I'm Too Young to be this Damn Old!: A Break in Action, Part 1

I have been working my ass off for an IBP meet that takes place on Saturday, February 2, 2013.

It's my goal to achieve Elite status in the IBP. To that end, I am working hard, with as much intensity as I can muster. There are only six guys in the entire IBP who have achieved Elite status, and none of them are little old men like me. I have done the weight at my last IPA meet, so it is certainly not insurmountable. All it will take is putting three good lifts together on the same day. Easier said than done, as many of you know.

Since I started keeping a training log in October of 2010, I have not missed a training session—rain, snow, sleet...whatever. However, after this meet, there will be a break in the action.

I am scheduled for surgery on February, 6, 2013, and I am told that I won't be able to train for a month or so. It's not too serious of a problem. In fact, the doctor calls it a plumbing problem, and it's not unusual for little old men like me. From age 50 onward, a man's prostate begins to get progressively larger. This can create problems for some men, and for me it has. So much so that my urologist has determined that surgery is necessary. Has a doctor ever told you, "this may cause a little discomfort?" Well, what he calls a little discomfort and what we call, "hurts like hell" is often the same thing. In any event, this surgery may cause a little discomfort. I really don't know exactly what is to take place, and I'm not sure I want to know. When my hip was replaced, I did not know exactly how and what was being done—it was just done. Some time later, when I saw a hip replacement done on TV, it looked like carpentry to me rather than surgery. Very close tolerance carpentry, but carpentry nonetheless. However, this surgery is not carpentry, but plumbing. Do I want to know everything that is going to be done? Probably not. I don't think this whole thing is dangerous, although general anesthesia at my age is no walk in the park. Don't we all get a little apprehensive at the prospect of surgery? My overriding concerns are:

1. When can I train?
2. What will the layoff do?
3. How long will it take to get back to where I was?
4. When can I compete?

I just finished training for the day, so let me interject a little discussion about that. In as much as it was the beginning of a new cycle, or block, or mini-block, or whatever the hell you call it, I wanted a little more intensity than usual. (I was doing lower weights, higher reps, and lower body training). I had also recently seen the video and read the article by Steve Colescott on Mountain Dog training and the article on band bars...DAMN YOU DAVE TATE ! Having watched Dave and the Mountain Doggies, I questioned the intensity of my own training. In turn, with the band bars article still fresh in my mind, I wanted to introduce some instability to the box squat. To that end, I hung a set of chains from a set of bands on a safety squat bar and then added weight. The whole damn thing was so unstable, I almost fell off the box. I did my regularly planned training and it beat my ass. I then attempted to do as many reps as I could for one last set. I had no intention of doing 20 reps like Dave did, but I did intend to do at least ten. Eight reps was difficult, ten was an ass buster...and I stopped at twelve. Next time I'll do fifteen. DAMN YOU DAVE TATE! Now, who is going to help me to the kitchen to make my protein drink?

By the way and as an aside, the discussion following the Mountain Dog article about squat depth was bullshit! As we say in Gastonia, "that ain't what it was about!" Dave hit his box each time, didn't he? If he had wanted more depth he would have used a lower box. It's really about drive, determination, and intensity.

Now where were we? Oh yes, the surgery. Just as I know the doctor would be apprehensive if he were asked to lift a weight that we do every day, I am apprehensive about a procedure that he does every day. I have worked as hard as I can for the last few years to get where I am, so what's going to happen to that? When will I get it back? Is this the end of the road? I hope not.

I'll talk to y'all after February 6th.