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This Saturday night, UFC legend Randy Couture came out
of retirement and won the world heavyweight title at 43
years old.
And your excuse for why you are not stronger or bigger or
leaner or a better athlete is because you are... too old? How
sad and pathetic that is.
Watching the UFC on Saturday night was like watching a real
life version of Rocky Balboa and the only way not to be
motivated by it was if you slept through the fight.
Sylvia was the odds on favorite against the older Couture
yet he was completely dominated from start to finish.
Randy trained his butt off in preparation for this fight and
entered the octagon in the best shape of his life.
Sure, we all don't have the luxury of being able to do
nothing but train, eat and sleep like many pro athletes do
but to use that as an excuse is unacceptable. To use age as
an excuse is beyond unacceptable.
I can't tell you how many times I have heard the age excuse
used. And every time I hear it, it makes me sick. I once had
a client who came to my gym to train at the same time as a
particular group of high school kids. The kids were
significantly stronger than him on every exercise they did.
He used to look on in awe and tell me, "there's no way I can
compete with these high school guys, I'm way too old for
that."
He was 34, and I was completely nauseated by his
statement. Being the politically incorrect straight shooter
that I am, I immediately snapped at him, "You have got to
be kidding me, right? You're using age as an excuse at
34?!? You should be ashamed of yourself. They should be
saying there is no way they can compete with you because
you should be dominating them. "
I couldn't look at him for the rest of that workout without
wanting to throw up.
I had another client around the same time who displayed the
exact opposite attitude and proved what's possible when you
don't set limits or make excuses. Mark Crook hired me to
train him shortly after his 41st birthday. He had barely
touched a weight in his life up until that point but was
determined to get in shape and give it his all. Once he got a
taste of the intense training atmosphere in my gym he was
hooked and wanted nothing more than to dominate everyone
in his path. He set his sights on some of the young bucks
who were significantly stronger than him and vowed to
outlift all of them within a year.
With determination, laser sharp focus and ample amounts
of hard work Mark went from barely being able to bench
press 135 to easily handling 275 in his first year at my gym.
In the process he left many of the younger guys who were
benching 50-100 pounds more than him when he started, in
the dust. Mark went on to become a very good friend of
mine and still trains hard to this day. Not once in the entire
time that I have known him did I ever hear Mark mention
his age and use it as any kind of excuse.
I have another good friend from Arkansas named David
Larkan who is one of the most inspiring people you will
ever meet. Dave is close to 50 years old and still plays in a
wide variety of semi professional sports leagues and trains
as hard as anyone I know. I received a phone call from him
recently and he told me that despite the numerous injuries
he has accumulated over the years he had decided to go
back to playing semi pro FOOTBALL for one last season
and wanted to know if I could help him get in shape for his
last hurrah.
In case you missed it, Dave is nearly 50. What's your excuse
again?
Why do some people think that the day you graduate
college your ability to do anything physical is automatically
rendered useless? It is assumed by a large portion of the
population that after college you have to get serious about
life and grow up. This usually means giving up sports,
sitting in front of a computer all day, getting in terrible
shape, taking up golf and basically turning into a complete
p*ssy. Intense physical activity and competition is beneath
them apparently.
Get over it and start living.
I recently saw some friends from high school and they
confessed that they have not done much physical activity
since we graduated fifteen years ago. It showed.
On the other hand, I am a far better athlete today, at 32
then I was back then at age 17 and I am only getting better.
Unlike many of my contemporaries, I refuse to stop.
But I'm still young so some of the older guys will use that as
an excuse. "You're still in your thirties, wait til you get to be
forty, then you'll see."
Well then what about Brett Favre, still playing in the NFL at
close to 40?
What about Ric Flair, who is still wrestling a full time schedule and
taking bumps off the top rope and steel chair shots in his mid
50's.
What about Louie Simmons, who is still powerlifting with the best of
them in his 60's.
And Randy Couture just competed in the most physically
demanding sport on earth Saturday night and won the world
heavyweight championship at age 43.
Now tell me one more time, what's your excuse?
