Not many days are like today. I mean, not in a bad way, but in a way which couldn't be more awesome than it is. Which is why, I have to freeze it in words. If that means I have to do it when Mr. Wagner is taking (possibly) the last lecture of Parallel Algorithms and is talking something about Shared Memory, so be it.
The day started on a low. As usual, I woke up at 5:00 AM, way before than I was supposed to. I tried to force some sleep, gave up, took care of No. 2, and gave it a go again. Surprisingly I dozed off into a dream involving a girl I had a crush on, few years back. My eyes opened at 7:00, I was 30 minutes late. I jumped out and started my morning routine of packing food and preparing breakfast.
I felt "normal" than usual while sipping on my pre-training drink in the bus. I got inside the gym, which was less-crowded (good news, I can focus better!). But this is where it started going downside, towards the worst kind, I didn't want to Squat ! I was not sleepy or groggy. I was feeling fine, but just didn't want to unrack and put a loaded barbell on my back. But there was no way out now, I started my daily stretching routine, while sharing few words with Chris who was C&J'ing at that point. Then had a chat with one of the trainers at the Gym about C++ and why it is much easier to learn it while doing a project or following lectures. After these moments of digression, I felt I was ready, ready to unleash it on the bar ! Ready to freaking Squat !
Set - 0
Empty bar (20 kg), felt good, no soreness anywhere in the body, despite having doubled 270 lbs in the front squat yesterday.
Set - 1
95 lbs (43 kg), nothing wrong here. Wanted to make sure that my body was warmed up for further sets.
Set - 2
155 lbs (70 kg), didn't feel as explosive and powerful as usual, bad news. Repped out 5 and racked it back.
Set - 3
205 lbs (93 kg), didn't feel right again, felt the same feeling I had when I first came in, felt like stopping and doing snatches instead. Still did 5 fairly fast reps.
Set - 4
255 lbs (115 kg), things were getting better since the weight was getting heavier, I was timing the bounce off my calves correctly, did 4 good reps.
Set - 5
285 lbs (129 kg), OKish, not great, but not bad either. I stopped at 3 reps and changed the weight, 3 plates next !
Set - 6
315 lbs (143 kg), Usually the time when I make long paces, try to groove my focus, visualize reps, did 2 reps. Felt fairly easy, the bounce was well timed, but wasn't enough to make me feel 90% or more confident about getting a PR today.
Set 7 - 330 lbs (150 kg) (Trial 1)
Took a big breath, got under the bar, found the rack spot, unracked, got ready, took another breath went down, came up. Things seemed fine (but they weren't!) Took a mediocre breath (shit!), went down, couldn't come back up. Felt lazy and powerless, dumped the bar behind me with a huge thud ! FAILURE SUCKS !
Chris came, gave me a "WTF happened dude?" look, helped me take the weights off and re-rack the bar.
Set 7 - 330 lbs (150 kg) (Trial 2)
Took a even bigger breath, unracked, stood still for a moment, something was wrong with the placement of the bar, racked it back ( shit !, not good when you're having a bad time already). I could feel a few looks on me. My evil crowd-consciousness habit wasn't helping either. Terry, who just came in, saw me racking the weight back, assumed I squatted it and started congratulating me. Then I had to explain it to him , how I pussied out and didn't squat yet. BAD !
Set 7 - 330 lbs (150 kg) (Trial 3)
Took the largest breath known to mankind, my belly almost about to explode, cheeks rounded like a fucking clown, un-racked the bar, felt good, powerful like a beast, the first rep was easy (it's always is for me), took 3-4 quick breaths, a big final one and went down again. Sweetest bounce ever, but the bar speed sucked (which meant I was running out of gas). I also couldn't stop letting out a tiny grunt. Every single cell in my body was telling me to stop, to postpone my 3 RM PR attempt for later and remain satisfied with 2 reps. But could I? I already did 2 reps on Monday ! Why repeat it? I am not here to workout ! I am here to train !
Took an even larger breath, started going down (telling myself explode from the bottom ! explode ! explode !), and I DID ! The bar moved slower than ever, but I was going up, I didn't get stuck ! As I was coming up, I let out the air with tiny grunts and finally let a huge grunt out as I exploded up ! I did it ! a PR ! on a day when it wasn't going my way !
