The Warrior's Art

It was back day again this morning. I usually love back day as you readers may already know. Unlike most of my back days however, this one started off discouraging and frustrating.

Let me elaborate. You see, I really really want to be able to do a good pull up. Just a standard-regular-overhand-grip-no-swinging-around pull-up. It actually kind of surprises me that I can't do one. I don't think I'm super strong, but I'm relatively strong for my body weight, which is what I thought really mattered when it came to pull-ups.

This, of course, gets super frustrating when I see either girls or guys who can't lift more than I can easily bang out 5 good pull-ups. I sit there thinking "What is the matter with me? I should be able to do this". And that's where the problem starts. I do a lot better emotionally and psychologically with not expecting to be able to do things and then succeeding vs thinking I should be able to do something and coming up short. I say "coming up short" because Ryan keeps trying to tell me that calling myself a "failure" or saying "I'm failing" should not be in my vocabulary and it's not helpful. He's probably right.

He also says that a lot of doing a good pull-up is about the form and the biomechanics of it. When I think about that and the fact that I've always been "double-jointed" (aka loose-jointed), having my shoulders and elbows both easily pop out, I start thinking maybe I shouldn't be able to do one. And maybe I never will. And then the other half of me says that's just an excuse for something I can't do...yet. And to keep trying.

So there I was, trying again this morning. I warm up with an assisted set with enough weight to not stress out my arms, lats or back. Then I mentally prepare myself. I grip the bar. And go. I get halfway up perfectly. My whole body is tense. And then it just stops. It's like I'm stuck. They call it "a sticking point" for a reason I suppose. I feel like I could hold my body there for a long time. It's not like I'm panting or my muscles have given out...they just won't keep going. So I let myself down, frustrated almost to the point of tears, and continue my workout.

What I dream of looking like doing a pull-up

What I actually look like...(minus the cat part)

But not all hope is lost. I make a mental decision that the emotional energy that I'm about to beat myself up with will go into anger. Not anger-anger, but determination-anger. And this will be directed at my deadlifts.

It works. I end up hitting 135 x 3 and then 145 x 2 (with pretty good form, I think) which is a PR! Thank goodness for the deadlift. I would probably still be upset with myself if I hadn't done it. Later on, I was reading an article on T-Nation about the 5 Tips for Better Deadlifing. At the end the author, Mike Robertson, says that "Deadlifting is a warrior's art",which made me smile I read it.

I may not be able to do a single pull-up, but I will choose to shift my focus off of that and onto my success as a warrior artist.