Excerpt from a Dave Tate seminar

[kitarpyar]

[BendtheBar]

Excellent video.

One of my favorite comments is when Dave talks about drive and "people not getting it." The drive to "be willing to do whatever it takes" is something that, when you have it, is easy to spot in others. You have a sense of who might succeed and who probably will fail based on little things.

You see it every day on every lifting forum. Guys are willing to do some things, but not everything. Some guys lift regularly but aren't willing to out eat their metabolism. Some guys soak up the knowledge and love the training atmosphere and the thought of being big and strong, but yet they have trained for 2-5 years and have made no gains because they just don't push themselves for more week in and week out.

I see so many guys with an OCD fascination about the minutiae of training and nutrition. They study and formulate and calculate and scheme and lay out perfect meal plans and salivate over training splits, but when it comes time to move iron, they just don't have the same drive.

We've all seen the guys with 3-4 years of experience but only squat 200 pounds. The type of guys that hand out reasonably solid advice day in and day out, and you would think they're freaking monsters, but you see their pictures and something is missing.

I am not putting these guys down or trying to elevate myself. They have drive, but it's probably leading them to success in some other aspect of their lives - finances or women or education or video games.

It's just that, you either live and die under the iron, or you don't. Some guys scheme but aren't willing to do whatever it takes in the gym to get things done. Then you have the guys that just get things done, and figure out the whys and wherefores later.

The gym is game time. Reading and studying isn't game time. All the science and reading in the world doesn't mean shit when there's heavy weight on your back and you want to quit. You can study and prepare for game time, but without a will to conquer you will fail.

And don't take this to mean someone who achieves some success is always "on" or always feels like training, and is some form of superhuman. Far from it. They have their losses and bad days just like everyone else. The difference is that when they have a bad day, they still play the game to win.

I want to see everyone succeed. Every day I wish that every person I talk with would find the drive and motivation to succeed. I believe everyone can succeed.

There is this Rippetoe quote where he talks about how everyone should go unplug from the Internet and just train for 10 years. I'm not a religious guy, but it reminds me of Jesus entering the wilderness for 40 days. Sooner or later you have to find yourself; ask yourself just who the heck you are and why you are doing what you're doing.

My personal drive comes from control. My parents were out of control as a child, and as a result I was out of control and confused most of my life. The iron is one of the only things I can control. I can determine how hard I work, and I get out of things what I put into them.

Excuse my indulgences.

[big_swede]

Great vid and awesome respone BtB, I agree. There is to much analyzing of factors thats actually irrelevant to success for most people going on, especially on the internet.

[Ryano]

Tate definately has his shit together. To me, attitude is everything. If you get under the bar and think you can't, you're right.

[Aurik]

Dave Tate is always good for some good quotes. I remember some kid in the gym after his workout.. I asked him if he set any PR's -- personal records. Kid didn't even know what I'm talking about. That kind of attitude is prevalent in 90% of the people who go to the gym, maybe 95%. And that's why people so often fail to get big(ger) and strong(ger).

[Off Road]

Excellent.