the pain diaries: Day 478...wHy cAn'T i dO pOweR cLeaNs riGhT?!?

Friday, January 9, 2009

Day 478...wHy cAn'T i dO pOweR cLeaNs riGhT?!?

...Coach Mark Rippetoe assessing and teaching the Power Clean...

I had to train my client, JE early this morning instead of in the afternoon like usual. She worked hard and did a good job. I was really proud of her. Then it was MY turn to workout once she left. I wasn't really "feelin it" today, but I got to work anyway. I was doing some "strength work"...all I really knew was that I needed to do some bench pressing and some power cleans...anything else I did was just extra.

I was okay on bench pressing, but it is so hard without someone to spot me or at least help me get the weight up off the rack to start. It takes extra energy that I could be using to lift, but I was alone so I just did what I could. I felt a little weak towards the end, but all in all...it went well. Then came those "effin" Power Cleans! I just never seem to hit my leg on the right spot...I tend to start pulling too early...and it hurts when that bar lands correctly on my chest so I over control the bar with my hands instead of just gettin under the bar and letting IT land ON ME. I was getting SOOO frustrated. I could FEEL it wasn't right..and I KNOW what to do to correct it...but I wasn't DOING it. I was trying to remember everything I was taught when J and I went to the Barbell cert a month ago. Finally, I just fought through until I was done with my "worksets"...all the while wondering..."Why can't I do power cleans right?!?". I also decided that I need to get my butt in gear and ORDER my weightlifting shoes. I know it will help me.

I did some other "vanity" stuff (as A always called it) and then I did 100 Overhead Walking Lunge Steps in the parking lot holding 25 lbs to finish it off. It sucked SO bad. I was glad for my workout to be done today. It just wasn't...fun. But then again, I guess if it was easy and always "fun"...EVERYBODY would look good and be strong. I know that's not the case so I'll quit complaining and know that it may have been frustrating and hard...but it's worth it in the end...because IF I push hard and do difficult exercises as correctly as possible...my workouts will be effective and I will not be wasting my time...like so many of the people that I have seen in other gyms.

HERE'S WHAT MARK RIPPETOE, an expert in the field and author of "Starting Strength: Basic Barbell Training", HAS TO SAY ABOUT THIS VERY THING:

“Effective exercise is hard and that’s all there is to it…just like anything else…if it’s easy, it’s probably not effective. The most effective equipment of any sort is barbells and we’ve known this for decades. The problem with barbells is that you have to learn how to use them.”

WORKOUT
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THEN:

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..............WHY?...............

This is my training log...my "workout diary" if you will. It is mostly for ME, but if it motivates someone else, that's great too! I write everday as a way of being accountable to myself. It's a way to track my progress, correct my mistakes, and a way to look back and view my day to day struggle to continue to work towards being the best possible version of myself. Sometimes, I am tired or lonely or unmotivated. Sometimes, I am "powerful beyond measure". Sometimes it is fun...easy. Other times, it is almost unbearable. I use to have my trainers to push me...but NOW I am on my own.

QUOTES THAT INSPIRE ME TO PUSH HARDER...GO FASTER...AND TRAIN LONGER

"SOME DEFINE OBSESSION AS NEGATIVE. I SAY IT'S HOW YOU GET THINGS DONE."

-MARK TWIGHT

"PAIN IS TEMPORARY. IT MAY LAST A MINUTE, OR AN HOUR, OR A DAY, OR A YEAR, BUT EVENTUALLY IT WILL SUBSIDE AND SOMETHING ELSE TAKES IT'S PLACE. IF I QUIT HOWEVER, IT LASTS FOREVER."

-LANCE ARMSTRONG

"TO BE TRANSFORMED BY EFFORT, ONE MUST DIG DEEP...SURPASS ONE'S EXPECTATIONS OR SELF-IMPOSED LIMITATIONS...RISK FAILURE...BLOW UP, AND 'GET THE FULL DOSE'...IT ALWAYS HURTS YOU GO AS HARD AS YOU CAN."

-MARK TWIGHT-"GYM JONES" WEBSITE

"TO GIVE ANYTHING LESS THAN YOUR BEST IS TO SACRIFICE THE GIFT."

-STEVE PREFONTAINE

“PUNISH YOUR BODY TO PERFECT YOUR SOUL.”

-MARK TWIGHT

“ONLY THOSE WHO WILL RISK GOING TOO FAR CAN POSSIBLY FIND OUT HOW FAR ONE CAN GO.”

-T.S. ELIOTT

"THE BENEFITS OF FITNESS ARE NOT MERELY PHYSICAL. SUCCESSFUL COMPLETION OF A SERIES OF DIFFICULT, SHORT-DURATION, HIGH INTENSITY EFFORTS BUILDS SELF-ASSUREDNESS IN A WAY THAT VERY FEW OTHER ACTIVITIES CAN. TOUGH WORKOUTS THAT PUSH AN INDIVIDUAL TO THE VERY LIMIT OF HIS OR HER CAPACITIES MAY BECOME THE GATEWAY TO HIGHER CONSCIOUSNESS. AND THAT AWARENESS OFTEN LEADS TO CONFIDENCE."

-MARK TWIGHT

"WHEN A PERSON TRAINS ONCE, NOTHING HAPPENS. WHEN A PERSON FORCES HIMSELF TO DO A THING A HUNDRED OR A THOUSAND TIMES, THEN HE CERTAINLY HAS DEVELOPED IN MORE WAYS THAN PHYSICAL. IS IT RAINING? THAT DOESN'T MATTER. AM I TIRED? THAT DOESN'T MATTER EITHER. THEN WILLPOWER WILL BE NO PROBLEM"

-EMIL ZATOPEK

"GIVE IT EVERYTHING AND LET THE CHIPS...OR WHATEVER...FALL WHERE THEY MAY. IT WON'T EVER GET EASIER, BUT YOU MIGHT GO FASTER, OR LAST LONGER."

-MARK TWIGHT

“A LOT OF PEOPLE RUN A RACE TO SEE WHO IS FASTEST. I RUN TO SEE WHO HAS THE MOST GUTS WHO CAN PUNISH HIMSELF INTO EXHAUSTING PACE, AND THEN AT THE END, PUNISH HIMSELF EVEN MORE. NOBODY IS GOING TO WIN A 5,000METER RACE AFTER RUNNING AN EASY 2 MILES. NOT WITH ME. IF I LOSE FORCING THE PACE ALL THE WAY, WELL, AT LEAST I CAN LIVE WITH MYSELF.“

-STEVE PREFONTAINE

“SUFFERING PROVIDES THE OPPORTUNITY TO EXERCISE WILL AND DEVELOP GRIT… THE MIND AND BODY ADAPT TO BOTH COMFORT AND DEPRIVATION… RELISH THE CHALLENGE OF OVERCOMING DIFFICULTIES THAT WOULD CRUSH ORDINARY MEN... LEARN TO SUFFER.”

-MARK TWIGHT – excerpts from "Extreme Alpinism - Climbing Light, Fast and High"

“SOMETIMES IF YOU WANT TO BE A WINNER, YOU HAVE TO BE WILLING TO BEAR THE SCARS FROM THE FIGHT.”

-PETRA SALVAJE

'EACH OF US GIVES WHAT WE ARE ABLE AND, MORE IMPORTANTLY, WILLING TO GIVE TO LIFE. HOW WE REACT WHEN OUR CAPACITY AND WILL FALL SHORT OF OUR EXPECTATIONS DETERMINES HOW WE VIEW OURSELVES...".

-MARK TWIGHT~"GYM JONES" website