Pretty Good Week Lifting

I posted about it earlier in the week, but I have gotten back on the wagon with my strength work. For this first cycle I took all of my lifts way lighter than I needed to, but that is just my common-sense kicking in. I’d rather go lighter now and keep moving up than get frustrated or, worse yet, get myself injured because I jumped into things too quickly.

All my lifts felt great. Even the presses and bench press. Both are my weaknesses, and I’m not really concerned with how much I can bench. That is the least important to me, but I do still do it.

Late last week I heard from an old friend. That was nice. He had done a lot of powerlifting when he was younger, and he said he regrets it. He said Crossfit is the right thing to do. While I don’t go to a Crossfit gym anymore, I think despite my complaining, street parking takes some of the good from that type of training. I just wish they’d stop with the stupid WODs.

It was nice to get some outside confirmation about what I am doing and that I take a practical approach to my fitness and lifting. I wish Crossfit had been around when I was younger, but it wasn’t. Time can’t be turned back. I have been at it for well over a decade, so that is pretty good.

I have been hitting a lot of the WODs harder and using heavier weights too. I did two workouts yesterday. Both are using the 40-pound dumbbells. The one I did alternating hang snatches with one. They always feel great. The second one was strict presses with the 40-pound dumbbells. Those sets, while small, were all unbroken. This WOD I felt great about.

Even before I knew my sister was my sister, she’s been a big motivator for doing what I do. We do different things, but we do what we do for similar reasons. She has said that she runs for her life. That always stuck with me.

Yesterday’s big motivator was seeing a video of my brother and his niece working out together at some group training thing they do. It makes me so happy to see that he is doing that. He is much stronger than me.

I hope I can continue doing both the lifting and metcons as long as I can. Ideally I can keep doing both until the day I die. Of course the weights and intensity will drop off as I get older, but it is all relative.

My point is it felt great to get back under the bar. I am forever grateful to have the opportunity to learn it and do it before it was too late in life. It is something I wanted to do since I was a child, but back then the means weren’t there. I didn’t have access to the equipment for one. Just the learning wasn’t available either.

She runs for her life. I lift for mine.