Two very close friends of mine inspired me to write this article. The first is a barrel-chested man who goes by the name Ron Slusarski. Ron is my mentor, coach, advisor, training partner, and friend. He was a world class professional Strongman in the early to mid 2000s, competing against and training with the likes of Chad Coy, Don Pope, Magnus Ver, Odd Haugen, Brian Schoonveld, and Mariusz Pudzianowski, just to name a few. The other is Tomas Rodriguez, the current top-ranked, 300-lb amateur Strongman in the nation. He was an All-American wrestler and former NFL player and is one of my other training partners and close friends. I will get into why they inspired me to write this a little later on.
In this article, I will unveil the truly hidden secret to becoming a successful strength athlete. You will be in shock and awe when you learn what I’m about to uncover, as this secret has been closely guarded for centuries.
I have heard it a million times—“What’s the secret to a huge axle press?” or “What’s the secret to loading that 450-lb stone?” or, the best one yet, “What’s the secret to getting huge?” These types of questions have come from people in all walks of life. I always hear my junior high and high school students, my high school athletes, and people who are just starting to train ask these questions. I hear it on a regular basis from college athletes, average gym rats, and low to mid-level powerlifters and Strongmen. Every once in a while, I hear this question being asked by top level amateur and professional Strongmen, powerlifters, and other high level athletes. I often see posts on boards and forums and hear comments about how the most decorated strength athletes will never talk about their super secret training methods, and if they do, they will always leave out their true key to success. This always makes me chuckle.
Every time I hear these questions, a million things go through my mind. Should I tell them about specific lifts, certain rep ranges, technique issues, nutritional requirements, supplements, and recovery techniques, or should I direct them to specific books, articles, programs, methods, gyms, or websites like EliteFTS.com? There are so many things that go into being a successful strength athlete. It’s almost impossible to list them all, right? Wrong.
Before I unveil the super secret secret, I have to pick on Tomas, whom I mentioned earlier. He is a truly gifted athlete. He was a state level sprinter, football 
player, and wrestler in high school and a Division I All-American wrestler and football player in college. He spent some time with the Giants and Broncos and now is right on the verge of turning professional in Strongman. With all his success in athletics, he still sometimes thinks there is some legendary, Knights of Templar guarded, super secret secret to becoming a great strength athlete. He once skipped a training session with us and sought out this answer from Brian Shaw when he was in our area (northeast Ohio). Unfortunately, his quest was thwarted by the evil wizard known as ‘miscommunication’ and he was unable to meet up with the mythical man giant himself.
In our next training session, Tomas came back empty handed. “The secret is lost forever,” he thought. “What ever will I do?” Little did he know, our coach, Ron Slusarski, who also knows the hidden secret, was going to tell him the answer to what he had been searching for.
Now comes the part of the article where I too will reveal the super secret secret to success. Prepare to be enlightened, dumbfounded, and amazed beyond belief. The super duper hidden for generations secret to success is…hard work!
There you have it. I’ve unveiled the legendary secret—hard work. No bitching, no whining, no complaining, just suck it up and deal with it, old fashioned, balls to the wall, hard-nosed training. Everything boils down to this. You could have the fifty best coaches in the world, the best protocols, the best nutritionists, the best doctors, the best gym with every band, chain, board, box, implement, or dumbbell you can think of, but without hard work, none of this will make any difference whatsoever.
And boy did Ron tell him. He told him this secret in a much more edited, fire breathing, R-rated way, but you get the point. Tomas got the point as well.
Many novice lifters and athletes won’t like hearing this answer and will still truly believe that there really is a super secret secret to becoming a successful strength athlete. As they grow older and wiser, they will come to realize that they have known this secret for years. There isn’t any replacement for hard work. Are you working hard?
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Matt Dawson is an ASC professional Strongman, earning his pro card in 2009 after winning California’s Strongest Man. He took fourth place in the inaugural Mr. Olympia’s Strongest Man in 2009, sixth in the 2010 American Professional Strongman National Championships, and recently placed eighth in the 2010 America’s Strongest Man held at the Mr. Olympia. He holds the NAS axle press record and was an All-American shot-putter in college. He is also a high school history teacher and track and field coach in northeast Ohio. 
so true, great article! This is exactly what i need to print off and show my high schoolers!!!
Hard work=consistency=dedication
I think too often so many get caught up in the minute details of training, with westside, bulgarian, periodization, conjugate, sheiko, smolov, starting strength, bands and chains, eccentricless, 3x weekly, 4x weekly, max effort, autoregulation
You can go on and on with a 1000 detailed programs. The best “way” is there is no way. Getting stronger takes WORK. Getting bigger takes WORK.
Every program in the world will work if you DO IT and WORK HARD at it.
I agree with the article very much. I have recently started to compete in strong man. This is my first year and i have working with a trainer who has competed in strong man for many years. I am currently 156 pounds and have reached my goal which was to get the bench press of 315. Double my body weight. I am now reaching for a goal of 400. With hard work and dedication i know i will get there and hopefully become one of the top strong man for my weight class.
It’s all about how bad you want it.
“I go to bed thinking about it I wake up thinking about it during the day when I’m at work I’m thinking about it”
So simple and true, yet so difficult to grasp and hard to believe. What’s the cliche: “Nothing worth having is easy to get.”
An article to prove a point. Gotta love it.
“Genius is one percent inspiration, ninety-nine percent perspiration.” (Thomas Edison)
Great article!!!
Well said, Dawson!
