words of power

There are some words and phrases that I feel are good to unlock those last few ergs of power; that are good for pushing yourself through the last repetition while lifting or on through the final leg of a hard run.

I’m sure you all know what I’m talking about.

Some of my favorites:

• “Mad dog!” More for lifting, really. When you’re on the bench press or somesuch. I’ll say it to people at the Black Box when they are struggling. It is pretty self-explanatory.
• “Get aggressive!” Or just, “aggressive!” Another one from the Black Box. Doing like a weighted back squat or somesuch can be intimidating and you need an aggressive mentality for it. (BTW, did 135-lb. push-press the other day).
• “Cliffhanger.” From my friend Andrew G. To evoke the amazing opening scene from the 1993 Sylvester Stallone movie. You never know when you might have to pull a girl up from a chasm with sheer arm strength.
• “I am one tough motherf—…” Dylan told me this one. He had read about some guy chanting it to himself under his breath in a race.
• Rock around the clock. The beat and lyrics are so simple, it makes for a good chant while running. I use it even if I can only remember the first couple lines. “One, two, three o’clock, four o’clock rock / Five, six, seven o’clock, eight o’clock rock.” Better than counting…

Anyway, I was out running on the West Side Highway on Sunday when I heard a new one. This woman was running with two guys in the opposite direction of me and I overheard her say it to them. I thought it was awesome in its simplicity:

“Giddyup!”