[Mike Pulcinella]

Question: Why do strength athletes encourage rival competitors?


I'm not a lifter, I'm a filmmaker. But I'm also the cousin of the owner of Iron Sport Gym, Steve Pulcinella, so I've gotten know know many of the athletes that train there and made a few videos about them.

You can see them here...
YouTube - IronSportGym's Channel

One thing I've noticed is that while in competition, strength athletes will often encourage each other and cheer each other on, sometimes getting quite worked up, slapping each other in the face, shaking each other, yelling and screaming. I know you've all seen it and done it. I find it very moving and inspiring. It is one of the reasons that I enjoy making videos for and about strength sports. I think it's a great aspect of the sport and yet I can't help but think that it is not to the competitor's advantage to encourage a rival!

If you egg your competitor on to make a lift he might not have made then you are going to have a harder time winning the competition! So why do you do it? I don't know of any other sport where this selfless behavior occurs. Any thoughts as to why that might be?

[Tuftone]

I am not sure if this is something that most people can comprehend. Nor do i think it is something that every lifter does. I am not a powerlifter nor a stronman but I am a bodybuilder (alothough fairly new only 15 months) and from my experience in the gym and through my personal opinion I have noticed a brotherhood that is formed between the like minded people. In the gym once you prove yourself you are treated far differently then the general gym crowd. Once a brother (fellow lifter) sees another who is dedicated they are willing to help one an another. This help is not offered to every gym member who pays there monthly due, rather it is offered to the members who pay their dues through dedication, through sweat and through pain. Those who are their everyday, those who arent just satisfied by showing up, but instead are only satisfied if they know that did everything they could to make that workout count for something, those who put their heart into every lift. This brotherhood is something that goes far beyond bettering someone, its about the respect for another whose clock ticks the same way yours does. When you can feel that bond you will understand why they are pushing each other. And maybe too its the simple fact that getting to the spot they are at was not easy, so why should the win be any easier than the journey. You want to know you beat the other guy at his best, not on a day he wasnt motivated or he was sick. An exagerated comparison would be it's like winning a tournament beacause the other team didnt show up. Sure its a win on paper but it dont count for ****!

PS I am not much of a writer hope that made some sense. Its kinda just the way i feel on the matter and how I am sure they do as well

[drewwwww17]

that gym looks so good....i wish i went there

[Frag Hag]

That's a fascinating question. I myself have wondered why other athletes don't encourage each other so. It always seemed like such a mean-spirited thing to me, taunting an opponent just because you're running on the same track or throwing the same ball. I guess it's why i was never good at competitive sports, because the kids in gym class were downright nasty to each other. They would even rip into their own teammates for not playing well enough. "What the ****, man? Why'd you drop the ball? You're so slow! Why'd i get teamed with the retard?" I wanted no part of it, and it turned me off to sports in general for my whole youth. But when i found lifting, i found encouragement and brotherhood. People were helpful to newcomers instead of jealously guarding their secrets.

I asked my husband for his thoughts on this, and he said, "They're not competing against each other; they're competing against the WEIGHTS." Ooooo, that was deep! But true! For a lot of people, weightlifting seems to be an individual journey. He and i also have a sense of honor about things; if we defeat someone who's weakened, it's a hollow victory. And if we win when they're at their best, or even when we ourselves are weakened, it makes the victory all the sweeter.

Maybe it's because there are so few lifters out there, that people feel strength athletes are an endangered species. It could be they feel their sport is threatened; if there are no players, there are no games. And then nobody wins.

I'm still new to lifting, i don't claim to be an expert or anything. All i know is, if this sport wasn't so different from other sports, i wouldn't have gone near it with a 10-foot barbell.