During a discussion in 2008 with Tony Budding, founder Greg Glassman describes some of the psychological benefits that can arise from practicing high-intensity, functional movements, at high-intensity.

Coach Greg Glassman points out that there’s a lot of psychobabble around athletes “listening to their bodies.” In reality, bodies say, *“Stop. This hurts.”* Yet athletes keep pushing forward. Much of this comes down to brain adaptation. At a certification, they see just how much someone like Greg Amundson must endure to complete a sub–3-minute Fran. They realize it’s normal to suffer that much, and with that mindset they’re able to cut a minute or two from their own Fran time. Learning to silence negative inner voices, Glassman explains, has “tremendously positive implications for anything you ever want to do in your life.”

The core message is simple: don’t quit. Glassman believes that some of life’s most meaningful lessons can be taught early in the gym. His kids program is essentially a plan for moral and character education, teaching values like hard work, persistence, and self-reliance.

Greg doesn’t often highlight the emotional, mental, and even career benefits of his program for athletes of all ages. Those benefits are real but difficult to measure, so the policy has been to “radically understate” them, even leaving many testimonials unused.

Glassman has seen entire families transition off medications like Prozac and Ritalin. He also foresees a growing role for in drug rehabilitation programs—something that already has early success stories.

See more from The Glassman Archive here.