Everyday Max Out

Thank you Brian J. Terpak for your kind words.  You have no idea how much your blog means to myself, my wife, and my family.  It was a pleasure meeting you, training with you and slamming bars with you.  Congrats on both your PR's!!  Next time, don't drop me when I jump on you!! Lol.  Also, thank you to Crossfit South Philly for hosting a very successful 12th ATTITUDE NATION CERT! And last but not least, thank you to Ryan Eastin for making this seminar come to life!  Thank you Ryan for all your support and overall badassness! Thank you for serving this great Country in the Navy.  You are a great person and an even better friend, so thank you. PLEASE FOLLOW Brian J. Terpak's blog called "The Movement Program".  Brian's blog is the Attitude Nation's brother!   Salute, and hope to see my new good friends Brian and Ryan again soon.      

The Following passage is from Brian J. Terpak's blog.   Plus max out video below.  
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SLAMMIN’ BARS, DRINKIN’ COFFEE…WITH A PASSION.

While this post recounts my day’s adventures in weightlifting (that’s Olympic Lifting to everyone else), it is not just me grandstanding and spurting out nonsense about how I did this or how I did that.  On the contrary, it is about the important life lessons that were reinforced today by the conductor of the Dark Orchestra, Jon North.

“Attitude Nation, Salute!”

New Recruits for the Attitude Nation’s Armed Forces.

Today, Fearless Athletics in South Philly hosted Jon and Jessica (Jon’s wife) North’s “Attitude Nation” Olympic Weightlifting Seminar.  We spent the day going over drills like the “Hit and Catch” and the vaunted “Superman Pull” that would help us put up bigger numbers on our snatch and clean and jerk.  But this post is not going to be about those drills and the weight that was lifted.  (For the record I walked away with new PRs on the snatch and clean…)  On the contrary, this post will be about an essential truth to life that I again noticed from this all day weightlifting bonanza.  This seminar proved, once again, my belief that the barbell (and all of those associated it with unlocking its secrets) is one of the greatest teachers life can offer.

Where to start?  The start is obvious:  Jon North.  A free bird to put it simply, North marches to the beat of his own coffee-fueled drum and that’s what was awesome about him.  Opening up the seminar with a rant and rave about the current frustrating state of weightlifting in America, you could tell that this guy was passionate about bringing American weightlifters out of the Dark Ages.  North is much like the late Bruce Lee, a challenger of orthodoxy, a questioner who prods and tests the old guard as to why we do the things we do.  The seminar was a culmination of many hours of consulting coaches across the world, observing world class athletes, and then analyzing his hunches with his wife back at the gym into the wee hours of the night, after practice was over and their teammates have snuggled up under the covers.  An intuitive coach, North made the complex simple, yet paradoxically exposed the simplest movements as more complex, demanding the athlete’s attention to minutiae.  We, therefore, spent a tremendous amount of time  breaking down and focusing on each phase of the lifts.

Not only was the coaching excellent, but North was one of the most energetic and humorous coaches with whom I have worked.  North was never to be found physically or mentally still,  always pacing about the room offering words of encouragement to each athlete and ALWAYS quick with a joke and doling out knicknames!  (Apparently I reminded him of Tom Petty…so that was my name for the day!)  I don’t think I have laughed so much at an athletic seminar!   Every athlete got a mouthful from him and every time it was nothing but positive.

So, if the numbers and weights lifted aren’t what’s important, than what the hell is this post really about?  A plug for Jon and Jessica North?  Well, yes, the last point is true.  I do highly recommend every lifter serious about improving his or her weightlifting to attend an Attitude Nation weightlifting seminar.  However, the real take away from this seminar is this:  successful people exude passion.

I don’t care what job you hope to garner when you get done with trade school or college, hell, even high school, but do a job without passion and success is all but NEVER guaranteed.  People are intuitively wired to be drawn towards others who love what they do.  Passion is almost infectious and obsessive.  To most people who are passionate about something it seems like nothing else matters.  (My family can attest to my enthusiasm for all things CrossFit and weightlifting.  It seems to be the jam in my donut these days.)  Passion means focus and focus means a 100% commitment to the activity of your choice.    Why go to a doctor who you sense does not care about you or what it is they are doing?  Why buy a cake from a baker who seemingly hates his job and, subsequently, the world?  (You can taste hatred, by the way…)  Why buy a wedding dress from someone who sews only to make a dollar and not to express a piece of herself?

Long story short:  Be passionate about what you do.  Obviously, we all must do things that we don’t want to do (i.e. school) in order to do the things that we want to do (CrossFit, music, etc), but find something that you truly love to do and makes you happy and then figure out a way how you can share it with the world.  Remember, it’s not “money makes me happy” but rather “happy makes me money.”

I think Jon and Jessica North would agree…

Terpak
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A pose off with Ryan Eastin.  I think he got me! That son of a bitch! 

The MAX OUT FRIDAY video!  PS: sorry for not posting the last few days. I am now back in The Dark Orchestra.  

Brian and Ryan 2016