Freakshowelite
12-13-12, 10:00 pm
On Monday November 26th myself and ten local youth set out on an adventure. The ultimate adventure of strength. Screw golden rings, and glittery vampires, and temples of doom! This is the only adventure! I will spend the next two months taking these high school kids to hell and back. Breaking down their form, and humbling them only to leave them stronger and more confident 2 months later. Follow us on our Journey
Grit:
firmness of mind or spirit : unyielding courage in the face of hardship or danger
Tonite I had my mind blown away. Thursday nights are deathlift's at Maple Lake High. At the end of every sesh the kids flip tires. Its a 400lb tire for 4 sets of 10. What you may not know is that we recently had a snow storm here in Minnesota. There was about a foot and a half to 2ft of snow on the ground. Last night I told the guys we were flipping tires no matter whats on the ground. I really dont think they took me seriously because they did not show up prepared. No boots or warm coats or gloves. They asked are we flipping tires, I said absolutely we are. I didn't realize how bad the snow was till we got outside. They rolled the tires out into the drifts and flopped them down. Not one of them wanted to or believed they could do it. One of the two leaders of the group stepped up and tried and failed, and failed, and failed. Another kid stepped up, same result. Many of the kids were already beaten, they saw the two best tire flippers fail. I said guys, were flipping tires 4 sets of 10 no matter how long it takes. There was alot of complaining, my hands are cold, my feet are numb etc...... The leader of the pack, who definetly is driven and a seperate breed stepped up determined. I got in his ear, started quoting Eric Thomas, Kai Greene, etc... Tire went half way up, then fell. Tire got 3/4 the way up then fell. This kid had not one ounce of quit in him. After about 4 misses he finally got the first flip. You could see the impossible wall, start to crack. 4 more failures then a 2nd flip came. Soon it was 2 failures then a flip, then no failures until 10 flips. Everyone was convinced that this was impossible when they began. After watching the first kid fight through the cold and numbness another steps up. He had about 3 fails for every successful flip until 10! The other two tires start getting participants. Failure was definetly the dominant pace, but for every 7 misses 1 got flipped. The kids who were weaker in the gym, started stepping up and flipping infront of the kids stronger than them. Suddenly the complaining started to taper off, the hand shaking and moaning slowed. Just like negativity is contagious, confidence is 10 times more contagious in the right atmosphere. Suddenly everyone had flipped the tire at least 3 times. I told them I didn't expect them to do the full 4 sets of 10. I just wanted to see who was willing to take on an impossible task and fail. I told them I didn't care if they failed, just as along as they gave everything they had. Then something absolutely amazing happened. The leader of the group started his 2nd set of 10 flips. Again failing about 3 times for every successful flip. Then the next kid, then the next, all the sudden everyone in the pack wanted to go, they wanted to flip these tires with numb hands, completely miserable, hungry, and tired. It was just a land slide of confidence. 2nd set turned into the 3rd, then the 4th. The leader of the pack was the only to hit 4 sets of 10. Then he said he wanted a 5th. I was blown away, This time, he failed more then 5 times for every successful flip but was determined, was drunk with perseverance. He was getting to 50 no matter how long we stayed out there. Let me express how shitty the conditions were. It was 2ft of snow, less than 10 degrees outside, alls he had on was sweat pants and a hoodie. On one of his last flips he even fell hard in the snow face first and the tire fell on his head. Did he quit? Not a chance! Inch by inch he lifted his body off the ground, to his hands, to his knees, to one knee, then back on his feet. He gave me every ounce of effort he had in his body, ending with 54 flips. I have never witnessed something more inspiring and motivating in my life. This was completely what effort stands for. When it was all said and done everyone had done 4 sets, they might not have been sets of 10, but they tried until absolute failure. We got back inside and had a little chat. I told them, no one can ever take away what you all just did out there. You just proved to yourselfs the falicy of limits. You have so much untapped potential, you don't even comprehend how much. You just proved that no task is impossible. I told them how proud of them I was, and to remember this night whenever there presented with an impossible task.
I could not have been more proud!
Grit:
firmness of mind or spirit : unyielding courage in the face of hardship or danger
Tonite I had my mind blown away. Thursday nights are deathlift's at Maple Lake High. At the end of every sesh the kids flip tires. Its a 400lb tire for 4 sets of 10. What you may not know is that we recently had a snow storm here in Minnesota. There was about a foot and a half to 2ft of snow on the ground. Last night I told the guys we were flipping tires no matter whats on the ground. I really dont think they took me seriously because they did not show up prepared. No boots or warm coats or gloves. They asked are we flipping tires, I said absolutely we are. I didn't realize how bad the snow was till we got outside. They rolled the tires out into the drifts and flopped them down. Not one of them wanted to or believed they could do it. One of the two leaders of the group stepped up and tried and failed, and failed, and failed. Another kid stepped up, same result. Many of the kids were already beaten, they saw the two best tire flippers fail. I said guys, were flipping tires 4 sets of 10 no matter how long it takes. There was alot of complaining, my hands are cold, my feet are numb etc...... The leader of the pack, who definetly is driven and a seperate breed stepped up determined. I got in his ear, started quoting Eric Thomas, Kai Greene, etc... Tire went half way up, then fell. Tire got 3/4 the way up then fell. This kid had not one ounce of quit in him. After about 4 misses he finally got the first flip. You could see the impossible wall, start to crack. 4 more failures then a 2nd flip came. Soon it was 2 failures then a flip, then no failures until 10 flips. Everyone was convinced that this was impossible when they began. After watching the first kid fight through the cold and numbness another steps up. He had about 3 fails for every successful flip until 10! The other two tires start getting participants. Failure was definetly the dominant pace, but for every 7 misses 1 got flipped. The kids who were weaker in the gym, started stepping up and flipping infront of the kids stronger than them. Suddenly the complaining started to taper off, the hand shaking and moaning slowed. Just like negativity is contagious, confidence is 10 times more contagious in the right atmosphere. Suddenly everyone had flipped the tire at least 3 times. I told them I didn't expect them to do the full 4 sets of 10. I just wanted to see who was willing to take on an impossible task and fail. I told them I didn't care if they failed, just as along as they gave everything they had. Then something absolutely amazing happened. The leader of the group started his 2nd set of 10 flips. Again failing about 3 times for every successful flip. Then the next kid, then the next, all the sudden everyone in the pack wanted to go, they wanted to flip these tires with numb hands, completely miserable, hungry, and tired. It was just a land slide of confidence. 2nd set turned into the 3rd, then the 4th. The leader of the pack was the only to hit 4 sets of 10. Then he said he wanted a 5th. I was blown away, This time, he failed more then 5 times for every successful flip but was determined, was drunk with perseverance. He was getting to 50 no matter how long we stayed out there. Let me express how shitty the conditions were. It was 2ft of snow, less than 10 degrees outside, alls he had on was sweat pants and a hoodie. On one of his last flips he even fell hard in the snow face first and the tire fell on his head. Did he quit? Not a chance! Inch by inch he lifted his body off the ground, to his hands, to his knees, to one knee, then back on his feet. He gave me every ounce of effort he had in his body, ending with 54 flips. I have never witnessed something more inspiring and motivating in my life. This was completely what effort stands for. When it was all said and done everyone had done 4 sets, they might not have been sets of 10, but they tried until absolute failure. We got back inside and had a little chat. I told them, no one can ever take away what you all just did out there. You just proved to yourselfs the falicy of limits. You have so much untapped potential, you don't even comprehend how much. You just proved that no task is impossible. I told them how proud of them I was, and to remember this night whenever there presented with an impossible task.
I could not have been more proud!