Determination

I think it was Saturday that my brother and I decided to get in a quick training session. We both decided that the training session would start off with some max effort Deadlifts (sometimes max effort roughly translates into "set a new 1 rep max or crap out your spine trying"). So, during my last powerlifting meet, I tried to pull 500lbs for my last deadlift attempt...but no dice. I hit a sticking point where the barbell was just above my knees.

For that training session, we kept on piling on the weight, and I decided I was going to pull 495lbs. Again, no dice...I was maybe an inch or two from locking out. For many people, they would constitute that as a full rep; however, to me that's a mediocre point of view and I hold myself to having the full range of motion for it to count. Even though I didn't get the lift, I was quite happy that I progressed since the last attempt (last time I tried a max effort deadlift day with the weight at 495lbs, the barbell didn't even budge off the ground). I was also left practically salivating and very motivated, since I'm incredibly close to smashing through the 500lbs mark.

This leads me to the moral of my story: determination is key to accomplishing your goals. If you don't achieve it the first time, never give up. Instead, back off, breathe, and re-evaluate your course of action. Perhaps you need to break up the journey into more micro-goals. Perhaps you need to change your approach and open your mind to new methodologies that will assist you in achieving your goal. And sometimes, you're just on the outskirts of your goal...in that case, patience and hard work are what's required for the final push.

And, in case you're wondering, no I did not crap out my spine (even though I was deadlifting with a minor lower back injury).

Sifu Joe Harrigan