The secret shortcut to getting strong and performing better

One of my goals for 2014 is to do 20 consecutive chin-ups. It won’t be easy.

To achieve it I’ll need to get stronger – a lot stronger.

To get some much-needed advice on doing just that, I turned to Henry Day.

If anyone knows how to get strong, it’s Henry. He owns and runs a gym that specialises in helping athletes lift insanely heavy stuff.

At The Musclepit, there are no mirrors, few machines and a noticeable lack of ego. Instead, Henry leads a group of men and women determined to redefine the limits of their own strength.

Included in that group are several past and present world powerlifting record holders. They lift huge weights. Plate after plate of iron is loaded onto bars until the bars bend in the middle, like giant metal hunting bows.

Clearly, Henry knows his stuff. So when I asked him “what’s your top 10 tips for getting strong?”, I expected an answer that involved eating properly, getting enough sleep, and lifting big weights.

Instead, Henry looked at me with a kind of that’s-a-stupid-question look.

“Ten?” he said. “I can answer that in one”

I waited.

“Discipline.”

“What? I thought you’d tell me to eat more or lift big weights.”

“Nah, all that’s good, but until you’ve got the discipline to turn up to the gym, until you’ve got the discipline to do another rep, it’s all a waste,” he explained.

And right there Henry captured the essence of peak performance.

Discipline.

The discipline to run in the rain, to lift weights in the heat, to make sales calls when you’re tired.

They all take discipline.

They take hard work.

They’re not glamorous and sexy, but they demand grunt and determination.

And they demand that someone turns up and switches on.