Return to Power

My back was a little stiff today, but I decided to go to the gym anyways, and I couldn't be happier about that decision. Over the course of the morning, my back loosened up considerably, and it didn't bother me at all throughout the workout - not even during deadlifts, which I figured would definitely be painful.

Back-Snaps, remember?

Most importantly however, I went into today trying to keep the new attitude I am working to adopt - instead of thinking only about the number of reps I HAD to hit at my heavy squat weight, or dreading that last, all-out set of squats at 155, I went into today with the goal of listening to my body - I'd only go as hard as I could, nothing more. And that adjustment in the way I approached today's workout made a huge difference.

After warming up, I worked my way up to my 5/3/1 squats for today. I hit 205 for 5, then 235 for 3, then it was time for 260, with the belt. I went into the set with very little emotion and no expectations - I just wanted to do whatever felt good. And I ended up hitting it for 9 reps. And not just 9 reps, but 9 very nice reps - reps 1 through 6 especially were very nice. 7 and 8 I had to fight to keep the bar in proper position, and on the 9th rep I dipped my chest little and had to fight to get the weight up. But even so, compare that to last week - yes I got 12 reps, but they were 12 rushed and sloppy reps. At best, I could have tried to hit 12 this week with the belt, but they probably would have been a lot worse than the reps I did today and, more importantly, forcing myself to push out more reps after that tough 9th one would have left me exhausted, mentally and physically.

I would have felt like this baby. Where's Lugo when you need him? 

INSTEAD, I felt very happy about the quality and quantity of reps I hit, AND I had a great rest of my workout. Speed deads were not incredibly fast, but that's to be expected seeing as how this is my first week doing them at 245 (a full 15 pounds heavier than I've ever done them). And then, the 5 x 10 squats felt great as well. I used these lighter reps as a way to feel out a higher bar position - as I've mentioned before, I think I need to start squatting with a higher bar in order to keep my chest from dropping. For example, the later reps at 260 today were only hard because I let the bar start to slip. However, around set 3 of my 5 x 10 I found a "Sweet spot" for the bar, by moving my hands in and setting it just under the tops of my traps. Normally, I would avoid putting my hands this close as it tends to set off my elbows, but they weren't bothered at all today, so I think I'm going to keep using it unless they really start to hurt. The last few sets of squats were hard, but with this better position they felt like they were perfect form, something that has generally been lacking in my 5 x 10 squats. I pushed a little on the 5th set, hitting 12 reps, and then picked the bar up again a minute later to do another 3, just to help cement in my mind the new position. Then, I finished out the day with a quick set of 50 decline sit-ups, as i didn't feel like doing weighted sets today.

So when I look back at today, I see a very small difference between THIS workout, and how I would NORMALLY do this workout. The difference basically amounts to 2 - 3 reps of the heavier squat weight (260) and about 5 reps of the lighter weight (155). The difference these few reps would make on my strength gains are probably negligible, but the difference they made in my mind was amazing. Instead of going into the day nervous about hitting that 260, rushing the set, and maybe being very angry and disappointed if I didn't get my goal, I hit the weight for some great reps and was happy with the number I got. And instead of spending the rest of my workout DREADING that final all-out set of squats at 155, when I was already exhausted from the previous all-out set, I enjoyed moving the weight and worked to improve my form. The change in attitude made a huge difference, and I left the gym feeling happy, optimistic, and STILL like I worked my ass off.

Fuck Yeah, says Rich Froning

SO, the take away message: It's really hard not to over-think lifting. I put pressure on myself to hit certain numbers for certain reps, and put pressure on myself to ALWAYS push myself as hard as I can. But the truth is, although pushing myself really hard and hitting big weights for big reps is important, what's more important is that I am in the gym every day working - whether I get a PR or not. What's really important is that I push myself, but realize that every day my limits are different - and pushing myself past those limits is only going to hurt me mentally and physically, with very little gain. And what's really important is that I ENJOY lifting, because otherwise why am I doing it? So I am going to try to have MANY more days like today  - days where I focus on the big picture, where I listen to my body, and where I leave the gym tired, happy, and excited for the next training session.

Mariusz doesn't over think lifting, because he's too busy lifting shit. 

If I can do that, if I keep going to the gym EVERY day with the same attitude I had today, my only obstacle is time. It's going to take a while, and a lot of hard work, but the PR's will all be shattered in time.