God im sick of people wanting the easy way out. Wether its diet pills and detoxs or training to become strong. Hard work is definitely a myth in most circles. it seems to be the last resort for most people.
Sooner of later though the penny drops.
Amen,
Everything in this life is acquired by hard work and dedication there are no shortcuts.
Training 101 stuff here – use simple lifts, be consistent and train with purpose. This article should be given to all lifters/atheletes when they start training.
Brian copied my belief “all about how much you want it”.
Hard work….who woulda thought? Brilliant!
“The thorough man of business knows that only by years of patient, unremitting attention to affairs can he earn his reward, which is the result, not of chance, but of well-devised means for the attainment to ends.”
- Andrew Carnegie
everybody these wants the latest “get awsome” training method to get huge and strong like the guys in muscle magazine,and they all have cool abbreviated names, i tell them to try my “f h w23x protcol” ,it stands for HARD WORK 2 OR 3 TIMES A WEEK. i,m sure you can figure out what the “F” means!! very few actually try it when i tell them what it is.
This is really the secret to success in ever aspect in life. It really amazes me that folks seem to think that there is something else out there…. No matter what, if someone is a success, they have worked their balls off throughout life to get that way and will continue to do so. The people that get it know this, and the people that do not, never will. Nor will they ever find that success they are in search of.
Suck it up and work you ass off if you want something. No one else will ever do it for you.
Addendum to the above article:
All it takes is hard work and super fresh workout outfits.
So simple yet so true. Great read.
I’m calling b*llsh*t on this one guys! Everyone knows creatine is the secret to getting huge, even my grocery checker outer last week at Mosers knows that…And I quote “Deeamn you big, whatchu on creatine or sump’n?”
I think this is a paradox… you do have to work your ass off but if you don’t work hard do things correctly you won’t get anywhere. And for guys who are beginners, they NEED a specific training routine and diet cause they have to clue what they are doing. Once you start getting results and your body adapts to training I think you can branch off and do other things as long as you are progressive in the gym, but to say you can just do whatever you want and work hard isn’t true.
Mind blown
Well said Matt! People are often too busy looking for the easy way out…very similar message that I discussed in my article last month: http://dbstrength.com/the-magic-pill-has-arrived/
Great stuff.
Possibly the best article ever .
How clever…an article that tells us we have to work hard to get stronger in a fun way.
Seriously, do we need to have any more articles where a guy explains that you have to work hard consistently to get stronger?
@Dan P, These types of articles need to be reiterated or they are forgotten and unfortunately most people DON’T know this basic aspect of life. I’m sure you’re the epitome of hard work and moral fortitude towards your fellow man but If you can’t say anything nice or constructive then keep your mouth shut.
I liked the build up, lol. And I have to admit for a second I was like “oh wow what is it!” but then i was like facepalm
Oh okay…hey cool article I thought it was fun how you had the reader thinking there was going to be some big secret to getting strong and it turned out you just have to work hard. I looked back at my training log and noticed that I’ve been training 2 weeks on and 6 months off for the last few years…hadn’t put two and two together that my lack of hard work is the reason I’m a greasy fat slob shaped like the letter “A.” I need to read more about this, though, and then I need to spread the word because if I didn’t know it you can imagine how many other people have no idea this is the most basic requirement of getting stronger/bigger/leaner. I mean, this isn’t basic aspect of life couldn’t be explained in one sentence…we’ve got to find creative ways to drive that point home! That’s what I’m talkin’ about!
It’s funny, just today this guy at the gym was going on about how he needs to train with my partner and I because we are progressing so well. I told him, you just need to put your work in, for a long, long time.
awesome article.i absolutely love it.i teach kickboxing,boxing,thai boxing and have started highland games training.i have a saying that i use from time to time and when i coached lacrosse at a local military academy(high school) i would say this to kids/clients who are slackin or just goin through the motions……”try harder and you might suck less”….. pretty much sums it up.hard work=sucsess.
@Dan P, so many people think that there really is a “hidden secret” to get results. Pick a method, stick to it, and bust your ass! The author is right, there is no secret, its just busting your ass on a daily basis for years.
Too many people get caught up in methods, routines, sets, reps, schemes, etc. Train hard, eat big and get strong.
Damn. Took a long time to get to that one, bro.
Great Article. I’ve been preaching this for years in all phases of fitness and performance (including physical therapy). If you want to be successful, put your ass on the line and don’t be afraid of that clear fluid exiting your pores. It’s sweat. Get used to the taste, smell and feel of it or get out of the training facility (or wherever it is you perform and want to succeed).
Matt, where in NE Ohio are you located? I’m up in this crap hole, also. lol.
hard work and TIME. getting really strong takes years.
Great article!
No matter how many different ways you put this; there will still be many people that DON’T want to put the work in.
Great article Matt! The people that ask that question WISH there was a “secret”! People want that instant gratification, they think it happens in a week!
@Ken Shearer, PT – Im from Mentor, about 25min east of Cleveland. We train out of Titan’s Gym in Mentor.
I train with Chad Coy and I can tell you I bet Ron’s R-Rated version of the “hard work speech” is probably very close to the same that Chad tells all his athletes from any type of sport you can imagine. 95-99% of the people do not get it. I definetely didn’t at first when it came to strongman/powerlifting, but I remembered what it did to me as a football player, and yet, what it did for me when my parents were told I wasn’t supposed to walk right or even at all when I grew up. Hard work and heart are the key ingredients in the recipe for success. All others are secondary.