ON MASOCHISM

  

I am fairly certain I’ve already written about this before, but that’s what happens when you write 1000 words a week for a year.  That said, maybe this will help clear some stuff up, because I STILL get accused of being a masochist, and it honestly chaps me just like when I get told I have “superior genetics” (I have those special kind of genetics that only kick in after you train really hard for 2 decades that make you look like the dudes that have really good genetics that train hard for 2 years…yeah…).  We’ll take out minds out of the gutters for a little bit here and discuss masochism outside of it’s more wildly known sexual proclivity and just define it as someone that enjoys pain.  Basically, their brains are wired backwards, and the sensations that most people try to avoid are the sensations that a masochist enjoys and, in turn, tends to seek out.  People observe the training brutality I inflict upon myself and inevitably conclude that I must be some sort of masochist: there I am, living through constant pain and suffering, totally different from how other people conduct themselves: I’m clearly a deviant.  Folks: being a masochist would COMPLETELY miss the point: if we want to be bigger and stronger, we need to AVOID masochism.

Although Juggernaut IS rocking that gimp suit...

 

Why is that?  Because the process of getting bigger and stronger is the process of doing things you DON’T enjoy.  This is true on a physical level and on a psychological level as well.  Look at the average human: they live an existence where they ONLY do things they enjoy.  They eat the foods they want to eat, sleep the amount they want to sleep, and engage in the leisure activities that they want to engage in.  The ultimate comedy of this existence is that so many humans are UNHAPPY despite the fact that they are living in a constant state of feeding their Id, but therein lies the rub: doing things you enjoy does NOT make you stronger or better and, in fact, makes you soft, weak, and ultimately “less than”.  This is why children have parents: we as a species are DOOMED when left to our own devices and function much better when a sovereign that understands our true “best interests” can be there to guide us.  A child will eat gummy bears for dinner: their parent forces them to eat some veggies.  This is also why most social contract writers did NOT leave much room for individual personal liberties.

 

Ok, that’s getting super rambly and weird, but my regular readers most likely get where I’m going (similar to how, if you read enough Louie Simmons stuff, you somehow can make sense of it all).  What we understand from that is, when we engage in the things we enjoy, all we end up doing is lighting up the little dopamine centers in our brain and our “reward” is that good feeling.  And like a drug, the dosage has to keep getting upped to keep getting that good feeling, which results in a perpetual cycle of doing the things that make us WORSE so that we can keep feeling better.  To actually BECOME better, rather than simply FEEL better, one must engage on those things they DON’T enjoy.  “Character building”, as it was referred to by Calvin’s father (not of predestination acclaim but of the Bill Waters variety): the process of improving the self through denial and the endurance of misery.  The ascetics (no: NOT “aesthetics”, which is stupid) reached a similar conclusion: self-improvement through self-denial.  The opposite of hedonism: we don’t engage in personal debauchery but instead in denial of the self in order to reach “higher states”.

"And a DIET coke please!"

 

So wouldn’t being a masochist be an advantage here?  Again: no!  That’s the point: a masochist is engaging in things they ENJOY when they experience pain and suffering…which means they’re not “strengthening” themselves at all.  They’re debasing themselves.  They MAY enjoy some physical benefits manifesting as a result of pushing themselves to extremes in training, such as improvement of musculature or perhaps extreme leanness in the light of enjoying the suffering of dieting, but there’s no actual “strengthening” occurring: we’re simply observing a DIFFERENT variant of hedonism.  And where this comes to bear is when the time comes to actually knuckle down and do something challenging: the masochist has only been doing this because it’s fun, and when the fun is over, the willpower isn’t there to carry forward.  Meanwhile, the individual that has NOT been enjoying this process has been going through various repetitions of experiencing misery AS misery, not trying to warp it into pleasure but actually allowing themselves to feel the discomfort and struggle that comes with that sensation, and, in turn, has developed all the necessary tools to be able to carry on, move forward, and drive through.  They actually got “stronger”.

 

In truth, the most advantageous thing one could be in the pursuit of getting bigger and stronger is a HEDONIST: not a masochist.  If one truly enjoys the very basic physical pleasures of life, yummy food and physical leisure, then they were grow IMMENSLEY through regular physical training and solid nutrition.  Every training session is an opportunity to grow stronger IN TOTAL, every single meal is an opportunity to grow physically and otherwise: the hedonist is undergoing constant character building and strengthening with even the most basic of engagement in this approach.  The masochist, meanwhile, is at significant disadvantage: the very things meant to strengthen them, instead, make them weaker IN TOTAL, as it’s simply acting in self-debasement. 

Like this for example

 

Again I say: I am NOT a masochist.  I do NOT enjoy training.  At least once per training session I catch myself saying “I’d rather be anywhere but here right now”, along with a much more abbreviated “f**k me” after a particularly challenging set.  I also catch my mind drifting during heavy conditioning, making promises to myself that I’ll quit soon, which, in turn, forces me to do even MORE work to chase that weakness out of myself.  I have had meltdowns driving by a Taco Bell drivethrough, because my true self desires a nacho-based nutrition protocol and I am SO goddamn sick of eating vegetables.  This is not an enjoyable process, but that’s the whole point: I’m here to enjoy the RESULTS, NOT the process.  Enjoying the process is what results in being average, and the average person, in turn, is NOT enjoying themselves.  They are disappointed with what they are, for they are the outcome of someone who only does what they enjoy.  If you, instead, dedicate yourself to DOING what you don’t enjoy, you will be able to spend time BEING what you do enjoy: someone that is strong.