One problem with judging your training "progress" solely by a performance ( how much can you lift, how fast can you run?) metric is that nothing lasts forever. Everyone, if they are lucky, gets old, which means at some point you have already done all the best of what you are going to do and that's that. For most of us that window is (depending on your sport) from ages 15-30.
Fifteen years. Not much eh? Some( female gymnasts) peak way earlier than that and others, powerlifters and marathon runners ( strange combination eh?) can keep it going into their late 30's. But thats not much time and then who are you? In the world of men it's not what you have done but what can you do now, that, if we're honest, is what counts.
"Yeah old man, tell me how did whatever back in the day, look at you now". SO much for respect but even the greats( Ed Coan even gets trashed on forums) get old so what is there for the regular people?
There is training.If you measure your progress on other metrics: your consistency, your intensity, your focus, your analysis,your ability to "adapt and overcome" to quote Pavel, the development and maturity of your will and your discipline then you can improve til you die.
And that's what being Real Deal is to me. If only high performance and Elite counts then hey, why train after you are done competing? Hell, why compete when you probably will lose anyway?
Because the real, and first resistance to be confronted and 'lifted', is your own inertia towards weakness and lack of will. After that's done, the gym is easy.It's getting to the gym thats hard.
You are either getting stronger or weaker;there is no middle ground. Every decision we make,every one, takes us either closer or further away from what we say want and who we say we are. Of course we arent perfect,but just the awareness of the fact that we are choosing things that arent in keeping with our goals makes us better. At least more aware of our weakness and that is good.
You can't fix what you don't acknowledge is weak. THe continual attention to one's weak points is what makes WSB so effective and Louie Simmons the quintessential Real Deal guy.
The older I get the more I see the importance of being strong in mind and body. Life is tough and getting old and dying don't look like it's for the weak.
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2 comments:
Nice article! Also, there's always some sort of setbacks, like diseases and injuries, that could take all the precious PRs and make them out of reach for ever. I think there must be love for the movement and the courage to look at the current situation, which ever that may be.
But it's damn hard at times, especially when starting from scratch in a new sport where everyone's way better than you :) I guess it only makes sense to compare yourself to your own progress and current skills. Today, I was VERY aware of my weaknesses, and I'm just a week away from a competition. Can't say I feel like superman now, but it's still good...
thanks man, good to hear from you.and yes,life gets in the way of your training all the time! lol.
and i know how you feel about starting over in new sport where you are at the bottom, I have done that numbeous times. it can be very frustrating but you really have to stay focused on what you said, on YOUR personal progress,given the circumstances.
dealing with and trying to fix weakenss is very tough but does pay off. Just remember to play to your strengths some times too just to feel good!
you do have to love the movements and the process of getting better to suffer enough to actually GET better!
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