This is a quote from the great Jim Valvano during an amazing speech during the ESPY awards many years ago. Jim was an amazing college basketball coach who bravely battled cancer.

I am in no way, shape, or form making a comparison to any issue I am about to mention to cancer. The point is, Don't Ever Give Up!

For decades I have been battling a lot of pain as many lifters do. I am not going to bore you with the details. What I will share is that I have never given up on feeling better. This morning while foam rolling I had the realization that for the first time in forever, it didn't hurt when I got near my spine.

Fourteen years ago I was 328 lbs. I knew that was not sustainable for longevity. I embarked on the glacial process of losing approximately one pound a month. Today I have lost and kept off 130 lbs.

There was a time when my single focus in life was benching 600 lbs raw. At the time I had benched 585. It took me three years to go from 585 to 600. That's only 5 lbs a year. Glacial.

When you think something is unreachable "Don't Give Up... Don't Ever Give Up!"



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Tagged: Coaching Logs

EliteFTS Table Talk— Where strength meets truth. Hosted byDave Tate, Table Talk cuts through the noise to bring raw, unfiltered conversations about training, coaching, business, and life under the bar. No fluff. No hype. Just decades of experience — shared to make you stronger in and out of the gym.

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