Jason Ferruggia
of retirement and won the world heavyweight title at 43
years old.
And your excuse for why you are not stronger or bigger or
leaner or a better athlete is because you are... too old? How
sad and pathetic that is.
Watching the UFC on Saturday night was like watching a real
life version of Rocky Balboa and the only way not to be
motivated by it was if you slept through the fight.
Sylvia was the odds on favorite against the older Couture
yet he was completely dominated from start to finish.
Randy trained his butt off in preparation for this fight and
entered the octagon in the best shape of his life.
Sure, we all don't have the luxury of being able to do
nothing but train, eat and sleep like many pro athletes do
but to use that as an excuse is unacceptable. To use age as
an excuse is beyond unacceptable.
I can't tell you how many times I have heard the age excuse
used. And every time I hear it, it makes me sick. I once had
a client who came to my gym to train at the same time as a
particular group of high school kids. The kids were
significantly stronger than him on every exercise they did.
He used to look on in awe and tell me, "there's no way I can
compete with these high school guys, I'm way too old for
that."
He was 34, and I was completely nauseated by his
statement. Being the politically incorrect straight shooter
that I am, I immediately snapped at him, "You have got to
be kidding me, right? You're using age as an excuse at
34?!? You should be ashamed of yourself. They should be
saying there is no way they can compete with you because
you should be dominating them. "
I couldn't look at him for the rest of that workout without
wanting to throw up.
I had another client around the same time who displayed the
exact opposite attitude and proved what's possible when you
don't set limits or make excuses. Mark Crook hired me to
train him shortly after his 41st birthday. He had barely
touched a weight in his life up until that point but was
determined to get in shape and give it his all. Once he got a
taste of the intense training atmosphere in my gym he was
hooked and wanted nothing more than to dominate everyone
in his path. He set his sights on some of the young bucks
who were significantly stronger than him and vowed to
outlift all of them within a year.
With determination, laser sharp focus and ample amounts
of hard work Mark went from barely being able to bench
press 135 to easily handling 275 in his first year at my gym.
In the process he left many of the younger guys who were
benching 50-100 pounds more than him when he started, in
the dust. Mark went on to become a very good friend of
mine and still trains hard to this day. Not once in the entire
time that I have known him did I ever hear Mark mention
his age and use it as any kind of excuse.
I have another good friend from Arkansas named David
Larkan who is one of the most inspiring people you will
ever meet. Dave is close to 50 years old and still plays in a
wide variety of semi professional sports leagues and trains
as hard as anyone I know. I received a phone call from him
recently and he told me that despite the numerous injuries
he has accumulated over the years he had decided to go
back to playing semi pro FOOTBALL for one last season
and wanted to know if I could help him get in shape for his
last hurrah.
In case you missed it, Dave is nearly 50. What's your excuse
again?
Why do some people think that the day you graduate
college your ability to do anything physical is automatically
rendered useless? It is assumed by a large portion of the
population that after college you have to get serious about
life and grow up. This usually means giving up sports,
sitting in front of a computer all day, getting in terrible
shape, taking up golf and basically turning into a complete
p*ssy. Intense physical activity and competition is beneath
them apparently.
Get over it and start living.
I recently saw some friends from high school and they
confessed that they have not done much physical activity
since we graduated fifteen years ago. It showed.
On the other hand, I am a far better athlete today, at 32
then I was back then at age 17 and I am only getting better.
Unlike many of my contemporaries, I refuse to stop.
But I'm still young so some of the older guys will use that as
an excuse. "You're still in your thirties, wait til you get to be
forty, then you'll see."
Well then what about Brett Favre, still playing in the NFL at
close to 40?
What about Ric Flair, who is still wrestling a full time schedule and
taking bumps off the top rope and steel chair shots in his mid
50's.
What about Louie Simmons, who is still powerlifting with the best of
them in his 60's.
And Randy Couture just competed in the most physically
demanding sport on earth Saturday night and won the world
heavyweight championship at age 43.
Now tell me one more time, what's your excuse?
Jason Ferruggia
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