JMSB Mission Statement and Inspiration

I want to share something that I experienced yesterday that I think will help illuminate exactly what I want to accomplish with this blog, the videos I post, and the workouts I write.  I often get the sense that some people see what I do and what I put out as a cry for attention by a meathead who wants to showoff.  Hey, if you’re sitting there reading this right now and you agree with that statement, good on you, you are entitled to that opinion.  It’s completely incorrect and if that’s your point of view I don’t give a shit what you think anyway because I don’t need that negativity in my life, but as I said, it’s your opinion.

The truth is, first and foremost, this is my passion.  Everything I do and everything I produce, whether it is a blog post, a video, a workout, or something I do on the football field I do because I love it more than I could possible explain.  When I talk about weightlifting and strength and conditioning training I get excited.  My adrenaline starts pumping and all I want to do is get after it and throw heavy ass weight over my head.  I want to share that passion with friends, family, and people I don’t even know.  I want people to see how much I love what I do and follow me and experience the same happiness that I do by hopefully finding what they’re passionate about.  I don’t care if that passion is in weightlifting or Crossfit or music or whatever it is you’re into.  I want people to see the discipline, the love, and the desire that I have and bring to everything I do, and I want them to be inspired to have the same.

The other reason I do this is to make myself and those around me better.  When I was younger, I had people who pushed me, who helped me get better in athletics and in training.  Some I knew.  I had friends and family who guided me towards success.  They taught me about commitment, hard work, and persistence, and perseverance, while others who I don’t even know personally were willing to put videos and articles online to share their knowledge and passion with the world.  I’ve learned so much from just going online and finding people who are much better and much more knowledgeable than I am, and watching and listening to everything they say and do. 

Now that I am able to look back and see how important those people were to my development as a man and an athlete, I want to give some of that back.  When I train, and push my mind and body to the limits, I hope others will watch me and find inspiration in what I do.  In turn, they’ll go out and kick ass and inspire me to continue to improve myself.

That’s what “JMSB” is all about in the end.  A community of people who love training of all kinds and desperately pursue self-improvement on a daily basis while simultaneously helping others who share their passion.

Today I woke up and my teammate Rich Vazzano wrote a status on Facebook about hitting a PR push press set of 105 kg.  This record came six months after having his shoulder reconstructed.  I have no idea if he’s been following my programming at all, but I hope that I helped inspire him in some small way to push himself to get better and to train harder than the ordinary athlete.

Then, hours later while I was at work, I received a text from my good buddy and quarterback Mike Baby Toes Santos telling me he hit a huge squat of 365 pounds for 2 reps and a 45 inch box jump.  I’ve known Toes for years and he has always heard me preach about training hard, the power of squats, and that the legs make the man.  While he’s always trained hard himself, on his own and at a performance gym, I again hope that I have been able to positively influence his training and even more importantly his mindset on training in the nearly four years I’ve known him.

Finally, one of my closest friends and teammate Mike Mancino texted me and told me he cleaned 178 pounds for 5 from the hang.  Mike is one of the hardest workers and most gifted football players I’ve ever come across.  But for years he loved the bodybuilding workouts and hated squatting, cleaning, and using the legs in training.  I have tried for so long to get him to forget the bodybuilding bullshit and train like a man and athlete.  Now, he not only embraces it, but we laugh and joke about the morons in the gym doing cheat curls and thousands of chest exercises, while we share stories about big cleans, technique, hard work and heavy weight. 

After hearing about these guys working hard and conquering their training today, I knew there was no way I could wallow in self-pity about having to work six hours before rushing to the gym to lift for the last 35 minutes it would be open.  I was so hyped all day thinking about my workout from a combination of Jon North’s weightlifting talk and the inspiration I derived from my brothers sharing their training with me that when it came time to tape up and move heavy weight I couldn’t be stopped.  Just two months after having my fourth and fifth knee surgeries I SMOKED a 135 kg (297 lb) split jerk from the rack even after not having practiced the split jerk in about four months.

Experiences like this remind me exactly why I put myself out there day in and day out.  Physically my body is beat up, but I push through the pain for my own gain, and because I remember that there are others out there who might be watching, looking for guidance or inspiration.  Mentally, when I want to quit or I don’t feel like writing a workout late on a Sunday night, I remember moments like this, when the guys around me pushed me and inspired me to get better, and I fight through.  Without the support of my teammates, my family, and everyone else out there that wakes up each day with a passion and relentlessly pursues exactly what they want, it wouldn’t be possible. 

  

Join us or get the hell out of our way.  If this sounds like something you want to be a part of, let me know, otherwise take your negativity and cheat curls somewhere else.