TCS is about to wrap up month #1 since our 2 month hiatus!!! The brick and mortar location is once again occupied with warm bodies, and it feels great to get back to some sort of normalcy and see all of your smiling faces!
I think it’s safe to assume that everyone that has chosen to make their re-entry is just as fired up as we are. The energy in the gym has been electric each and every session and it feels like everyone’s spirit just got a bit of a recharge.
Now, here comes a dose of reality. I don’t mean for this to rain on anyone’s parade, but your return to the gym may find you facing some frustrations. It is possible, in fact likely, that if you have not had access to heavier loads over the last 2 months, your strength may have decreased a bit. On the flip side, if you’ve been joining us for the ZOOM workouts, you may find that your conditioning is better than it was pre-lockdown. In any case, it’s important to realize that you are now entering into a new chapter of your training, and looking back to old workout journal or logged numbers may not be very helpful right now. In fact, it may be a risky dive into the past that I think we should just as well avoid by suddenly developing an acute case of amnesia.
Look. When you boil this shit down, we are simply putting in work (heavy, light, fast, moderate, slow, longer, shorter,etc.) as consistently as we can. We do this stuff so that we can look better, feel better and perform better in our lives, and be part of a kickass community. It does us no good to look back to 5-6 months ago and try to compare where we were then with where we are now. Sure, we can use that data to set goals and motivate our progress, but it’s very easy for that to spiral out of control and we find ourselves number-chasing, then getting frustrated and possibly even injured. Do not spend your valuable time and energy thinking about what you’ve lost. Rather, look at the the other aspects of our health that may have been gained. Did you get outside more? Were you more active with your family? Did you go on walks more often? Did you pull out that old bike and go for some rides? Were you able to take this time to focus on sleep and nutrition? Did your mobility improve?
Amnesia, my friends. Forget about your 250lb back squat from January. Forget about your 150lb strict press in early March. Forget it, because it’s just an old data point - not an indicator of some character flaw. You are not your strength numbers. Forget it and just put in the work today and each day going forward. You’ll be happy you did and you will enjoy the work that much more.
*What was I talking about?*