Can Watching Star Trek Increase Your Snatch? Yes!
I wrote an (only slightly) tongue-in-cheek article over on Breaking Muscle called, “Are You Geeky Enough to be a Weightlifter?”
Yes, of course, I’m playing around a bit. But, I’m partly serious. The skills, the mental tools, that geeks have access to are tools you NEED to develop to be good at the sport of Olympic Weightlifting.
Namely: Patience, consistency, a willingness to work hard on minute details, etc.
When I was in the 8th grade, I used to sit around at the coffee table at home and create Algebra problems for myself to solve. I thought it was FUN. I liked the mental challenge.
Looking at something that takes hard work, time, and consistency as fun (rather than miserable) is MUST if you want to snatch and clean and jerk big weights.
Geeks are like that naturally. And I’m proud to be a Geek 
Here’s a big quote:
Remember what everyone said about the nerdy kid? He/she isn’t very popular right now, but just wait. Someday they’ll be more successful than anyone else in the room.
That’s actually fairly accurate. Yes, it’s a trope that is a bit overused in the movies. But it’s based on fact. The kids who were spending their time working on their brains grew up and found they had a HUGE advantage over their competitors. They knew more, they were more analytical, and they were better able to deal with (and learn from) failure.
As a kid, the only thing that mattered to your peers was whether you had personal skills. More accurately, that you could play the right game in the right way: the cool-kid game.
That skill is also important to the success of anyone in the adult world. The old saw thatlife is like high school is dead on in that respect. If you can’t communicate well, get people to like you, and persuade others to see things your way without coming across as annoying, then your success will always be hampered.
However, no matter how important those “soft skills” are, they MUST be backed up by “hard skills” and the ability to execute. You can only fool people for so long before they figure out you’re full of it.
Click here to read the full article
I stumbled onto your site looking for info on intermittent fasting and ended up hanging out for a couple of hours. I listened to your podcast and you guys are a crackup. Anyway, I have struggled with depression my whole life and I find when I get home after a really stressful day and workout really hard, I feel so much better too. I focus on my form and breathe right and it calms me, but energizes me at the same time. I didn’t realize I was helping myself mentally as well as physically. I was on 3 different meds, but am now down to one and would like to taper off it in the future. I have lost 17 pounds, 3 sizes and feel really good. My son is getting married in August and that is what spurred me into doing this. I was so fat for my daughter’s wedding (the last family function) I swore I would get into shape.
Over the past 6 years I have given up smoking and drinking (yes vodka was my friend too, but my husband didn’t approve of the relationship and what it did to me). That was 2 1/2 years ago. Beginning January this year I began eating clean and working out. I really ramped it up in February and my son (who lives in PTown too) has helped with different lifts, work outs, etc. In fact it was him last weekend that told me all about IF. He’s doing it and it having tremendous success.
I am really happy I found you and will continue to read. Thank you for your words. You are a true inspiration.
@Cindy R Cindy, thank you so much!! That means a lot to me
I’m very happy to hear that you’ve found something that works for you, has helped you quit smoking and drinking, and helped you to attack the depression. So many people never find something that works for them.
Any time you’re visiting your son in P-town, make sure to stop into my gym to get a lift in and hang out! Nick