All Things Gym!

I am very excited and honored to have been given the opportunity to write a guest post for one of my favorite websites All Things Gym.  They always seem to have the most up-to-date videos and podcast interviews of literally all things gym related.  Olympic lifting, powerlifting, crazy feats of strength.  I've also been privileged enough to have them feature two of my videos on their site! 

You can find the first video of mine they used of my teammate Shane getting ready for the Pan-American Championship as a feature on the website by clicking: Shane Maier Pan Am Prep

The second time I was part of the actual feature as Crazy Plank Girl after I videoed myself doing a weighted plank challenge that I was given.  Check it out: Crazy Weighted Plank

This time if you're searching for a little motivation you can check out my guest post: Once You've Finished. 

So many many thanks to All Things Gym for not only posting my videos but allowing me to write a guest post!  And in case you haven't clicked any of the above links, at least click this one: Click me NOW or else! Enjoy!

My Guest Post from All Things Gym: Once You've Finished

I wrote a guest post for All Things Gym and the original link can be found by clicking Once You've Finished.  And I'd highly recommend you check out many of the other posts on the webpage.  They always have the latest and greatest videos from the internet lifting land.  But if you'd like to just read my post here you go (it features links that weren't included in the original post).......


"Nothing seems hard once you've finished."  I can't remember where I first read that quote but it's definitely one that has stuck with me.

On the surface people will initially push back against that statement but seriously take a moment to think about it.  Think about the last competition or event you competed in.  Was it really that hard?  Sure in the heat of the moment you ARE giving it your all, leaving it all on the platform, I'm not saying that you aren't.  But what about after?  Do you really feel like it was absolutely that hard?  Personally I could go 6 for 6, which is something I've NEVER done, and every last one of those could be brand-spanking-new personal records.  Afterwards I could be laying exhausted on the floor and I'd still think to myself, "Well, you know it really wasn't that hard."

Over the past 7 months or so there has come a shift in my life.  New job, new apartment, new people in my life.  Essentially a complete life overhaul.  With that has come a renewed fervor to not just be good at weightlifting but to become great at it.  Just the mental shift alone has started me down the path that I had always wished I was on but never actually put myself on.

There wasn't a specific Aha! moment that I wasn't on the right path but rather an accumulation of realization that I was being self-limiting.  If I kept telling myself that 90k was the most I'd ever cleaned and that it was sooooo hard then it would forever be the most weight I'd ever cleaned and would always be hard.  The day that I cleaned 90k for a TRIPLE was an absolutely great day (see Two Roads Diverged in a Weight Room) and I can say that I left every ounce of effort I had on the platform to nail that triple.  I can also tell you that afterwards I thought to myself, "Well it really wasn't as hard as I thought it would be."

It really wasn't that hard to lift something that used to be my max.  Why wasn't it that hard?  Because I told myself it wouldn't be that hard.  I wasn't limiting myself to what I already knew I could lift.  I was experimenting with how much I could push past what I already knew.  And you know what?  Once I was finished, it really didn't seem that hard.

Whatever your brand of lifting, Olympic lifting, powerlifting, strongman (or woman), it's easy to limit yourself to lifting what you know and feeling like its the hardest lift ever but stop for a moment and really think on it.  When you finished that lift, did it really feel that hard?  If it did then you're probably limiting yourself to what you know was hard for you before and not really pushing the limits.  I'll expand on that quote by saying, "Nothing seems hard once you've finished.  Push the limits of what you know and you'll find that you're capable of so much more." 

Recovery Routines

I'll be the first to admit that I'm occasionally terrible at practicing what I preach, especially when it comes to recovery routines.  When it comes to lifting I'm actually pretty strict on myself to the point where I get annoyed if I'm ready to work out and someone starts infringing on my training time even if its only 5 minutes.  (Crazy much?!) Hell I can't even remember the last time I went out of town on a break and it didn't involve at least one day of lifting.  (Obsessed much?!?!)

Despite being rather regimented in my lifting, it's the recovery routine that I start to slack off in every couple of months or so.  My general nightly routine when I get home goes a little something like this: cook dinner, eat dinner & watch TV (or Facebook haha), foam roll, stretch, ice bath, bed time.  Lately it looks more like this: sit on couch, accidentally nap, cook dinner, eat dinner, watch a healthy dose of True Blood (+/- 3 episodes), bed time.  I KNOW I KNOW!  Why am I not doing the foam roll & stretch routine while OD-ing on TV?  One simple teeny tiny word: LAZY!

That's a big shocker huh?  Beastess being lazy.  Well I am now paying the price for being lazy.  I feel sore, tight, and imbalanced.   Trying to warm-up I feel like I'm a geriatric patient after double hip replacement.  Old injuries are popping up to say hello and remind me that if I don't get my ass back into a good recovery routine those injuries could just sucker punch me in the face leaving me on the sideline. 

Tonight's hot Friday night plans include foam rolling and stretching for at least an hour.  And not just arbitrarily foam rolling my legs.  But getting deep down into those muscles I really hate rolling out cause it just hurts so damn much.  Basically the muscles that need the most work because they are neglected the most.  I know it will suck buuuuuut it's my own damn fault.  Time to deal with the repercussions of being lazy.

When all is said and done, I know I'll feel better.  My body will be less sore and tight.  My warm-ups and lifts won't feel like I belong in a nursing home.  And to top it all off I'll probably feel a lot less stressed (gotta relieve that tension ya know?) and put myself into a better mood.  It will be a good reminder of why I should really strive to keep up with my recovery routine. 

So today's Public Service Announcement: Recovery routines are just as important as your training routine.  It really boils down to a good training routine should already be partnered up with a good recovery routine.  So go get yourself one.  Otherwise you're just selling yourself short on optimal performance.