Barbell Connotations: Posture & Position

Does weight training come with a negative connotation in your view of the world? Let’s talk about it. Does it invoke imagery of egotism? Danger? Vanity? Does lifting heavy weights seem to invite injury? Or, is it that it’s non-essential? The list of common negative connotations can go on for nearly as long as you’ve got time to read. 

That being said. Here’s another view all together. Lifting weights, specifically heavy ones, is a practice of maintaining posture and position under different stressors. 

The funny thing about posture is that it’s a word with wonderful connotation. Position (or form) also has a beautifully positive connotation. In fact, what if we could remove all of the egomania from lifting heavy and keep all of the postural intentionality and position priority. 

With this view, there isn’t much space for imagery and connotations about injury and bravado. Instead, there is an excited essential need for an increasing external load to challenge our ability to maintain incredible posture and position. In fact, how could one justify letting posture become so fragile as to not challenge it with a heavily loaded barbell?