Publicly tracking my lifts & why
I just published a Fitness page. This is where I'll publicly keep track of my numbers on the big lifts.
I've tried pretty much every kind of working out since I started when I was 16, and I keep coming back to weight lifting. Nothing compares to the challenge, energy, feeling, and results. Nothing.
In the first half of 2023, I made a serious effort to take getting stronger seriously. I even hired a coach for six months who programmed my workouts, gave me feedback on my lifts, and generally kept me honest while my numbers went up. I'm very glad for that experience. Everyone should have a coach for at least some period of their fitness career, no matter what your activity is. (I'll write a full post on this experience, coming soon)
I got to a pretty solid foundational point during that coached time, but I began to dread my workouts. Not only because it was hard (the weight was starting to feel really heavy), but I hadn't been serious about my nutrition, and it was catching up to me.
I wasn't a fat slob and slamming Cheetos every night. I never went through that phase. My problem was I simply wasn't eating enough (slamming Cheetos actually would've helped me in this case!). I was struggling to keep up with the pace of the programming, even though my coach was making adjustments to fit where I was at, because I just wasn't bulking well enough.
After reflecting more about it, I realized I wasn't truly committed to the idea of actually putting on weight at the time, and it led to me stalling out.
I stopped taking it seriously because I got a new job at the time, which required more hours, so I had to give up the hard lifting. Then I got engaged, married, moved, new job, became a dad, etc etc. You know, the usual reasons people give for falling off the wagon.
I never stopped working out, but I was content to tread water strength-wise. I was tracking my lifts, but I didn't care much if the numbers were going up. I was also rotating through a bunch of different exercises based on how I was feeling rather than trying to progress on a select few. I was just glad I could convince myself to go to the gym with everything else going on in my life.
Now I want to reestablish some real progression in the gym. That's part of what makes lifting weights so satisfying. Part of it is the development of your physique (the internet is way too obsessed with this part), but the even bigger part is the progression of the plates on the bar. It's a lot more objective too. Your chest might "look the same" to you, but if you add 50lbs to your bench, you're growing and getting stronger, no doubt.
My philosophy around this phase of my lifting career is heavily influenced by James Clear's weightlifting lessons: Slow, incremental, consistent progress is the only thing that matters. "Goals" and "achievements" will come if the focus is on progress. Think in quarters or years, not weeks or months. Consistency is king. Don't get hurt, don't miss workouts.
When I did this before, I got caught up in thinking I was behind where I should be in terms of strength and size. I was on the wrong timeline for myself. I'm not going to fall victim to that this time around.
I'd like to add 2.5 or 5lbs to each lift every week for as long as possible, while putting on bodyweight at a 2-4lbs/month. It doesn't sound like much, and week to week, it's not. But over quarters or years, it will add up quickly. Of course I'll have to adjust my progression once the weight gets heavy enough, but that should be a while down the road.
I'll be tracking my progress week to week on my Fitness page.