The Rough Days In The Gym

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Why Consistency Beats Talent

SPEAKER_00 0:01

Hello and welcome back to another episode of Train for a Great Life. I posted something on Facebook recently that got a fair amount of attention. Um I'm gonna share it here. Let's talk for a second about the rough days in the gym. I've been training very consistently for over 25 years, 16 plus of that in CrossFit, and um in a post last week I I just I was taught trying to get the message out about consistency and effort, like you don't understand, people don't understand where that can go. It's kind of like people that how people don't completely understand compounding, and then you see numbers, you're like, holy shit.

Ten-Year Rule And Top One Percent

SPEAKER_00 0:44

Um I said if you did something with consistency and effort for 10 years, you're gonna be in the top 1% of that thing. Okay, if you do fitness for 10 years, like a well-rounded fitness program, you're gonna be in the top 1% of people in terms of like, you know, if you you look across like abilities, running performance, lifting weights, heart rate metrics, body fat percentage, like you're just gonna rise to the top. Same thing if you put uh I I use this this example all the time. If you put a kid in front of a piano and give them lessons for 10 years, they're gonna do some pretty cool things.

Expectations Versus Today’s Reality

SPEAKER_00 1:21

Okay. This does not mean every day is at the peak, um, especially in terms of like your fluctuations and how you feel. Okay, so the example I used was uh yesterday we did a one rep max front squat in the gym. Um, we did a quick progression of three weeks. We did some back squatting before. My strength is actually not too bad right now. Um last week I hit 300 for a double, um, probably had a third rep in me, which is a far cry from a personal record of 370 pounds or like a 350 for a triple. These were like 10, 12, 13 years ago. Okay, this is this is a different phase of life, okay. For me now,

The Off Day Front Squat Story

SPEAKER_00 2:06

with how much I train, how much strength training, what my goals are, it's pretty good. It's it's as high as it's been in the last five years. Based on that, when we were doing the one, I'd expect to land in the 315 to 325 range, which I'd be super happy with. Um here's the thing, too, is when you've been training for so long, you're not necessarily on this like continuous upward trend like you are for the first few years, I would argue five years at least, um, maybe more. And there's just going to be fluctuations, right? I'm a I'm a speed and power based athlete, so I'm giving a little bit more context. So, like when I do a fair amount of volume or like uh something that kind of runs me down a bit, I I can't quite produce the same power. And that's true for everybody, but being the type of athlete that I am, the days when I'm on are like exceptionally good. Yesterday I felt exceptionally weak. Um, I struggled to stand up 285. I was so again to give context, that's like 30 to 40 pounds off where I was thinking I should have been. Um, I was struggling to get myself going in the warm-up. I could feel like just kind of sluggish, like the battery is low. And uh as we built, as soon as I got a little bit of weight on the bar, 225 was eh,

Scaling Hard Workouts With Wisdom

SPEAKER_00 3:32

245 felt good, 265 felt really crappy. I was like, uh, I don't know how much room is in here, but stick to the plan. I was gonna go like um 285, probably then to 300 or 305, and then see where it goes from there. Well, 285 barely stood it up. That was that. Uh next came a short, hard, heavy conditioning piece, 2115.9 front squat 185, burpees over barbell. Even at my peak 13 to 14 years ago, peak crossfit abilities, I would need to feel like I could run through a brick wall to record something impressive on this. It is not my wheelhouse. I have good strength numbers for my size, but when you throw 45 reps of a front squat, that's over my body weight. Um, I'm just not, that's not me. That's not where I excel. Um, and yesterday I knew better. I just I felt where my body was at, I knew where my mind was at. And even if I put 135 pounds on the bar, it just wasn't gonna work. So I threw 95 pounds on the bar and more or less walked through the workout. That was all I had for whatever

Just Show Up And Keep The Habit

SPEAKER_00 4:43

reason. Um, we've been telling people just show up for over five years now as an overarching message. And the impact that people have specifically told me it's had on them is wild. Yeah, I got a multiple paragraph long email just two days ago about it. And that's just what makes its way back to me. I know that there's way more impact out there. Um, this this post wasn't about a single workout. It's a reminder that these days are real life. It's not all a social media highlight that we are made to believe in that we struggle to compare ourselves with. In the last 25 years, the amount of workouts that I've completed where I either felt flat or didn't want to is in the thousands easily. I'm still glad I did it. I'm still, you know, I don't feel like I've moved my fitness forward or made progress, but I didn't regress and I didn't quit a habit. Um, I didn't sit on my hands all day saying I should have, or you know, and then at night kind of feel crappy because I didn't work out and I didn't get closer to quitting. Okay. For me, if I take a few days off in a row, that's not gonna move me. I I'm not,

Stay In The Game

SPEAKER_00 5:54

I know I'm not gonna quit this type of thing, but a lot of people would. And if if you throw in another habit, maybe three to four days off in a row would make me quit. Okay, that path, it all starts somewhere, and it's usually with negotiating with yourself. Okay, stay in the game. It is the only way to record the days that we all remember. I'll see you in the gym.