The Shoulder Monkey

There is a monkey we all have that lives inside of us. When there are tough decisions to be made, that monkey jumps out and sits on your shoulder. Normally the one away from your dominant arm. He sits up there telling you to "give in", "quit", "you don't have what it takes...today, or ever", He is the beginning of failure and ruins all of the dreams all of the time. When I did triathlons that monkey would reveal himself 2/3 of the way through each of the events, telling you to stop. Go back and sit in your beach chair and grab a couple cold ones and wait for your friends to join you. Today I was piloting my group during the squats. Because of setting the gym up and getting the other groups going, I took the #2 position on the mono lift. We also had added "Big Ass Blue Bands" to the bar to get that serious overspeed movement going. As we approached the heavier loads I could see the trepidation in the lifter that was leading us off. He unracked the weight and shook his head immediately and called for the hooks. His monkey revealed itself EARLY. Time to beat back the monkey so it doesn't become a Gorilla! I jumped under the bar, took the weight for a ride with two quick reps. Racked it and YELLED, "BULLSHIT" (that was to scare the monkey) "Get your nappy ass back in here and chuck this weight!!!" Pressure was on my lifter. We all positioned ourselves around him not so much for the spot, or the confidence it builds, but to set up a perimeter so that Simeon couldn't breach my man's wheelhouse. His weight FLEW up. His monkey was defeated for the day. We continued on up in weight until one of my other lifters got STAPLEDl to the squat box. That's a story for another time. When your monkey shows up, you need to recognize exactly is going on. Does the monkey have control? Check your vitals. If you are good to go, go ahead and get it done! Ended up the day with a wonderful squat.   Today's Training: Squat: Tier I 45x8 95x8 135x8 225x8 315x8 335x3 355x3 405x3   GHR: 5x10   Tier II: Squat: 45x8 65x8 75x8 95x8 115x8 135x8 155x3 175x3 185x3 205x3 225x3   GHR: 5x10   Bike Commute: 20 minutes Run: Yea, that didn't happen. Took my first step and pulled a "Bambi". Took my dawg for a long walk. (even THAT felt like a marathon)