elitefts™ Sunday Edition

"If you always do what you've always done, you'll always get what you already have."

This quote has been ringing loudly in my head all month.

 I was piggybacking off some thoughts that have been on my mind from the very moment that I injured my quadratus lumborum this last time.

"What am I doing that I might not necessarily need to be doing?"

"What am I not doing that I absolutely need to be doing?"

I am an obsessive person. I will find one of Baskin-Robbins 31 favors, and I will order it 31 days in a row. I will squat heavy every max effort squat day when I have had some success squatting heavy, that is until something breaks.

When I feel a certain "growth" from a new exercise, I will exhaust that exercise every damn time I train. 

And I think that you should stick to the overall programming that has been working—heck, I've been using the Conjugated Training Method with a few customizations for over a decade. Since it still works, there is no need to "run" another program. (What is it with "running" programs unless it's a running program?)

 However, those "customizations" are the essence of what I write. With the tweaks and quirkiness of my (ahem) maturing body, do I really need to do 100 glute/hamstring raises? Why don't I subtract 25 reps and add 25 reps to hip mobility? The answer has always been, "because that is what you ALWAYS do!" WRONG! That's stupid thinking. What is it that will help IMPROVE the performance? The obvious answer became clear this past Saturday while I was maxing my raw low box squat.

I have been a little cautious since the QL tear, but I have implemented the things I wrote about a couple of months ago. I have added more hip mobility work, as well as side abdominal flexion. Additionally, I instituted various methods of the reverse hyper. Why? Because these thing WORK, and I KNOW this. I didn't want to give up the stuff I like to do and replace it with things that I NEEDED to do. 

I also went back to checking my FORM. (I’ve gotten a bit sloppy here, too) “Feet wide, spreading the floor with the femur externally rotated...big belly full of air, low back arched hard, and sitting BACK.” (Not just a little, but BACK'D da EF up, back). 

Concentrating the entire session on these things, I rifled past what I was considering "heavy." I moved past 405 pounds and thought about putting my briefs on, but I didn't. Well, 495 pounds felt decent, so I kept at it...Two nose bleeds later and I was back up to weight that I used to do (but have made excuses as to why I don't anymore). By moving the bigger weight, I felt as if I was healed! Healed of injury. Healed of stupidity. Healed from my own ego.

Now I am thinking about the rest of my training. I was thinking of doing a total reevaluation of the things that I NEED to do versus the stuff I am always doing because, well, I’ve always done it.

It was done previously because I definitely needed to do it, but I think some things have worked their course. You can’t fill a filled cup. I need to fill my cup with things that will help me to continually grow; therefore, I need to rid myself of a few in order to add others.

I am by no means satisfied with this. Outside of the gym is where I like to extend the lessons LEARNED. What can I throw out in "Life" that is no longer of any benefit? What sort of things do I need or need to do to add, improve, or gain benefits? 

I suppose it is time to step back and reevaluate some things. 

"Get rid of the non-awesome and add things that are more awesome."

So this is my challenge for you: Get rid of the non-essentials and add the things that will add to your existence.