What Dragon Ball Z Taught Me About Strength Training

If your childhood was anything like mine, it was filled with epic pizza parties, video games, chasing women (that’s right, little Smoot was a playa …not really), and spending every Friday night in front of a TV screen watching Dragon Ball Z.

I LOVE Dragon Ball Z (DBZ).

I’ve seen all of the episodes, all of the movies, I’ve – at some point in time – played every DBZ video game that’s ever come out, and I’ve probably spent a sum total of 100 hours trying to perform a Kamehameha attack.

I was never successful.

To some, this probably sounds obsessive.

I mean, who watches EVERY episode of a cartoon show?

Or plays with dolls (THEY’RE ACTION FIGURES DAMNIT)?

Or *actually* tries to perform a Kamehameha attack (hey, I never said I was that bright)?

To others, this probably sounds ridiculous.

After all, on the surface DBZ appears to be nothing more than muscle bound idiots beating the heck out of each other, screaming, powering up, and – from time to time – blowing up the earth (for a 7 year old, it doesn’t get much better than that).

But you see, there’s much more to DBZ than meets the eye, and if you dig a little deeper, you’ll notice that the show contains a lot of important lessons.

Some about life.

Others about relationships.

And a lot that can be directly applied to strength training.

 

1. Never Give Up

This was probably the first – and most important – lesson I got from DBZ.

No matter what – no matter who they were facing or how many times they were defeated – the Z fighters never gave up on their goal of defending the Earth.

If they got knocked down, they would stand back up.

If they lost a battle, they would analyze what they did wrong, learn from it, train harder, and come back next time ready to kick some ass.

This type of attitude is obviously important when attempting to save the earth from power-hungry androids or a sadistic blob of bubblegum, but it’s also important when it comes to strength training.

Training rarely (if ever) goes according to plan, and getting bigger, stronger, or faster is NOT a linear process.

There will be setbacks (injuries, family obligations, schedule changes, etc.), there will be obstacles, and what separates those that succeed from those that don’t is their “no quit” attitude and ability to continue pushing forward.

Failure?

Only happens if you give up.

So if you don’t give up – if you view every setback and obstacle as a stepping stone that will propel you forward – you’ll have no choice but to be successful.

 

2. You Get Out What You Put In

For those of you that watched Dragon Ball Z, you’ll remember that they put a major emphasis on the time spent training to get stronger.

Almost half – and I’m not exaggerating here – of the 900+ episodes showcased Goku (the central character) and the z fighters training against each other, with the Kais (“a group of upper-level gods of the universe”), or in the hyperbolic time chamber.

For the audience watching the show, this becomes extremely redundant and boring.

But as a strength athlete looking to improve their performance, this provides a lot of insight in to the importance of hard work, dedication, and consistency.

The Z fighters weren’t successful at saving the Earth because of their strength, speed, or power (at least not initially).

They lost every battle against a new opponent (always because they lacked the necessary level of strength to win), but what eventually landed them the victory wasn’t their heart or desire to be successful (although that definitely had a bit to do with it), but their understanding of one important fact:

You can’t *will* yourself to a higher level of performance.

If they lacked power, the Z fighters would do whatever it took to get more powerful.

If they lacked technique, they would do whatever it took to improve their technique.

They truly understood that how they performed in battle was a direct reflection of how hard they trained, and how far they were willing to push themselves.

And that’s why – although they lost some battles – they never lost the wars.

When it comes to strength training, always remember that how successful you are at achieving a specific goal is completely dependent upon the work you’re willing to put in to it.

If you want to get stronger, you have to lift progressively heavier weights over time.

If you want to get bigger, you have to maximize mechanical tension (by lifting progressively heavier weights) and metabolic stress (through the use of light to moderate weight and higher reps, intensity principles, etc.), while consuming more energy than you’re burning to support muscle growth.

And if you want to get leaner, you have to train hard while burning more energy than you’re taking in on a daily basis.

Nobody can do it for you.

You either put in the work or you don’t.

And who or what YOU become is completely under YOUR control.

 

3. Eat BIG

I kind of got this from both Dragon Ball Z and Scooby Doo (the old – and actually good – Scooby doo).

Every time Goku would get ready for a tournament or come home from a battle, he would put down enormous amounts of food.

I’m talking 50+ plates of pasta and dead animal flesh.

Now obviously, gorging yourself isn’t the best for your looks, performance, or all-around general health.

But adopting the food intake of an 11 year old girl?

Not ideal either.

Food is fuel, and you need a certain amount of nutrients and calories to promote high intensity exercise and recovery (and to battle the earth’s most deadly villains).

Do some need more food than others?

Yep, and that’s why it’s important to use trial and error until you find the food intake that works best for you.

Just remember that – like Goku – you need a large food intake to support a high level of performance.

Trying to perform at your best without adequate fuel?

That’s like trying to catch smoke with your bare hands.

It can’t be done.