My recent fitness journey has not been all rainbows and unicorns. It’s important to share the frustrations as well as the successful changes, because it’s not the successes that lead you to quit.
I started strength training back in early October while we were in France. About a month in, I strained my lower back (a lesson in not overdoing it while your core muscles are still weak). And that was the end for a while until I healed.
In early December, we settled in on the Gold Coast of Australia for two months, so I started lifting again. I didn’t miss a single workout for eight weeks, and got noticeably stronger. At the beginning of the ninth and final week, I felt pain at my left interior elbow while doing bench press.
It was medial epicondylitis, a common tendon injury from pushing with your arm, also known as golfer’s elbow. It took six weeks to heal. Ugh.
Take it in stride
The old me would have quit in frustration after injury and reverted back to bad habits. I know this because the last time I tried strength training was back in 2014, and after a shoulder injury I quit for four years.
Now I simply take the time to get better, and plan on the next training period. I’m just starting a 12-week program now that we’re back in Colorado.
Hopefully, no injuries this time, but you never know.
I credit my improved attitude to a shift in mindset. I have no short-term goals other than showing up. My overall objective is to simply be someone who works out. In other words, to simply keep improving physically until I no longer can.
Always a bit better
Yes, it sucks to have to pause due to annoying injuries. But each strength-training sprint has had the intended effect — I’ve gotten stronger.
I’m not losing all the benefits I gained from the last run; instead, I’m starting this new one stronger than I began the last one:
It seems that muscle has a “memory” that helps explain why people who get back into the gym after some time away from training find it easier to gain muscle compared with newbies.
Would I prefer to improve faster? Absolutely. Does it matter? Not if my goal is to simply remain fit for the rest of my life. I’m still stronger than I was this time last year, and that’ll be true this time next year if I keep patiently moving forward.
It’s not about having only good workout days (or months). It’s showing up again after a bad day (or a month of rest), and incrementally improving — because that’s just what you do. Enlarge your objective, expand your time frame, and take the long view.
