That’s a pic from 6 years ago to the day…you know when I was doing competitions with my wife.
I was talking to a member this week and there was a frustration in one of the pieces of the day’s workout with the weight they were lifting. “Before this whole COVID thing this would be my warmup weight. Now it feels like a Mack Truck is in my arms!”
Back on June 1 we were able to begin outdoor class workouts (after 2.5 months of at home workouts that, honestly for most of us, were challenging to find the motivation to do). And so outdoor workouts began but, again, for many, consistency was hard as we were navigating work/kid(s)/home schedules that were, well, pretty far from consistent themselves. We then moved inside in July. Ahh, the saving grace!! Back to normal!
….but wait – why are things so different? Why can’t I lift what I did before? Why can’t I finish a workout as fast I used to? I mean it was just 5 months ago?
Exactly.
It’s possible (alright, probable) that we aren’t where we were 5 months ago. I can empathize. I had a knee injury and then surgery in this time frame and now unweighted single leg RDLs in physical therapy are causing me considerable trouble when sitting on the toilet. Pics from 6 years ago? Yeah. Ok. I can’t even back squat, deadlift…anything lower body under ANY load right now!
But what wasted mental energy (in a time where it seems mental energy has plenty of opportunity to be wasted….trust me, it’s why you haven’t seen Tuesday’s Tinkering these days…I’ve been doing a lot of wallowing) to spend wishing or even thinking about what we did or where we were. Honestly (and maybe harshly) – knock it off. It’s not where you are right now. It’s not where I am. AND THAT’S OK! We have a point in time, the present, where we can get on a scale or use weight or workout benchmarks to set our CURRENT status. Write it down, take note of it, whatever you need to do. And then start tracking from this point…not from 5 months ago. I have played sports with plenty of people that sit there and talk about “when I was in college I was an All American.” That’s awesome. But now you are 37 years old and have a job where you are at a desk most of the day, play some pick up here and there on the weekends, might even go to the gym or for a run….is there an expectation that you are going to go play college soccer today with a bunch of 21 year olds and be the best on the field?
Here is the challenge: change the mindset. Now that’s easy to say…not so much to do. For most of us we need to exercise and sweat. That’s it. Manage your stress. That’s it. You don’t need PRs and you definitely don’t need to worry about where you were 5 months ago.
What you do need to worry about is getting stuck wallowing and have that defeat you. Right now it is more important to workout out some stress, be consistent and enjoy the community. We can do those things.
Want to be “in this together?” Show up, challenge and encourage each other with where you are at today. Progress will come with that mindset.