In order to experience further progress, do you need to know more, or do you need to make better use of what you already know? Don’t answer yet, just absorb that question…just let that question penetrate your brain for a moment…

Incidentally, I grew up in the martial arts tradition of Bushido, and we were always taught that knowledge doesn’t exist without action – in other words, knowledge that isn’t acted upon isn’t really knowledge at all.

Pop Quiz: What’s the main difference between you and an Olympic athlete?

Genetics? Drugs? Coaching? Facilities? Motivation?

Certainly all of these and more factor into the equation, but I’m convinced that the most significant point of difference is consistency.

Maximal strength (MxS) is defined as the maximum amount of force one can produce irrespective of time or bodyweight.

The qualifiers “time” and “bodyweight” distinguish MxS from power and relative strength, respectively.

MxS is perhaps the core quality that all individuals should be concerned with, because it’s acquisition is the fastest route to all other motor qualities, including relative-strength, speed-strength, strength-endurance, speed, and speed-endurance.

As you work through the process of creating and refining your goals, don’t limit yourself to a single definition of success.

For example, a lot of guys might find themselves frustrated with a woman who embarks upon a weight-loss campaign, only to quit after several weeks, despite having succeeded by all rational measures: she looks better, her bodyfat percentage has dropped, her clothes are loose, her energy has increased, and her blood lipids have improved. Yet, because her weight has remained the same, she considers herself a failure.