Proliferation of Progress and the distraction of sex

I got all wrapped up in some serious messiness.  All i can think about today is sex and my approach to training at 1100AM was skewed.  I was up late last night watching football and my first client required me to leave my house at 0525.  I certainly ate enough last night to fuel today.  My goodness.  And i ate some chicken breast with a Moroccan seasoning that is making my sweat smell very. . . . distinct. 


But in accordance with the Holy Grail of Perpetual Progress, the Gym Movement product line, and the laws in place long before i was in the womb 32 years ago, i hit a Personal Record in my lifts.

If you do not believe in progress every day, let me give an example: The DVD

I thought to myself about halfway through my session, "You are tired, you won't PR in anything today, though movements are testing well".  It appeared as though i was going to dishonor The Movement, i was going to let my people down, i was going to cop out, as i have done so many times in my life.  Even my dog would have been disappointed in me. 

That is not how it works, and i did not leave the club when i felt tired.  Nor did i run bull-headed towards another drill and force myself, with loads of effort, to do more work.  Nope.  Not today.

Today when i got tired i just tested some flexibility stuff, trained some body weight drills, drank some water, and then went back to the iron.

I recalled a photograph that i saw on the internet today, of a personal trainer in such SICK shape that it was what sent me to the health club in the first place.  I recalled and thought to myself "Does every session begin with the goal of a PR?"  The answer is 'no'.  The session, or lesson, begins with a set of movements to test, and beyond that the Gym Movement Protocol takes over.  Data collection, analysis, reformulation, execution.  Find what tests well, change what you can, to see if it may test better, and then train the heck out of it.  The physique in the picture reminded me that more is at stake with my training than honoring a school of science i now study under.

My mood, my appetite, my pain levels, my self image, my happiness [directly related to how much control i believe i have over my choices], my sex drive, my schedule, my income, my choices, etc., etc.

These are all associated with how weight training proliferates and today i saw something previously unseen.  Or maybe i was viewing it from angles i had not visited prior.

It is not about hitting a PR every day.  That shit just happens :)

It is about following the protocol.  Observe the signals, record the data, make the adjustments.  Personal Records and Perpetual Progress markers will follow. 

So when i almost quit, i did not.  That may even be a PR.

1 arm dumbbell rows, from supported position, using different weights and speeds from left to right:

Volume PR 8,080lbs./11:00

Intensity 60-70%
Density 26.66%

Hang Cleans with an symmetrical stance, staggering the hip i had surgery on:

Volume PR 2,295lbs./8:30

Intensity PR old 1RM was 150, new 1RM is 175, trained today at 77-95%

Density 10.98%

Cable shoulder extensions, from a lunge position [I rest my belly on my front thigh], different loads on each side:

Volume PR 3,455lbs./11:35

Intensity N/A
Density 20.87%

And i wrapped up with Pantera on my iPod and dinner on my mind.  Tonight, more chicken breast [it's cheap!] with Moroccan sauce [it's unique and yummy], watch last night's episode of Fringe on DVR, and go to bed early.

Tomorrow, i am testing myself at the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

Who wants to join me?