This is why I love lifting! The element of uncertainty ! Your chance to prove yourself wrong ! To defy and break the shackles put on your mind by the mortal body ! To come out better ! Stronger ! Faster !
The day started on a low. As usual, I woke up at 5:00 AM, way before than I was supposed to. I tried to force some sleep, gave up, took care of No. 2, and gave it a go again. Surprisingly I dozed off into a dream involving a girl I had a crush on, few years back. My eyes opened at 7:00, I was 30 minutes late. I jumped out and started my morning routine of packing food and preparing breakfast.
I felt "normal" than usual while sipping on my pre-training drink in the bus. I got inside the gym, which was less-crowded (good news, I can focus better!). But this is where it started going downside, towards the worst kind, I didn't want to Squat ! I was not sleepy or groggy. I was feeling fine, but just didn't want to unrack and put a loaded barbell on my back. But there was no way out now, I started my daily stretching routine, while sharing few words with Chris who was C&J'ing at that point. Then had a chat with one of the trainers at the Gym about C++ and why it is much easier to learn it while doing a project or following lectures. After these moments of digression, I felt I was ready, ready to unleash it on the bar ! Ready to freaking Squat !
Set - 0
Empty bar (20 kg), felt good, no soreness anywhere in the body, despite having doubled 270 lbs in the front squat yesterday.
Set - 1
95 lbs (43 kg), nothing wrong here. Wanted to make sure that my body was warmed up for further sets.
Set - 2
155 lbs (70 kg), didn't feel as explosive and powerful as usual, bad news. Repped out 5 and racked it back.
Set - 3
205 lbs (93 kg), didn't feel right again, felt the same feeling I had when I first came in, felt like stopping and doing snatches instead. Still did 5 fairly fast reps.
Set - 4
255 lbs (115 kg), things were getting better since the weight was getting heavier, I was timing the bounce off my calves correctly, did 4 good reps.
Set - 5
285 lbs (129 kg), OKish, not great, but not bad either. I stopped at 3 reps and changed the weight, 3 plates next !
Set - 6
315 lbs (143 kg), Usually the time when I make long paces, try to groove my focus, visualize reps, did 2 reps. Felt fairly easy, the bounce was well timed, but wasn't enough to make me feel 90% or more confident about getting a PR today.
Set 7 - 330 lbs (150 kg) (Trial 1)
Took a big breath, got under the bar, found the rack spot, unracked, got ready, took another breath went down, came up. Things seemed fine (but they weren't!) Took a mediocre breath (shit!), went down, couldn't come back up. Felt lazy and powerless, dumped the bar behind me with a huge thud ! FAILURE SUCKS !
Chris came, gave me a "WTF happened dude?" look, helped me take the weights off and re-rack the bar.
Set 7 - 330 lbs (150 kg) (Trial 2)
Took a even bigger breath, unracked, stood still for a moment, something was wrong with the placement of the bar, racked it back ( shit !, not good when you're having a bad time already). I could feel a few looks on me. My evil crowd-consciousness habit wasn't helping either. Terry, who just came in, saw me racking the weight back, assumed I squatted it and started congratulating me. Then I had to explain it to him , how I pussied out and didn't squat yet. BAD !
Set 7 - 330 lbs (150 kg) (Trial 3)
Took the largest breath known to mankind, my belly almost about to explode, cheeks rounded like a fucking clown, un-racked the bar, felt good, powerful like a beast, the first rep was easy (it's always is for me), took 3-4 quick breaths, a big final one and went down again. Sweetest bounce ever, but the bar speed sucked (which meant I was running out of gas). I also couldn't stop letting out a tiny grunt. Every single cell in my body was telling me to stop, to postpone my 3 RM PR attempt for later and remain satisfied with 2 reps. But could I? I already did 2 reps on Monday ! Why repeat it? I am not here to workout ! I am here to train !
Took an even larger breath, started going down (telling myself explode from the bottom ! explode ! explode !), and I DID ! The bar moved slower than ever, but I was going up, I didn't get stuck ! As I was coming up, I let out the air with tiny grunts and finally let a huge grunt out as I exploded up ! I did it ! a PR ! on a day when it wasn't going my way !
This is why I love lifting! The element of uncertainty ! Your chance to prove yourself wrong ! To defy and break the shackles put on your mind by the mortal body ! To come out better ! Stronger ! Faster !
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