Internal Resistance
“Strength is the ability to produce force against an external resistance.”
Before my first son was born, I began strength training with barbells. That’s how I discovered Starting Strength: Basic Barbell Training by Mark Rippetoe. It gave me my first proper understanding of 4 movement patterns that form the foundation of strength training. They are:
- Squat
- Deadlift
- Bench press
- Press (sometimes distinguished as the “overhead” press)
I inhaled the book after I first bought it. For the first time in my life, my inner nerd was motivated by more than intellectual pursuits. As you may have surmised by now, I was not an athlete. The baseball, basketball, and football genes took one look at me and said, “Yeah, that’s a no from me.”
Where Rippetoe’s book succeeds most is in demonstrating the relevance of these movement patterns to regular people. Bus drivers, car salesmen, security officers, homeschool moms. Even grandparents (maybe especially them!). When a Starting Strength Gym opened near me, I jumped at the chance to become a member.
I’m a self-motivated learner. Whenever I encounter something I don’t know about, I take steps to educate myself on that thing. If I want answers, I seek them out. But let me clear the air for all the other self-motivated learners out there: be humble enough to hire a coach.
For almost two years, I worked with a Starting Strength Coach. They have two primary skills that you, even as a person who reads, do not:
- Teaching people how to lift optimally (and without injury).
- Observing you execute your lifts.
If you’re learning to lift, by all means, take advantage of all the assets you can: books, YouTube videos, seminars, etc. Get a tripod and record your lifts. Watch them intently and do your best to take care of any form errors. But you cannot perform your lift while watching yourself lift from an outside perspective. Do yourself a favor and hire a coach.
The skill you’ll learn is how to effect a meaningful change in your environment. And, to put it clinically, you’ll do it through the application of force. In the case of a Starting Strength Gym, your environment includes a barbell with weights on it. You either will move it, or you will not. It is your external resistance.
But what about internal resistance?
What about that depression you secretly stopped taking your prescription for? What about that anxiety that kneecaps you every time you try to apply for a new job? The insomnia that rattles you awake no matter what you do?
You willingly subject yourself to a controlled stressor when you train with a barbell. You decide beforehand to pick up (or get under) something really heavy. And you do it on purpose. You do all this without knowing that you’ll even be able to move the barbell for the specified number of reps or sets. Hence comes the challenge.
Your mind is fully present during all this. You’ll find yourself being “mindful” of the presence of the weight on your back. Time slows down (and perhaps even comes to a complete halt at the bottom of a squat).
The universe will appear to pass from existence when the weight is heavy enough. You will hear neither the soaring chorus of your favorite Killswitch Engage song nor the corrective encouragement from your coach. First responders refer to this phenomenon as “auditory exclusion.”
Nothing exists. Except for you and the barbell. And it’s ok.
And then you’re done. You’ve finished your set, and you’ve learned something. You’ve rediscovered your ability to be able. You’ve activated something primal in the old reptilian part of your brainstem. It’s your capacity to exert. To touch something with your hand and cause it to change.
The Barbell Saves Project in Arizona implements barbell training to help people recover from substance use. Hitting a new deadlift PR might not seem like a huge deal to your coworkers. But deadlifts make people strong. And strong people can overcome resistance—internal or external.
Hi, my name is Grant. I’m a writer who likes to lift. I’m open to talking about both! Contact me to see how we can work together. If you’re local to Shelby County, get a free session at Starting Strength Memphis here.
