My gym CrossFit Long Beach does quarterly levels testing as a way to track your progress. Being the goal-oriented person that I am, I love checking how far I’ve come every couple of months and setting new targets for myself. At the end of our last cycle I set a goal of getting on a strength program that would coincide with the normal CrossFit classes I go to. I wanted to increase my lifts, build muscle, and get stronger… My good friend, training partner, and coach Gabriel Alexander Grobben set me up on a front squat program that he designed, so I started with that, added a few other lifts, and began putting in extra work in the gym four days a week. At the end of the eight week program that Gabe designed I felt amazing and thought I could increase my front squat one rep max by at least 20lbs from 205lbs to 225lbs—maybe even more. I was hyped and ready to hit it, but the day before I was scheduled to go for the new PR I hurt my shoulder and had to take a little bit of time off. Even though it was only a couple of days, it felt like forever, and when I went back into the gym I felt tired and weak as my body was still trying to repair itself. When I felt up for it, I attempted a heavy lift and failed. A few days later I got a 10lb PR at 215lbs, but I knew that I should have more in the tank considering how I felt before my injury. Last night we started our next round of levels testing, and we began with front squats. My shoulder was feeling the best it has felt in almost three weeks since I originally hurt it, and there were a lot of people in the gym to get me hyped and motivated. I warmed up, then loaded up the bar with 225lbs, which was my original goal weight of a 20lb PR. I struggled a little, but got the weight up and was super excited, but I felt like I still had a little more in me. I put another 5lbs on the the bar and completed that lift too—only to find out that I had accidentally put 7.5lbs on the bar, so I actually had hit 232.5lbs. Feeling the adrenaline, I went ahead and loaded the bar to 235lbs, and once again made the lift, giving me a 30# one rep max PR! This is the kind of thing that puts me on a natural high like nothing else these days. Eight weeks of hard work and focus, a small injury resulting in a setback, discipline for proper rest, recovery, and rehab, and then performing my best when I’m ready and flip the switch. I love it! Thanks to everyone at CrossFit Long Beach, especially Gabe!
Posted on: Tue, 11 Nov 2014 18:13:14 +0000
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