Iron Sharpens Iron

"As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another." - Proverbs 27:17

Recently, I've been lucky enough to get to train with some partners. This may not seem like a big deal, but considering the fact that I have been partnerless for the past 3 months, it is huge to me. Training alone can be frustrating. It's not as fun, it's a lot harder to to stick to a program, and you end up not pushing yourself as much. For example, in the bottom video (snatches from blocks), if I would have been going on my own, I probably would have stayed at 155#. Instead, because I had some partners there who encouraged me to go up, I ended up hitting an unexpected PR.

I am a firm believer in the concept of iron sharpening iron. This applies to many realms of life. With weightlifting/crossfit, it is evident in the fact that your WOD times are almost always lower when you have a group or a partner with you. It's easy to give in to the voice in your head whispering "stop", but it becomes a lot harder when you have someone there next to you going through the same pain and suffering as you. You need that accountability, you need that person there forcing you to go back to the bar even when you think there is no way you can pick it up one more time. It's what makes you better, stronger, sharper. The concept doesn't just stop with training partners though.

Life was not meant to be gone through alone. In college, I lived in a house with 8 other guys who were all pursuing Christ and striving to discover what it looked like to follow him. Because of this, we were constantly encouraging, challenging, exhorting, and therefore sharpening one another. After graduating, I moved to Houston and have been living alone ever since, which is the opposite end of the spectrum. It has been much different, and much harder. Without being surrounded by iron, I started to become dull in my affections for Christ. Thankfully, the Lord put a couple of close guy friends in Houston that have continued to sharpen me as a man of Christ.

Find a partner who will sharpen you. Sharpen someone else. Go under the bar.