Last week I hit my 20kg kettlebell pull from a dead hang after several sessions with a massage therapist and my chiropractor. Back and lats are finally where they need to be and it felt awesome. As awesome as it felt, I did notice something going off with my left pec muscle. It reminded me of a not so fun injury I had back in December after doing a lot of overhead work. I had been demoing a lot of overhead demonstrations the past week and did not add up the volume of my training plus my own demos. After my Saturday massage, my therapist would remind me that that left pec was WHOA tightening up I would need a lot more release tactics to get it set to go. Blast! That pushing myself too far. . . it was a terrible mistake to make. The result? That inflamed feeling on Sunday’s re-attempt, caused me to not be able to even nail the thing. . .at all.
“EEEEFFFFFFFFF!!!!! This is no bueno! ” I thought to myself. And that feeling of defeat started to set into my mind. A very good friend of mine has been helping me with some extra hollow hold drills and mobility work that has really helped my heavy pull ups. She was watching my that Sunday. . . and she also pointed out something very real and very clear to me.
“You’ve done this pull before. Focus. You won’t always have a good training day, and that’s ok. But don’t let a minor pain become a mental block. You can psyche yourself up or psyche yourself out. The choice is yours.”
You can psyche yourself up or psyche yourself out. The choice is yours. <—– Let’s talk about this right here.
I’ve seen this look of defeat when I meet with new clients. That look of despair, hopelessness, and sheer frustration from not hitting their goals before coming to the studio to train. That look in their eyes that says “I can’t” fades away over time after they stay the course and remain diligent towards their training efforts. The “I can’t” look changes into a look of confidence that says “I can, I will , and I did!”. Their results now speak for themselves. Really, it’s no different for myself, training for a sizable feat of strength. Sometimes you need to take a step back, humble yourself, and give yourself the rest and recovery you need to progress. Sometimes, you need to get your head in the game before your body catches up. And. . .as my friend would point out to me, it is OK to not have a good training day. You can’t let your current circumstances, be it an injury, a tight muscle, or whatever else it is that you are going through stop you from becoming the person you want to be. As for my left pec muscle, it’s tight, not torn. It may have affected my pull that Sunday, but it’s time to do exactly what I did last time. Rest, recover, and let that inflammation subside. It can be tempting to push yourself beyond your pain tolerance when things like this occur. But. . .with Level II on the horizon for October, I will NOT be making that mistake again.
If you’re committed to succeeding, no matter what, you must choose to psyche yourself up. Strength training, fatloss, or whatever your goal may be may not always be a linear progression. You may find bumps in the road. You may hit a plateau. Sometimes, progress can stall and go backward until a new peak is reached. Trust the process, and don’t be tempted to rush the process. Patience is a virtue for a reason after all, and once those negative thoughts take a hold of your mind, you’ll find it harder and harder to remain patient until the end goal is reached. Fear not! We are committed to strengthening you 😉
Until next time. .
Master your instincts!
