Make Do With What You Have

I saw a video of Andrew Tate mentioning the 2 types of fight gyms. On one hand, you have the exclusive, high membership clubs that produce no fighters since they hand out black belts like there candy. And on the other, you have the dingy, shitty gym that produces real fighters but makes no money since people get hurt.

I resonate with this a lot. I currently train at a commercial gym, and I always see lifters with knee sleeves, a belt, and weightlifting shoes who cannot squat 100kgs to full depth! Of course, everyone has the right to do this and I have no problem what you do with your money, but I want to remind you that having cheap gear does not make you a bad lifter. And having expensive gear doesn't make you a good one.

I saw a video of Clarence Kennedy making weightlifting straps by cutting and taping some Everlast boxing wraps. Although this is some cheap and faulty equipment, that guy still snatches more than 99% of olympic lifters at the time. I did the same. I used a knife to cut my old boxing wraps and made olympic lifting straps. There were no straps near me in Australia, and the cheapest Hookgrip ones were 40 fucking dollars. To tape my fingers, I used medical tape I found in an old medical kit. I stole my parents' knee sleeves (lol) that they use for warmth and used them to protect my shins during olympic lifts and deadlifts. And I used to use cheap, 20 dollar flat soled shoes to deadlift in. Point is, you can become a very good lifter using cheap gear. So if you are in a tough financial situation or unemployed like me, do not be discouraged, be resourceful, and push through to become the best you can be!

P.S. Lifting gear really is too expensive these days. 400 dollars for a fucking SBD belt? Fuck off. I would rather be resourceful and have slightly worse equipment then blow all my money on a fucking belt. 

~ Prem