There's always room for one more!

- The chamber of steel and the efforts of physical exertion.
- Part of the riddle of steel

What is the chamber of steel and what can it teach us? The chamber of steel is the weight room and it can teach us self discipline and focus. How can someone even think for a moment about your daily trials and tribulations when you are about to un-rack and lift 250, 300 or 350 lbs? All there is at that given point time is absolute will and determination, the total focus of mind and body. This all starts with the clearing of the mind, then focusing on the breath, then the flexing and full contraction of the muscle and finally relaxing of the muscles of the body and then the release of tension and finally nothingness. The total focus on the body and its physical exertion and then the release of tension and the absolute failure of the muscle at the end of a set or rep, that exertion leads to the release of endorphins at the end of the work out. This is a form of dynamic meditation and a way of releasing negative energy and or stress. Take into account deep breathing, a heavy exchange of oxygen and increase heart rate pumping rich oxygenated blood throughout the body and you pretty much have it all.

The steel in the weight room does not care about your daily problems. Happy, sad, depressed or angry, it does not matter. The weights will always weight the same it is never changing and it is constant, a humbling lesson in reality and consistency. The weight room can teach us many lessons about ourselves, things we may not want to know or refuse to hear. It will tell us when we are dehydrated, under nourished, lacking sleep or not mentally focused or prepared, it teaches us many lessons about ourselves, our commitment and dedication. The weight pile calls us out by name to challenge ourselves to focus and to challenge us for our own self improvement. We can learn things about ourselves through our dedication to hard work and a healthy lifestyle.

The hardest part of your day is in the chamber of steel. Think to yourself, what in our daily life could be more difficult and challenging than lifting the heaviest weight or repping the most we can physically handle and push it as many time as we physically can? The answer, Nothing! There is nothing that we will encounter in our daily life more challenging that absolute physical exertion. If you can push yourself to absolute failure, hard enough to the point of breaking, to the point where we become dizzy and nauseated, to the point our bodies are ready to shut down, it is there, we will find no thought, no confusion or contemplation just you and that moment and nothing else. If we were only able to harness that moment of absolute focus and hold it throughout our lives we would find that the challenges of daily life would be easier, simpler, and less stressful. We may become more temperate and compassionate. So many of life’s problems become miniscule when compared to the absolute physical exhaustion of a quality, intense weight lifting work out.

Some people walk into the weight room or the dojo and see only steel and mats, not me, I see a riddle, I see the lessons it has to offer and teach me. Some say that weightlifting is the fountain of youth and I think it is because of the lessons it can teach us physically and mentally. This same philosophy may apply to any physical exertion or training as long as you push yourself to the absolute end, where either the body quits and the mind pushes beyond or the mind quits and the body pushes on. This is where we learn about our true self. Try to tell that to the Jacksonville Jaguars running back, #34 Maurice Jones-Drew, that he cannot push though a defensive lines double or triple team (did I mention he is only 5’7” … and 208# !)

“There’s always room for one more”

GhostDog