TUESDAY
30 minutes stretching
20 minutes airdyne

WEDNESDAY
30 minutes stretching
50 minutes hamster wheel

THURDAY
30 minutes stretching
20 minutes airdyne

I was having dinner with one of my old training partners. Now when I say old, I mean we used to train a while back, not that he's old. I'm actually 11 years older than he, and he just wonders how I keep doing it. Not that I have the drive, but actually how my body holds up. As anyone who reads my log knows, it's a battle.

I am spending a lot of time on recovery. The important thing I'm learning is that this will not go away when my body feels whole. Or at least as close to whole as it will ever feel again. I have always prided myself on doing the little things. Well, the little things are getting bigger. I think I have come to a point where nutrition, recovery, and conditioning are more important than my actual training.

If I were to do one of those letters to my younger self, I'd tell me to spend more time on conditioning and stretching. I kind of knew about nutrition, but didn't care that much. I just wanted to get lots of protein and calories in to get bigger. I started powerlifting at 210 lbs. I was not big by any measure. I worked hard for my 120 lbs of gain. That said, I'm sure I'd refine it, but whatever.

I also took care of my body to the extent that I'd see doctors, therapists, etc to keep my body together to compete. I probably could buy a nice Porsche with copays, but then again, I probably wouldn't fit in it anyway.

Conditioning, I hardly cared bout it for a long time. The thing that sucks, is that it took a bunch of my life away. I sat around thinking that would make me stronger. Meanwhile, I find light conditioning has not only been great for my life, but great for my recovery as well.

The biggest missing piece would be stretching. Not stretching has caused me lots of injuries. Listen, you don't have to be a supple jaguar or some other jungle cat, but be the supple rhino. Be flexible enough to powerlift and generally get around life. I saw my flexibility diminish and didn't care as long as I was still strong. Meanwhile an ounce of prevention would have allowed me to be even stronger.

Be the Supple Rhino