Do what you can, which will not stop you from becoming more than you are.
This past weekend I attended the Active Life seminar for coaches. One of the most important training principles they hammer home on is this idea that your current dysfunctions and stresses should determine your training, NOT your ego.
This doesn’t mean you don’t get ballzy about a goal and excited to work on it; quite the opposite. Exploring your limitations hastens your progress towards that goal.
- A goal requires you train 4-5x / week. It doesn’t require you to do barbell thrusters if your shoulders pinch up while during them.
- A goal requires that you’re fit enough to do things on your own, pick up heavy things, and manage with them. It doesn’t require you to do a 1-rep max deadlift if you cannot touch your toes.
- Goals require you to move towards them. That only happens when you aren’t laid up on the couch with an icepack on your {insert nagging joint}.
Egos can become injured, and we turn out fine. In reality, your body is resilient and can manage the normal injuries that come with life as well.
The difference is we want to bruise the ego.
We do that by acknowledging our physical limitations and asking, “how do I become an even stronger, faster, and more seasoned version of myself, now that I know?”
(P.S. If you can’t touch your toes, try a 5-rep max off the blocks.)
