You’ll Never Be a Green Lantern

You’re afraid to lift more weight is why You’ll Never Be a Green Lantern

1 Timothy 1:7 states, “For God hath not given us the spirit of fear, but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.”

I don’t know much about the comic book Green Lantern. I don’t really follow comics, especially DC. I’m more of a Marvel fan. But I’ve been watching the LANTERNS series on HBO MAX, and episode three has been one of the most controversial episodes so far.

In the episode, the Guardians came to John Stewart’s father, despite being a military vet, didn’t pass the fear test. The Guardians engulfed him in a green light, and they asked him one question: “Are you afraid?”

He said, “Yes. I am afraid.”

So that made me think about the fear of lifting weights.

Are You Afraid to Lift Weights?

As I’m preparing to lift weights after my 30-minute cardio session this morning, I started thinking about how someone could be fearful of lifting weights.

Today, I did 20 minutes on the treadmill. I started with a 10-minute incline walk and then finished the last 10 minutes with a Tabata-style round of 30-second intervals. It felt so good.

I only got about six hours of sleep, which is actually a lot for me at this point, even though I know I need more.

But as I’m getting ready to lift weights, I’m thinking about how someone could be afraid to start.

Maybe you’re afraid because you’ve seen a video like the one I posted earlier this week where I failed a bench press.

Should I leave gold’s gym after this bench press fail? #WeBenchOnMonday
https://youtu.be/Hzz8bJ5qc3s

The reactions I received from that video actually made me smile.

Not because I enjoy people being concerned about me. I’m not that self-centered. But because I’m always running a test and experimenting when it comes to social media and understanding what people want to see.

The reactions told me something.

“You shouldn’t have done that.”

“You shouldn’t have posted that.”

“Oh, that’s dangerous.”

“I would have been scared.”

Those reactions were interesting to me.

Everything You See Has Been Curated

When it comes to social media, understand that everything you see has been curated for you to see.

Everything has an intention.

Nothing is done by accident.

I’m a content creator myself, so I know exactly what I’m putting up and why I’m putting it up.

That video was intentionally cut short to show the failure.

It was meant to show the struggle.

It was meant to show that this could happen.

And it did happen.

I wanted people to see it because it is a possibility.

Now, that may scare people. It may make someone hesitant to work out or lift weights.

And while I can empathize with that fear, I don’t cosign it.

Fear becomes another excuse for why you don’t want to get stronger.

“I’m scared to lift that much weight.”

“I’m afraid I’ll get injured.”

That becomes the number-one excuse.

And I’m tired of hearing it.

Fear Is Not What God Gave You

“I’m afraid I’ll get injured.”

I’ve heard that so many times.

What’s really underneath that statement is a fear of starting.

And that’s what I’m talking about.

Fear.

Where did you get that fear from?

Scripture tells us that God did not give us the spirit of fear.

This is why I say:

You can never be a Green Lantern.

Again, I don’t know everything about the Green Lantern story, but it’s interesting that, according to the television series, one of the requirements for becoming a Green Lantern is to be without fear.

To become a protector of your sector, you have to be able to face fear.

That’s a biblical principle.

A lot of the principles you see in movies, television, and Hollywood come from somewhere. Many of these principles are rooted in ideas that can be found throughout Scripture.

The requirement to become stronger is to have courage.

You cannot be controlled by fear.

In Order to Become Stronger, You Have to Be Strong

Remember that clothing brand from the late 1990s and early 2000s?

No Fear.

In order to become stronger, you have to be willing to be strong.

You cannot constantly be fearful.

Now, granted, we have human feelings and emotions. I understand being cautious. I understand being careful.

I’m not saying you should be reckless.

Scripture says God did not give us the spirit of fear.

So when it comes to working out and lifting weights, don’t be scared to start.

Don’t be scared to lift the weight.

Don’t be scared to move forward.

Have the mentality that you are strong.

