"When you establish a destination by defining what you want and then take physical action by making choices that move you toward that destination, the possibility for success is limitless and arrival at the destination is inevitable." — Steve Maraboli, Life, the Truth, and Being Free
The email unceremoniously hit my Gmail inbox. I witnessed its arrival. It was lodged between an elitefts™ equipment sale announcement, three Groupon fliers (which I always manually delete—I’m just not interested in a “50%-off facial”), and an email listing T-Nation articles. I knew that I wasn’t going to have the time to read it right away, so I quickly added the correspondence to my mental to-do list.
Two evenings later, I finally sat down at my desk with a steaming cup of Peet’s coffee. (Major Dickason’s blend—does that sound dirty or is it just me? Just me, I guess. Oh, well). I opened the aforementioned email. It was from my cousin.
After weeding through a variety of family information—who’s sick and who’s alive and well—I saw the question. It was appended to the end of the email, almost like an afterthought, but it hit me like an angry slap to the face.
Have you pulled the elusive 700 yet?
Having to respond to that email hurt, not because I haven't yet pulled that number but because I haven't done the work to get there (or if I’m honest with myself, I haven't even done the work to maintain my prior achievements). Candidly, over the last year, with my relocation from Connecticut to Texas, I’ve regressed.
Early on a Saturday morning, prior to my nine-year-old daughter’s lacrosse tournament, I snuck into my garage gym (the Texas version of Beast). That Saturday was effectively a day that would be monopolized by sports and cheering. I truly enjoy watching my daughter play, but I figured that if I didn't get the work in now, I was sunk. There wasn’t going to be any time post-tournament, and I knew from past experience that the motivation would be lacking post-tournament.
My goal was simply to “move some weight.” Certainly nothing phenomenal—actually nothing really noteworthy, but I needed to get back in the saddle and I had to start somewhere to be able to put some solid programming together. I’d been neglecting my pulls and my lower body training in general for various reasons, but I was finally ready to embark on some “serious” training. At a minimum, some consistent training—baby steps.
Week 1
I warmed up, gradually increasing the weight until I had only 315 pounds on the bar. The loose plan was to perform four or five sets of triples with 315 pounds. I knocked off the first set and the weight felt much heavier than it should—much heavier than I remembered (i.e. it feels like 515 pounds). After that first set, my daughter wandered into the gym. She was donned in her full lacrosse uniform, which included some of the loudest LAX socks I’ve ever seen as well as cute pink goggles perched atop her head. You’d never know by looking at her that this pretty picture was a veritable offensive and defensive assassin on the field.
She hopped up on one of my elitefts™ dumbbell benches, the one positioned right in front of where I was pulling. She stared at me without saying anything.
“What?” I asked.
“Nothing,” she said. “I’m just watching.”
I grabbed the 315 pounds and yanked three quick and tight reps.
“Why are you shaking so much?” my daughter casually asked.
Ouch.
“Because I’m weak,” I said.
She was right. It was strange. I did have a slight tremble on the eccentric portion of the lifts. Weakness leaving the body I suspected. I hoped.
Following my single with 500, my twelve-year-old son walked into the garage. I could tell immediately that he wanted me for something.
“What’s up?” I asked, breathing a little too deeply for someone who had only pulled a couple singles.
“I wanted to see if you would come code with me.”
“Oh buddy, I’m glad that you're working on your computer programming, but I can’t come in the house right now. Daddy needs to do this to maintain his sanity.”
“OK.”
“I’m glad you’re coding though. Maybe one day when you grow up, you can start your own software company. You can create applications and maybe even games. You like playing games. Imagine creating a new game. That would be cool.”
“You know what I want to do when I grow up?”
“What do you want to do?”
“I want to train German Shepherds.”
“Train German Shepherds?”
“Yeah. I like working with dogs, and do you want to know what else would be good about it?”
“What?”
“You have to speak German when you train them, so I’ll have the opportunity to learn German, too.”
Huh?
Week 3—some simple programming (finally)
Having put together a couple pulling sessions in a row, I finally was able to put together some programming for myself. Working off a perceived max of 550, I planned this simple training session.
- Mat pulls, 5 X 4 with 415 (75% of my current maximum single); I used straps on the last set because my hands needed to become accustomed to handling weight again. I’m not referring to grip strength; my grip strength remains, but I don’t want to tear my hands up on the first “true” training session.
- Glute ham raise, 4 X 10 with body weight
- Reverse hyper, 3 X 10 (sets with four, 45-pound plates)
Week 4—simple programming continued
- Mat pulls, 5 X 3 with 440 (80% of my current maximum single)
- Glute ham raises, 4 X 10 with body weight
- Reverse hyper, 3 X 10 (sets with four, 45-pound plates)
Back on track (again)
Now that I finally have some direction, I can turn my attention back to the email and craft the appropriate response. I’m not making any promises—not setting any official timetables—yet. That will come later.
Have you pulled the elusive 700 yet?
Not yet. Not quite yet, but I’m working on it.
"If you don’t know where you are going, you’ll end up someplace else."― Yogi Berra