Weightlifting Advice from Someone Who Is No Longer Strong, Fit, Healthy, or Particularly Big
This article about weightlifting contains useful advice about working out in general, and includes one tip in particular that applies to esports play as well.
There’s a lot in that article that is very specific to weightlighting (talking about steroids, or specific exercises like “don’t curl with a straight bar”) but I find it telling that his number one tip, the one he spends the most time writing about, is this: Worry About Your Own Workout.
Many of the points he makes have direct analogues to esports play.
…unless you’re someone’s working out partner or you’re training them, other people’s workouts are not your business. That guy whose form you think sucks, doing standing rows over there? Maybe he’s adjusting to suit some injury. Or maybe he’s learned some interesting new technique and he’s trying it. Or maybe he’s just beginning and he needs time, like all of us do, to get better. You don’t know and it’s not your business.
This is something many players would be wise to keep in mind during a game. As we’ve seen before, it’s never a good idea to call out your teammates’ faults. It’s an easy mistake to assume that because someone isn’t playing the way you would play, that they need to be corrected. Think it through. You don’t know why they made that play, and there are many possible explanations.
There’s more to this though than simply not pointing out other people’s mistakes:
…the bigger thing is that focusing on the workouts of others is a good way to mess up your own. The classic case of this is guys who have been in the gym for a little while, they’ve started to put a little weight on the bench press or squat rack, and find they can’t stop fixating on “outlifting” other guys near them.
Do you find yourself making plays just to show off? Do you feel you have to be the one to carry every game, to be the star player that everyone honors? If so, then you’re playing for other people, and you should focus more on your own game.
Part of this mentality is reflected in the advice, “Be easy to carry.” You can’t carry every game. Some games, it’s best to let someone else do the lifting. Being easy to carry is more than simply not feeding. It’s about adopting a mindset where you acknowledge you are not the carry in every game. Don’t waste your mental focus worrying if you are doing better than everyone else on your team. Do the best that you can, and play as a team player.
