[center]July 5, 2011[/center]
[center]Thoughts on becoming more aggressive, driven, on account of the gym [/center]
Also here: http://hurrrrrrrrr.blogspot.com/
As this cut progresses I’m noticing some changes in myself, not just in the gym. I’m speaking more in the sense of personality makeup; not just the obvious physical changes. I’ve never been one to back down from challenges when they’re presented to me, but recently I’ve noticed that instead of meeting those challenges that come into my life, I’m actively seeking them out.
Like a lot of the changes I’m noticing in life, this one seemed to start at the gym. I decided towards the end of this cut that I was going to try low-carbing it. Now I’ve done that in the past to the tune of 80 net per day, but in this case I was going to try something I had never done before, less than 20g net. I’ll never forget that first day of trying it. I was expecting to feel foggy, out of it, weak…but I got none of that. I felt fine, and it was like this mental barrier crumbled like an old cinder block wall. After that I started to think about more challenges I could undertake, and realized I already was exposing myself to a couple of others, like with my conditioning work.
I decided on this cut to not use steady state cardio, and instead entirely employ more explosive powerful conditioning work (rope slams, tabatas, jump work). The more of it I did the more successful at it I became;I was trying things (30 consecutive plyo box jumps onto a 34" stack for instance) that I had never done, and did not think I would be able to master as rapidly as I have. Somewhere in there I started becoming less intimidated by new ideas. My workouts have become more and more based on one planned exercise (usually a compound movement such as squatting, deadlifting, benching, or pullups for example) and then the rest is explosive accessory work, and a metabolic component that I never have planned for that day. Maybe the biggest change, and something I never saw myself doing, is how I am beating the holy hell out of my core muscles on a regular basis multiple times per week, and actually thriving on this.
Then the idea of two-adays came to me. I don’t have to go into work until 11 A.M. right now, and who knows how long that opportunity will last. So I started splitting up workouts; metabolic work in the mornings, weighted workouts (and some metabolic work) in the evenings. Again, same thing as with the low carb approach. I figured I’d be toast after the A.M. workout, and instead my afternoon work didn’t take a hit at all. That experience galvanized my growing belief that whatever challenge I throw at myself physically, whatever demand I make of myself, whatever level of discipline I seek, I will be successful.
What’s next? I’m not sure, I’m thinking about some other way to challenge myself. I’m closing in on a 10 rep max of 400 lbs. on deadlifting, a 40" vertical, and a body weight military press, all goals I thought would take longer to reach. I wrote a while back that I’ve stopped using comparisons that others use in the gym to gauge their progress. I don’t look at what my peers are doing, I’m looking towards NFL, NHL, and Track Athletes, especially on conditioning work to see where I rate, and also to get new ideas.
At the start of this rather rambling post (I didn’t mean it to be) I said that I’m noticing changes in my personality outside of the gym, and they look like parallel changes to what I see in my training. I’m not intimidated by prospects of getting a job that fits to what I want. In fact career/employment decisions don’t even give me a moment’s pause. I don’t even think about most of my peers having families at this point, to be honest it doesn’t even vaguely interest me right now. I could go on at length, but won’t. Basically, the questions I find myself asking are no longer “I wonder if I can get…[whatever]” it’s becoming “How do I get [whatever] in the quickest way possible”. I feel so much more aggressive in seeking out what I want, (as well as more aggressive personality-wise in general) taking action in situations quicker than I ever would have before, and honestly I have never been happier with who I am, or where I’m going in life than I am right now.
