car with gas. I just I did as you said: “treat it like it’s yours.”
Michael Johnson 