....or as it was originally titled "Stress is stress."
It has come to my attention that I can be a complete idiot some times. Now before you starting weighing in your opinions on that one let me explain why I am an idiot as well as a hypocrite.
I am all for pushing through tough times. Pushing that extra bit when it seems the hardest. Giving it your all and then giving more. It's something I've taken pride in lately, pushing myself to the limit, especially with weightlifting. However, I am possibly to the point of negative returns. It's not that I've over reached on lifting, it's that I've over reached on life and working.
My current work schedule looks like this:
Monday 8-5, 6:30-8 (Lift mid-day)
Tuesday 8-5, 6:30-8 (Lift evening)
Wednesday 8-5, 5:30-6:30 (Lift mid-day)
Thursday 8-5, 5:30-6:30 (Lift mid-day)
Friday 8-5, 6:30-8 (No lift)
Saturday 9-10 (Lift with team)
Sunday 10-1 (No lift)
Yep. That's me, working 7 days a week, and attempting to lift 5 days a week. I'm not saying that I'm ridiculously busy during all those work hours. I'm also not saying that I don't like working. I LOVE all my jobs. What I'm saying, and here's a friendly reminder to everyone, STRESS IS STRESS. YOUR BODY CAN'T TELL THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN PHYSICAL STRESS AND MENTAL/PSYCHOLOGICAL/EMOTIONAL STRESS.
Now after that friendly little reminder I will tell you that my lifting has begun to progress in the wrong damn direction. I find myself exhausted, weary, and irritable. I come home at night too tired to cook and when I finally muster the energy I'm too tired to eat. I try to work on my recovery routine only to fall asleep on the foam roller. I try to stick to my normal lifting schedule but the physical stress adding to the mental stress is taking its toll on my body and my body is rebelling.
I can be quite stubborn though. I keep trucking right along, honoring the commitments I made to be working this much. I keep trying to push the lifting. Lifting is my stress reliever but I'm too stressed to lift well and not lifting well is stressing me out. It's a wicked, vicious cycle that often ends in tears of frustration.
Today I was feeling pretty determined to get in some good lifting. I was hoping to just hit some solid lifts that I could build on next week. Snatches started off great until I started missing lifts at a weight I've been able to power snatch before. It started messing with my mind so I decided rather than trying to beat it to death I'd move on. Push presses actually went very well. So well in fact that I push pressed for reps more than I actually could snatch today. Moving onto squats...yeahhhhhh.....I barely hit triple digit weight.....for one grueling painful rep....a weight that I've hit for high reps. Needless to say I was overly frustrated with it.
All the work I've put into lifting over the last few months feels completely derailed. I'm exhausted. I'm aware I've done this to myself. I'm too stubborn to make a change to my work schedule because that will change in a couple of weeks and I can't help but think I can gut it out.
But I'm still trying to push it all to the limits....
And that's how I found myself pissed off, crying, listening to Mudvayne....
*Note - this might not have actually been the song on the radio at the time but I know a Mudvayne song was playing at some time during lifting. Ha!
It has come to my attention that I can be a complete idiot some times. Now before you starting weighing in your opinions on that one let me explain why I am an idiot as well as a hypocrite.
I am all for pushing through tough times. Pushing that extra bit when it seems the hardest. Giving it your all and then giving more. It's something I've taken pride in lately, pushing myself to the limit, especially with weightlifting. However, I am possibly to the point of negative returns. It's not that I've over reached on lifting, it's that I've over reached on life and working.
My current work schedule looks like this:
Monday 8-5, 6:30-8 (Lift mid-day)
Tuesday 8-5, 6:30-8 (Lift evening)
Wednesday 8-5, 5:30-6:30 (Lift mid-day)
Thursday 8-5, 5:30-6:30 (Lift mid-day)
Friday 8-5, 6:30-8 (No lift)
Saturday 9-10 (Lift with team)
Sunday 10-1 (No lift)
Yep. That's me, working 7 days a week, and attempting to lift 5 days a week. I'm not saying that I'm ridiculously busy during all those work hours. I'm also not saying that I don't like working. I LOVE all my jobs. What I'm saying, and here's a friendly reminder to everyone, STRESS IS STRESS. YOUR BODY CAN'T TELL THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN PHYSICAL STRESS AND MENTAL/PSYCHOLOGICAL/EMOTIONAL STRESS.
Now after that friendly little reminder I will tell you that my lifting has begun to progress in the wrong damn direction. I find myself exhausted, weary, and irritable. I come home at night too tired to cook and when I finally muster the energy I'm too tired to eat. I try to work on my recovery routine only to fall asleep on the foam roller. I try to stick to my normal lifting schedule but the physical stress adding to the mental stress is taking its toll on my body and my body is rebelling.
I can be quite stubborn though. I keep trucking right along, honoring the commitments I made to be working this much. I keep trying to push the lifting. Lifting is my stress reliever but I'm too stressed to lift well and not lifting well is stressing me out. It's a wicked, vicious cycle that often ends in tears of frustration.
Today I was feeling pretty determined to get in some good lifting. I was hoping to just hit some solid lifts that I could build on next week. Snatches started off great until I started missing lifts at a weight I've been able to power snatch before. It started messing with my mind so I decided rather than trying to beat it to death I'd move on. Push presses actually went very well. So well in fact that I push pressed for reps more than I actually could snatch today. Moving onto squats...yeahhhhhh.....I barely hit triple digit weight.....for one grueling painful rep....a weight that I've hit for high reps. Needless to say I was overly frustrated with it.
All the work I've put into lifting over the last few months feels completely derailed. I'm exhausted. I'm aware I've done this to myself. I'm too stubborn to make a change to my work schedule because that will change in a couple of weeks and I can't help but think I can gut it out.
But I'm still trying to push it all to the limits....
And that's how I found myself pissed off, crying, listening to Mudvayne....
remember, life is 10% of what happens to you and 90% how you react to it.
ReplyDeleteAngie!
ReplyDeleteI have been there. I used to have to do the same thing while in my residency and it can be incredibly hard. But remember, your gains will be bigger if you learn to read your body. Maybe you need to only lift 4x a week. Quality, not quantity. :=)