By coincidence, that's exactly what I was thinking about on my gig tonight. It was a full one man band + DJ so I had to carry extra equipment.

Like Bernie, I weight-train 3x a week (started when I was a kid). A few months ago when I was on a lay-off I remember carrying that equipment and straining to move it from here to there.

Now, I've been on a special training program using heavier weights and a high-protein diet these past few weeks. Tonight I found I lifted that equipment with NO strain at all. It went up and down like it was on a pulley.

At the end of the night, when I had to load the van again, I forced myself to change my thinking from "I'm starting to get tired" to "how wonderful that I could play music and exercise at the same time." And I don't think anything else until I'm home, unloaded, hot-showered, and in bed.

Every piece of gear you lift is using your unused muscles. It's even better than weight-lifting where you exercise certain parts only. Raising that gear up and down is a total body workout.

I get through a lot of life that way. One of the mantra's in motivational/Spiritual thinking is....

"Change your thoughts, change your life"

Mark