"Sweaty Saturday Team Special" and Coach Lisa on Being Better Than Yesterday
Coach Lisa wrote another great piece on her blog (as part of her on-going Fitness Friday series) titled "Better Than Yesterday" - check it out on her site by clicking the link (we've also included it below).
Thanks for sharing all your thoughts and perspective, Lisa! it's inspiring to hear about how you've dealt with the comeback from serious injuries (sustained prior to your AR days, thankfully) and less serious set-backs alike. Hopefully these lessons can help other athletes looking to come back fitter and better, little by little, each day.
FITNESS FRIDAY: BETTER THAN YESTERDAY
For today’s Fitness Friday, I’m talking about injury recovery (again). We all know that injuries suck. They beat us up both physically and mentally, and we work hard to overcome them. I’ve had a number of both large and small injuries, and each time the hurdles get higher. One of the things I beat myself up over while I’m recovering is comparing my current progress against my pre-injury levels and numbers. As I was recovering from back surgery, I would get down on myself. I’d get depressed if I couldn’t hit the same numbers before my procedure.
It sounds crazy right? If it were any one of my athletes in class, I’d tell them they’re crazy for wanting to make that comparison. But when it comes to myself, it’s so easy to forget. I recently was front squatting and was a little down on myself for not reaching the weight I wanted. I sort of beat myself up for it, and spent time thinking about what went wrong. What I took away from it was that I should be really proud of what I did.
I’ve had to hurdle this ankle injury that’s lingered on since the Open. And even today, I can’t say that it’s completely 100% healed. Over the last few months, there were a few weeks where I could hardly walk on it. And even after being able to walk, I could barely do an air squat. So to front squat a weight that hovered around my one rep max that was sent earlier this year is pretty damn impressive.
THAT “A-HA” MOMENT
The same goes for my friends who recently had shoulder surgeries. Two of my friends were disappointed they were unable to do high volume handstand push-ups or pressed a weight significantly less than what they had done before. As they started to go down the path of being sad, I said , “Say it with me out loud, ‘You had surgery where they cut you open and had to structurally fix you.'” Their reaction was, “Oh, well when you put it that way, I guess that’s pretty good!” Exactly!
The point is, we’re working on being better than yesterday. Past PRs, things that we were able to do once are great things to aim for. But if we’re coming back from something that physically challenges us, getting better than yesterday is really the first step forward. Getting caught up in the ghosts of our past isn’t worth revisiting. In some cases, the habits or steps we took to reach those PRs may have ultimately led to the injury that was sustained. So for this weekend, hopefully you’re able to put your best foot forward and be better than yesterday. Happy Fitness Friday!
WOD FOR 07-29-17:
In Teams of THREE Athletes...
AMRAP 30 Minutes:
12 Calorie Row
12 Power Snatches @ 95/65 lbs
12 Wall Balls @ 20/14 lbs to 10/9 ft
12 Lateral Bar Burpees
Only one athlete working at a time. Each athlete sprints through ONE FULL ROUND then switches to the next teammate. The next athlete may start the row once the previous athlete completes his/her final lateral bar burpee (tagging hands is not required).
And yes, we will of course scale loading and reps to maintain the intended stimulus for ALL levels. Another way of saying this is "if you choose to go heavier and/or Rx on reps but are not capable of sprinting through the four movements at a fast pace with good technique, then you will look like the struggle bus that everyone else is waiting on."
Enjoy!
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