


You’ll find “ embrace the suck” as the title of many blog posts and used all over social media online. Instead of giving up on that last set, embrace the suck and lift it. To embrace the suck means to endure the pain and suffering caused by athletic workouts. The images will usually feature a grainy photo of some jacked guy ready to go to battle or suffering through athletic hardship. Life is a balance of risk and reward, and the more you sacrifice today, the better off you will be tomorrow.Įmbrace the suck is another one of the cliché fitness terms you’ll see pasted across many posters. MeaningĮmbrace the suck means to enjoy the pain while it lasts because it’s making you stronger. This post unpacks everything you need to know about this idiomatic expression’s origin, meaning, and use. Then you start throwing elbows.Are you at the gym, and your friend is complaining about how hard the workout is today? If that’s the case, you could always tell him to “ embrace the suck” and get on with the training. You don't drop 50 pounds of fat without first looking in the mirror and confronting that porky guy staring back at you that couldn't control himself.Įvery reward, every achievement lies on the other side of the suck. You don't pull a deadlift PR without first getting pissed at that stubborn collection of iron. Maybe your emotionally stunted friends will all "like" it. Listen, you can fight the suck or you can post your attention-baiting little cry for help on your Facebook page. They flip the switch and turn on some good, old-fashioned testosterone-fueled anger – the kind that takes the blinders off and gets shit done. No, they get angry, they refocus, and they fight. I've never seen a successful person escape the suck by being sad about it. You don't get out of the suck with self-pity. Real self-improvement has nothing to do with that coddling, wallowing-in-your-own-misery, cry-about-it-to-Oprah bullshit. Self-improvement, in any area of life, doesn't begin with whining or blaming or feeling sorry for yourself. The payoff is a new PR and the knowledge that he's stronger than 99% of the people that walk by him on the street. He's forced to get smarter, get tougher, target and train his weak points, and get better. Strength plateaus can last for years for the advanced lifter. Plateaus in strength practically redefine the meaning of suck. If you don't stop in the middle of the suck, your reward is a set of visible abs. You're forced to try harder and learn new things. When your fat loss has stalled for weeks, you're in the suck.

The lesson the suck teaches us is that we have the ability to escape it. Effort has been applied and it's paid off. Push harder, fight the mud that's sucking the car into the ground.įinally, it moves. Get a better angle on it, set your feet, dig in deep, and push. You find a good spot on the back to place your hands, take a deep breath, and heave. Picture in your mind a car stuck in the mud. And this is why, in all aspects of life, we have to learn to embrace the suck. But once you got some kickback from your hard work, the suck ended. Maybe you've quit a few times and had to have a do-over. I looked over at my reflection in the back window of my Jeep and there it was – the first sign that all this suck was paying off.īut as you'll remember, getting through the newbie suck is tough. By then the home gym had moved to the garage and I'd even had to buy some bigger plates. My newbie suck ended one day when I saw the first inkling of a triceps muscle. You're waist deep in the suck, and not many people can crawl out of it. The results aren't visible yet there's no immediate reward. Every signpost tells you to stop and get back on the couch. Your body fights back and your mind works against you. The newbie weight trainer knows all about the suck. Setbacks, failures, divorce, getting canned, getting injured. While it's nothing compared to being in a warzone, everyone has experienced the suck at one time or another. "The suck" is a phrase used by Marines that defines any situation where conditions are undesirable. I got winded quickly, everything hurt, and there was no joy or feeling of accomplishment, at least not right away. The weights reminded me that I was weak, that I was soft, and that I'd let school and work destroy my health. I wanted the results from it, but I hated the process of getting them. I hated walking past that room and hated going into it even more. There weren't many weight plates, because I didn't need many back then. In the tiny spare bedroom of my first house sat a bench, some adjustable dumbbells, and a few bars.
#Embrace the suck meaning movie#
"Welcome to the suck." From the book and movie Jarhead.
