Adversity

dversity can come in many forms such as injury, life stress, discontent with your rate of progress etc. As lifters (and as humans in general) facing some form of adversity is inevitable. As a lifter, the greatest adversity I faced was my back injury.

I can speak to the idea of adversity because I went through a very difficult time when I injured my back. I was lucky to find @thebattleaxegym who helped me rehab my injury and kept me on the path to success. Without him, my return to powerlifting may not have been possible.

Despite having someone in my corner with the right skill-set to get me back to lifting, it was tough. There were many moments where I wanted to quit, where I thought my powerlifting goals would never be attained.

The important thing to consider from my story is how I handled my own personal adversity. This is the defining factor that ultimately led to my success. I sought every expert and professional I could find until I found the one that was able to help me.

Through the difficult times (of which there were many) I looked to the goals I had set for myself, and I reminded myself of my motivation for training and competing. It kept my head on straight and allowed me to fight another day. If I wasn’t so stubborn and determined, I surely would have quit powerlifting a long time ago.

Moral of the story: Look to your adversity as an opportunity to grow and better yourself. If you don’t have the tools to manage your adversity optimally, then find someone who does. This will make a world of difference for you.