A true story about functional strength featuring a toad.

Last night as I’m finishing up a cup of red wine, my wife comes down the stairs and notices something under the couch.

“What’s that?” she said out loud as she leaned in for closer inspection.

All of a sudden the thing started hopping. “It’s a frog!” she exclaims out loud. I look over and sure enough, there is something hopping just like a frog or toad would.

Don’t ask how or why. I literally have no idea how a toad got into my house.

So I peer under the couch and see the little fella is out of reach. The only thing to do is move the couch. I pull the couch out, he’s out of sight.

I pull the couch to pretty nearly the middle of the room unable to see him. He’d gone to the radiator before hopping behind the bookshelf, one of those sturdy old school kind that is pretty heavy. This one also happened to be filled with books, and the weights my wife works out with.

I didn’t want to remove all the books and the weights since it would be a pain in the @$$ to try to get it organized. So I had to pull this heavy bookshelf out with the books, the weights, and the random stuff we have, all while controlling it so nothing falls off onto myself, my cat, my wife, my 2 year old or my 2 week old baby girl.

So long story short, I pull the thing out, catch the toad, put him outside, put the stuff back.

And I was able to do it because I’m strong. Strength has a value that is always there but is usually most apparent in situations that all for it.

I’m not just talking about physical strength either. Recently I created a flyer to be available for pedestrians outside my personal training studio on Main Street in Boonton that are curious about what we do. As part of this flyer, I asked a couple of people what their favorite thing about being strong was. A couple mentioned specific instances such as being able to move furniture or carry big cases of water bottles up the stairs. Others mentioned that they feel they can accomplish anything. One of my guys carries around a nail that he bent in his pocket as a constant reminder of that.

That “I got this” mentality translates to other things. You want to ask for a promotion? You got this. You want to go out on the dating scene? You got this. You want to launch a business? You got this.

One thing that my first strongman mentor had taught me is that strength is confidence, and confidence is strength. If you want to do something you have to believe that you’ve got what it takes. And that belief becomes stronger when you have a track record of success.

As you lift weights, as your body adapts, the weights get heavier you create momentum for yourself.

The momentum carries over to life. And life is quite simply for living and it’s better when you are strong whether there is a toad under your couch or not.

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Eric Moss is a world-record-holding professional performing strongman, author, speaker and personal trainer. In the tradition of the strongmen during the turn of the century, he performs feats of strength such as bending steel and breaking chains as part of a show and speaks on goal achievement for corporations, nonprofits, government as well as for schools and universities. His exclusive personal training studio is located on Main Street in Boonton New Jersey is close to Mountain Lakes, Denville, and Parsippany New Jersey.