You Have to Fail to Get Stronger

Now, for context, let’s go back to that bench press video.

I failed because I couldn’t press the weight up for the 20th rep.

The full video shows that I went to bench press 225 pounds with chains, which added approximately another 35 pounds at the top.

I was going for 20-plus reps.

On rep 19, I had a feeling that this wasn’t going to end well.

But I also thought it would be great for social media.

After 19 reps with 225, this happened #fail #benchpressfail
https://youtu.be/u8Nn0yGBuxY

Knowing what I know now, I probably should have stopped at 19.

But I intentionally continued because I wanted to show something.

I wanted people to see the possibility of failure.

I wanted to see people’s reactions.

What I discovered is that fear spreads more than confidence.

The reaction of fear gets more attention than the reaction of strength.

The videos I posted before that one didn’t receive the same reaction.

That was my eighth total set for the day. I had just finished doing 20 reps across two sets of 315 pounds.

For the past year and a half, I’ve been posting We Bench on Monday content.

You’ve seen me bench heavier weights.

You’ve seen me bench 225 pounds for 20-plus reps consistently.

You’ve already seen the strength.

So why are you afraid?

Why are you nervous for me?

What You Didn’t See

Did you ever question why the video started right when I was failing?

Did you question what happened before that?

Probably not.

And that’s exactly the point.

The video showed people’s fear about their own thoughts surrounding working out.

“This could happen to me.”

Yes, there were things in the video that you didn’t see.

For one, there was somebody there watching me.

There were safeguards in place.

I’ve failed lifts before. I knew how to get the weight off.

This wasn’t something completely foreign to me.

So why is that an excuse for you not to lift weights?

Why is that an excuse for you to tell somebody else, “I wouldn’t do that”?

Why is that an excuse to tell somebody, “You don’t bench anymore”?

“This is why I don’t bench.”

No.

You don’t bench because you’re not strong.

You don’t bench because you don’t train.

You don’t bench because you’re afraid of getting hurt.

Maybe you’re afraid of getting hurt again.

I’ve Been Through Injuries Too

I’ve been through plenty of injuries.

Those injuries forced me to rethink what I was doing for the day, the week, the month, and sometimes even the year.

I had to wait until I could regain my strength in that area.

I had to become stronger.

I had to wait to get my rematch.

Until it happened.

You have to destroy something before you can rebuild it.

Being controlled by fear can become destructive too.

I empathize with fear because I understand where it comes from.

It’s the unknown.

“What is that going to feel like?”

You know it’s probably going to hurt.

But how much?

That’s the unknown.

What you don’t understand can become the genesis of fear.

I get it.

I understand it.

I also know that fear isn’t something God gave me.

It isn’t something God gave you.

I’m Going to Lift Anyway

As I get ready to start my chest workout today, I’m feeling great after 30 minutes of cardio.

Of course, I had coffee before this, so that probably helped fuel this entire conversation.

I’m going to bench 275 pounds for 10 sets of 10.

I’m speaking it into existence.

Right now, I may go through the entire workout without a hiccup.

Or I may have a hiccup.

But that doesn’t mean I won’t start.

It doesn’t mean I won’t try.

That’s the point.

Don’t be so fearful.

Because fear can stop you from doing the things necessary to become stronger.

And if you want to protect the people around you and the people you love, you can’t allow fear to control you.

Will You Be Afraid When You’re Called?

You don’t want to be like John Stewart’s father when the calling comes upon you—when you’re chosen—how will you answer the question?

“Are you afraid?”

When it comes to working out, lifting heavy weights by yourself, remember this:

It’s you.

You’re the one picking up that bar.

It’s you picking up that dumbbell.

It’s you doing the work.

Someone can tell you what to do.

A personal trainer can structure your workout.

A coach can encourage you.

But at the end of the day, it’s still you who has to do the work.

So will you be afraid to lift that weight?

Are you afraid??

If you are, you’ll never be a green lantern.