Why I Like Heavy Days.

Yes, my body aches! Yes, I’m stiff in the morning and yes, those weights are heavy!! In case you missed it, Monday’s programming gave us a very heavy back squat – 3 sets of 2 repetitions at 100% of your max (soon to be old max!). As this programming cycle gets closer to the end, I get more and more excited about training. In fact, on Monday someone commented that I shouldn’t be as excited as I was for the squats, but let me tell you why I get excited as the weights get heavier.

It takes a lot of fortitude to unrack a bar, step back and do a total of six squats under a weight that not long ago took everything I had to stand up with one time. Each repetition feels like an act of survival. It feels like the crushing weight on my back is doing all it can to defeat me, but I will not surrender. I will push back victorious each time until I have reached my goal and when I do, along with that comes a surge of excitement and swagger to know that my dedication, my pain, my emotional commitment has brought me victory.

There is something deeply rooted in me to achieve and I know many of you reading this share that. There is a distinct change in our demeanor, in our confidence, when you know you have broken through barriers both mentally and physically. When you have expended yourself in training and found new limits to the possible. When you know you have improved as a human.

When my body once told me no and the law of gravity ruled against me, I repeatedly fought back. I punished my body and challenged the law until it succumbed to my pressure and complied with my demands. I was relentless in my pursuit. So embrace the fight, enjoy the training. I would much rather endure the aches and discomfort of training than the pain that comes from giving up on myself.

So when the weight gets heavy and I get excited it is because there is no joy in easy going. When challenged, I will never wonder if I could’ve done more because I have the grit to give it my all. I will not be held back by my own self. That is why I get excited about training.

I hope you join me in my excitement as we approach PR week; your body has done the work now prepare your mind to redefine heavy!

– Coach Joey