Taking an L in the gym
I talk about this quite frequently, mainly because I like being as open and honest about my experiences as possible. Its common for many people in today's world to simply share the "highlights" of their life, never really exposing what they struggle with.. I strive to take the opposite approach, Especially with regard to my efforts in the gym.
So training yesterday consisted of chest and back for me, with a focus on chest. Its been a few weeks since I tested out my strength on the bench so I decided to give it a go. This exercise has ALWAYS been a struggle for me. Ever since I was younger and first started training, my bench press always lagged in comparison to other main lifts like the squat and deadlift. Unfortunately, I was unsuccessful in my attempt at reaching a new PR last night.
Now I don't train for strength, or to be a power lifter by any means. However from time to time I do enjoy testing out my strength on my main lifts. Years ago, something like this was EXTREMELY difficult to overcome. If I'm being honest, it would ruin the rest of my time in the gym. I would feel like a failure and mentally it just took me out of the workout, resulting in me just going through the motions for the rest of the session.
It can be extremely frustrating when you fail on a certain exercise. Obviously the physical training that takes place in a gym is not easy (If you're doing it right lol) There is a lot of time, and a lot of energy that goes into weight training so to fail on something you've been working extremely hard on improving can be quite discouraging.
However, it's important to put things into perspective and think about the BIG picture, which is exactly what I started doing for myself a long time ago. After having a lift not go the way I wanted it to, I would simply remind myself that I'm going to be lifting until I literally physically cant. Weight training is what keeps me grounded in life. Aside from the pure enjoyment I get out of it, it keeps me mentally and emotionally sane. So considering I'm going to be doing so for SO many more years, there's really no reason to get frustrated over ONE workout!
So having said that, yeah yesterday did not go as I wanted to.. But, it really just left me fired up to come back and get the job done next time! Anyway, I hope this helped at least one of you reading. I know how much this use to screw with my head in the gym. Just relax and keep things in perspective. DO NOT let one unsuccessful lift/weight ruin your workout. Stay focused and smash the rest of it! Like I always say there are No bad workouts.. only good ones and great ones!
Anthony Confessore
Owner: Confessore Conditioning
"Create The Best You"
