GROWTH, PAIN & POTENTIAL INJURY
Its early morning, I was woken up by one of the several alarms set by my wife. This is probably the third one in about five minutes. It is a great way to stop me from being lazy and get my ass out of bed. I walk to the kitchen, just like every other morning and start the tea kettle for the french press. I use the bathroom and as I am washing my hands I look at myself in the mirror. I look at my disheveled hair and mustache and smile. These are all good signs of a deep, restful sleep. My eyes, though, stand out. They are full of popped blood vessels, this time in my left eye primarily. I look for a few seconds, noticing the pattern it makes across my eyes. It makes me smile. It’s a visual representation of the hard work put into the training session the night before.
proof that i am lifting heavy enough and consistent enough that my body is having a physical reaction before it shuts me down.
I had a pretty heavy day the day before. I had to tackle a few frustrating conversations at work that fogged up my noggin pretty good. Usually nothing gets in the way of a scheduled lift, partially because I plan it that way and also because it is part of my job, an extension of my office. After I was done with work, I shut my computer, picked up my gym stuff and left. I needed to lift, even though I didn’t want to. I had deadlifts in my program that day. Any iron warrior knows it is the most physically and mentally tasking lift, besides a heavy squat. I tried to physically prepared myself to move some iron, but mentally I felt whooped. After getting to the gym I stretched out for about 10 min, picked out a good playlist of angry music and got some light warm ups in. Now, to fully explain the popped blood vessel, I recently purchased a deadlift suit. To those who don't know what this is, it's basically a super tight leotard. The extreme compression from the suit helps you handle more weight during the movement. It took me a few weeks to get comfortable enough in the suit that I could get into it by myself. When it was brand new I couldn’t physically pull the suit all the way on, it took one or two people to help me pull the straps up and over my shoulders. I was really excited when I got it on relatively pain free and felt confident that I could get out of it without passing out. The lifts went great. I felt good, nothing hurt, had plenty of energy and the vibe in the gym was great. I pulled several heavy sets and had a great time. I even had the privilege of talking with a young lifter about his plans for the future. I left feeling better and physically beaten up. Which is the part I love the most. Give it your all and leave with some bruises.
i knew, based on the last pull, that i used up all the energy and effort i came to the gym with.
Back to the current morning and coffee routine. My wife woke up, came into the living room and sat down on the couch next to me. I always make two cups, even if she isn’t awake yet. So all she has to do is come in to the living room and sit down. We talked about our day's plans made sure our schedules matched and drank our coffees. I left about an hour later to work with one of my clients. This particular client and I have been working together for almost a year now and she is like a second mom. When she arrived she took one look at me and said “Chris, why do you do this to yourself, aren't you worried you will lose an eye or become blind?” I just laughed and said “Trust me, I wont go blind”. The session started and we talked about her last week, her sons new girlfriend and some plans she had for the upcoming holiday season. About ten minutes before the session was over she asked me an interesting question. (I get this question every now and then. It's always interesting to me to hear who it comes from and what happens when we unpack it a little.)
“why do you push so hard? why can't you just lift and be healthy so you don't risk getting injured?”
I want to take a quick second and recap the two injuries that took me out of the gym, so we are on the same page. The worst was when we purchased a professional arm wrestling table for the gym I owned. This was a huge mistake, one I look back on almost weekly and thank god I didn't commit more training time to it. I ended up with two arms that wouldn’t fully extend without extreme pain. I was unable to push my daughters stroller or pick them up. Just holding their hands made it feel like my biceps were going to explode. This took about four weeks to heal enough for me to press any real weight without wanting to vomit. The second injury was after my covid shot. The day of the shot was ok, a little painful in the injection sight but nothing crazy. I woke up the next day and couldn’t raise my arm more than a few inches away from the torso. This lasted about four months. Needless to say I was devastated. Here I am trying to do the right thing (little did I know) and I get a crazy debilitating injury removing my ability to do what I love. I refused to be beaten by this, so I rehabbed it myself. I did a lot of resistance band work and shoulder mobility work until it popped. When it popped I was unable to lift for about six weeks. Total, I was out for about ten weeks. All that being said I don't really think I am “inclined” to be injured and have not seen much in the way of injuries during my career. I consider myself pretty lucky so far. Explaining my past injuries to my client only made it worse. She didn't see it as a positive to only have these injuries during my career she saw it as a reason to drop the entire endeavor completely. Like most do when times get hard or we have a little bit of friction we weren’t prepared for.
