I had this crazy thought last evening, “I’ve had enough. I need to get moving.”
I haven’t been to the gym in almost a month now and the restlessness was getting onto my nerves. My physio summoned to supervised sessions for the next couple of weeks to strengthen my injured shoulder (a grade 2 rotator cuff tear).
And I can only hit the gym after he certifies I’m fit to lift heavy again. Of course, I start with 50% of my 1RM for all my lifts. A bummer, considering how well I was doing the last power cycle.
Nonetheless, I couldn’t help but get irritated thinking about the obstacles ahead. I picked my 24 kg kettlebell from underneath my desk (in fact, my right feet is in contact with the bell right now!) and decided to do a very short program for the evening and the next couple of weeks. Check this out:
- Kettlebell (KB) Deadlifts – 2 sets of 5 reps (minimal rest but at least 30 seconds)
- KB goblet squats – 2 x 5 (minimal rest)
- KB swings – 2 x 10 (minimal rest)
Believe me, I was fried with just that! I felt so detrained after the workout. My legs were sore as hell this morning.
That didn’t stop me from doing workout # 2 right before writing this today. Feeling so damn better now. I hope to keep this up for the next couple of weeks (supervised sessions in the morning and kettlebell work in the evening) until I get back to the gym. I will have to start at 50% but the worst that can happen to any athlete is to feel winded and hopeless with so much less load.
This approach feeds back into our usual approach to setbacks. Doesn’t it? We either whine about it and not do anything or simply suck it up and work our way up to peak performance.
At the end of the day, your attitude about these seemingly insurmountable obstacles (oh, boy, it does feel that way after an injury), can make or break you. And if you’re not careful, you’re most likely to get broken.
Stay strong and keep pushing!