There is a certain type of strength and mental toughness that is quickly disappearing in America. It is developed through hard manual labor.
This morning one of the guys whose business is across the parking lot from the Cave was loading some big pieces of equipment into his pick up truck by himself. I asked him if he wanted some help and he just said he did this kind of work every day, so it was no big deal.
I related to him about my years doing various types of manual labor and we both knew we were on the same page.
He called this type of strength “mule strength” and I knew right away what he meant.
When you spend all day lifting and carry heavy stuff for weeks and months and years you develop that kind of strength, mental toughness, and grit.
Since most people nowadays have never done this kind of work, I do my best to make our training at the Cave resemble it as close as I can.
I have found that the people who train here often times work on a computer at a desk all day, and love how we train here.
Maybe they never have carried twelve foot sheets of drywall up a couple of flights of stairs or unloaded 100 lb bags of Marcite from a freight car in the the middle of a hot Florida day.
Maybe they never have swung an axe or used a chain saw, or even a shovel.
Maybe they have never carried a heavy ruck sack through a swamp or up steep hills or through the sand.
I will make sure they get a rough idea of what that feels like.
The Cave 