My gymmate and friend, Ryan, and I were chatting as class started one night last week and he asked me if I ever go back and read any of my old blogs “…you know, to compare?” I do, on occasion, but this conversation sparked my curiousity mostly because Ryan told me he could really see the change. The difference. That, at the beginning of this journey, it was tough to make it 2-3 times to the gym each week. And now, I’m pushing 5-6 visits. I don’t need people’s acknowledgements to feel whole, however, it’s pretty awesome to get a little validation every now and again. So, thanks, Ryan. You’re part of the reason I love Solcana so much!
This revelation got me thinking and reflecting on these past 46 weeks and what a crazy ride it’s been thus far. Things like seeing and understanding that what I’ve built in muscle strength also correlates to gained emotional strength. Or, how doing things for myself doesn’t make me a selfish person. And, how when you stop overcompensating for underfunctioning people, they don’t really have a use for you anymore. It’s transitional. And it’s good. It has led to my new normal and it’s allowed me to take control of my life, have confidence in myself and my abilities, reach outside my comfort zone, and for the first time in my life feel like I maybe almost deserve all of the great things I have around me (we’re still working on that!).
I have also realized that endorphins are, indeed, a real thing. No substance can – or has – compared to the peaceful happy and calm I felt Saturday driving away from the gym after spending 4 hours of my Saturday within. Not to mention, I was back Sunday for a very special opportunity to do a four hour Olympic weightlifting seminar with 2016/2020 Olympic hopeful Charles McDonald. THIS GUY IS AMAZING. You all know I love me some powerliftin’ (squat, bench, deadlift), but olympic lifts (snatch, clean and jerk) are something I’m not totally comfortable with. Yet! I feel so lucky that I was able to join this seminar as my new 5-6x a week to the gym is partially because I want to get stronger and more confident in olympic lifts, which are more of a focus during this current training progression at Solcana. I made a conscious choice to step outside my comfort zone and I can’t wait to reap the benefits and see results!
The training with Charles was awesome – as a novice oly lifter, the way he broke down the complicated technique of the snatch and the clean and jerk was even easy for a newb like me to understand. He said a lot of things about the lifts, but the main points I took away were a) push with the legs, b) your arms are just ropes, and c) technique is everything. He kept repeating things like “little steps and corrections today will help your lifts tomorrow.” I know he’s right, and I felt the difference at last night’s class when we continued to work on our cleans. Progress feels great.
Check out Charles:
https://instagram.com/p/zi1ZWQsB5a/?taken-by=mchaz2016
We’re officially six weeks out from the USAPL Twin Ports Raw Open on May 30 in Duluth…and that means we’re in the home stretch. I just received my new weight belt and my Solcana branded singlet, so mama is ready to go. Who would have thought 46 weeks ago, this is where I would be? Pretty amazing where life can take you. At the gym we’re doing a lot of 5 sets of 5 reps at 80+% of our 1 rep maxes and let me tell you, this is HARD WORK. 25 lifts at really heavy weights is enough to break anyone. But we’re doing it. And even though I hate doing these 5x5s of anything – but especially deadlifts – it’s so awesome to have my teammates right next to me cheering me on. I would never be able to push myself in these ways without them. I had so much fun with this special group of ladies last Saturday we even referred to it as “Happy Hour at the Bar(bell)”. This is who I am now. Get on board. And make your plans for Duluth on May 30 to watch us represent strong women everywhere.