Effort over expectations

January
(1-12-2020)


So many times I wish that I was “Mic’d” up in the gym. The lessons learned within those warehouse walls could not be anymore genuine. There’s something so raw and gritty about being at the gym during a Max Effort day. Be it Lower or Upper body. It’s a type of atmosphere like no other. People walk in knowing whats about to happen. They know the mission for the day. With that they have a standard of expectation. 


With that in mind, we expect to exceed what we used to be. Progress is our motivation. We need it. It’s the fuel for our journey. But it’s not that simple. When dealing with the body there are so many determining factors that can play a huge role in how we perform the next day. 


Here are a few things to consider and try to master:


Sleep: How intensely are you approaching your sleep protocol? Probably not that intense, huh? Im placing this number one for a very good reason. This is when your body recovers. It’s pretty much that simple. Without a good night rest your recovery from today’s training is garbage. Your training next day is garbage. I’m keeping it that simple. Get some sleep. Set your alarm to start your nightly routine. Pick activities that will help to “wind you down” rather then stimulate you. These can be a warm bath, reading, stretching, or even meditating. Wake up on time. When your alarm goes off, don’t “snooze” get your ass up. If you didn’t get enough rest well then do better tomorrow. It doesn’t change the fact that it’s time to get up and get after it. Being adult is hard and it means sometimes you have to do things you don’t want to. Focus on getting this solid and you will be very surprised how much progress it will give you in other areas of your fitness.


Nutrition: Eat good foods. Don’t chase fad diets. Just keep it simple with REAL food. You know...meats, vegetables, and alot of water. Its simple, and also very affordable. Is it sexy? Hell, no. Frankly, in the beginning it really sucks. It’s like the whole world is having this awesome party and your the only one not invited. So, fuck them! Let those people make the same goals every year while your smashing them and pushing forward. Your Nutrition is your energy. You eat to perform well. So if you are not getting what’s expected on your lifts then that’s derivative of the things you put in your body. Along with that, your nutrition helps to build your QUALITY of sleep. Good nutritional habits will lead to better and deeper sleep. It’s a vicious cycle the other way. If you have lack of sleep you will actually produce hormones that induce more hunger. That’s not hunger for Kale neither. Its fatty and sugary foods. We don’t want that! These holes in your diet will lend you a more restless sleep, hence crappy progress. Lock in your diet sooner then later. Unfortunately, It has to be the one thing that people address at the latest point in their athletic career. If your just starting get this right first! You won’t regret it. 


Stress: Stress is universal. It's accumulating and the body knows zero difference. Meaning the stress you feel from work, relationships, etc. mixes with the stress you place upon your body in training. This is one of the hardest areas to improve. It’s not very practical to just quit your job. You have to make money to buy good food. You have to make money for a shelter over your head so you can sleep well. You can’t help (sometimes) the drama that ensues in your life. But what you can do is try to BE PRESENT in your training. You have made it to the gym. For most of us this is one of THE BEST parts of our day. So it’s okay to enjoy that and really take that in. If you can leave all your outside stress out of the gym then you can really dig deep into your training. You could focus on the task at hand and really get the benefits of your training. Know that anything that may be stressing you outside the gym can literally wait for this moment in time. You may find that taking some time for yourself may bring alot of clarity and perspectives to these stresses. Which may actually help to solve or eliminate them!


Relax: Seriously, you don’t know everything. To think that you have it all figured out is a little unrealistic. The body is a complex organism that works much more like a Sine Wave then a Linear Graph. Ups and Downs are alot more times constant then anything else in your fitness journey. Accept them as a part of the journey. Because honestly, if it was that easy then we wouldn’t really have anything worth chasing. 




Its perfectly fine to have an idea of what you want to achieve. I think everyone should have a scope of that. But don’t linger. If you didn’t get the numbers or results you expected. Take a second to accept that and then move on. Your expectation was truly a false sense of entitlement. Look at your entire scope of self-care. Your sleep, nutrition, stress levels, etc. If any of those are out of alignment then you can expect that you are not at your very best. This is by no means an excuse or a “cop-out.” You should analyze yourself and make the appropriate changes. Then make sure they are at the highest levels for the longest duration of time possible. Track all of these factors and make the reasons to fail at anything minimal.




Always in Strength, Never in Weakness,
Dan