July 6, 2015 Lower Body

• Front Squat: 275*1 315*1 295*1 305*1
• BB DL (double overhand) thick bar: 315*2 335*1 355*1
• DL Mixed Grip thick bar: 405*1 445*1 455*1
• HPS: 135*3 135*3 145*2
• Hanging Power Cleans: 185*3 195*2
• Clean-Grip Reverse Lunges: 135*5 145*5
• Dead Bugs: 10, 10

So this is the switch-up I've been planning.  Between sprinting two days per weekend, squatting monday or tuesday, dodgeball wednesday, and then deadlifting either thursday or Friday, I was hammering my lower body 5 times per week.  I was feeling worn down after the past month, and I think it's holding back my sprinting, which is really what I love spending my summers working on.  So my idea is to combine both deadlifting and squatting into a day (probably Monday, or Tuesday if I want to give myself a day off after back-to-back sprint sessions on the weekend), and then taking Thursday off.  This gives me a day off after dodgeball for my legs to recover, or potentially doing some extremely light sprinting on Thursdays if I'm feeling fresh.  This first session went well, I had plenty of energy and actually got through the session surprisingly fast.  The clean-grip reverse lunges are progressing well, I feel the imbalance in my hips correcting! 

The Only Two Ways to Feel Good About Yourself

I see a lot of negativity lately on boards towards other members, their progress posts, goals, their training method (crossfit, ss, etc.) or whatever and it got me thinking.  I've been doing this for about 16 years at this point, and in the entire time I've been working out I have only seen two ways to feel better about yourself. This goes for lifting, athletics, finances, regular life, anything really.

The first way is to better yourself, advance yourself, improve yourself in some way, or otherwise get yourself closer to some goal. When you do this you don't really worry about what those around you are doing as much, because you know you're improving yourself, and that's what matters.  You are driven because you know that you are responsible for getting yourself further along in life, and are working at bettering yourself.

The second way is try and tear down those around you, and their accomplishments. Whether with words or actions, this only makes you feel better because when you compare yourself to those around you, their achievements have been lowered, at least in your own mind. This mindset engenders constant comparison to those around you, a lack of self-motivation, and the need to constantly strain for ways to delegitimize the accomplishments of those around you.  It's exhausting, at the end of the day it does nothing real to advance yourself. 


So just a reminder: If you find yourself tearing down the achievements of others in the gym, or making up excuses, or dumping on people here just trying to improve themselves; are you doing it because you truly feel criticism is warranted, or are you falling into that second method of feeling better about yourself.