We talked a little more about the people I workout with and their injuries over time. I explained how most individuals competing at any decent level are opening themselves up to injury. I also explained how injury is inevitable. You will get hurt at some point so how do you prepare your body in a way to avoid small, silly injuries and come back quickly from large ones. This concept, coincidentally, is how I got into mobility training in the first place. It is also the exact model I was working through with her. She was not able to see how training at any level was worth any type of injury. So taking it a step further I asked her, “What activity, hobby or process is worth going through even though injury was inevitable?” This stumped her for pretty much the rest of the time we had together. She laughed and called me silly and too young to be smart. (keep in mind im 37 so I’m not a kiddo) “Once you get older this won’t matter as much, you will focus on just being healthy” she said as she was leaving. I really enjoy conversations with her and I was really intrigued by this one. Why do you push so hard? Why can't you just lift and be healthy so you don't risk getting injured.
i was raised on 80’s action flicks. men larger than life, shooting massive guns and destroying all the bad guys.
Explosions and buildings falling around them as they slow motion run and jump towards a helicopter, barely making it as the flames consume the ground around them. (Just writing that sentence makes me smile.) I knew that, even as a kid, this was not something that was real nor was I ever going to be a part of something like that. However, I did know that whatever I found that ignited that kind of passion in me I was going to do forever. I knew it was weightlifting, I knew it the minute I stepped into the dirty, old, brown colored gym for the first time in Shreveport, Louisiana. The passion in that place and the joy that comes from achieving something you thought was impossible was well worth the possibility of injury. It’s true, I am ok with the injury as long as it is a bi-product of pushing myself towards my goal. Breaking my toe on the coffee table is a different story, I will sulk like a two year old if that happens. If I break my finger on a dumbbell, well that's just part of the battle, I won't sulk at all. So what makes that acceptable? What makes someone push so hard and others see nothing much potential discomfort and pain?
the real deep question is, at least for me, what makes pain not only acceptable but revered?
Because it makes you feel alive. You learn what is possible. Pain is a portal to self realization. I don't know many individuals who push themselves to failure regularly that don’t have some deep, introspective realizations about themselves. It takes something deep inside to hit those last few partial reps when your body is screaming at you, or to run that last mile when your legs are numb and your heart feels like it's coming out of your chest. The gym is the yardstick of comparison for all people on this planet.
225 is always 225, no matter how much money you have, how much fame or notoriety. the weight will show everyone, the minute you touch it, who has put in the work.
I understand this is not for everyone. I do know though that if you have never experienced it you don't know the magic and beauty of finding your edge. Injury is a part of finding that edge. Either your body takes control and your CNS won't let you go any further or a joint or muscle fails and you tear something. Brutal as it sounds it is just a more condensed version of the normal interactions in life. Work will push you until you can't take it, making you break down from the long hours forcing you to sleep all weekend. Significant others will press your buttons until you snap or lose your temper. Weight training is more than just building your body's ability to press more weight or to develop a specific body composition change. You are building your mind's ability to handle extreme stress. If you push yourself to failure in the gym it is far less likely things outside the gym are going to be able to affect you. They just can’t produce the same amount of stimulus. You will be able to handle far more stress outside of the walls of the gym than you had before. You learn your boundaries, your capabilities and your optimal stress levels. You are more in control of your emotions and actions.
the stress builds a better mind, body and soul.
So to answer her question, I am not able to train without pushing myself as hard as I can because I know I am capable of so much more than I am currently. It would be a disservice to myself, those I love and the goals I have for the future if I didn't. I need to see what I am capable of, what I can do if I try just a little harder, push a little longer. If we try and avoid pain and potential injury we are also avoiding growth. We are avoiding valuable lessons that teach us about our boundaries and how to push past them. We also lose a chance to see what we are capable of.
“it is a shame for a man to grow old without seeing the beauty and strength of which his body is capable” - socrates
-stay consistent my friends
PREFER TO LISTEN?
then check our the podcast redefining resilience
