Gym Zen - The Will to Truth

I don't remember the exact time that I started to stop lying to myself about sport, but I have a pretty good idea. I had just gotten back from a very successful dryland bobsled camp in Park City. I made all the qualifying times for the combine and actually scored relatively well (numbers translated to "World Cup brakeman", whatever that means). One of coaches had said I should stick with it and keep working because I had great potential. Surely my invite to winter camp in Lake Placid was just a phone call or email away.

I checked my email religiously. Nothing.

I checked voicemails like it was my job. I "star-69'd" three telemarketers in the hopes that one of them was the head coach of USA Bobsled, extending a heartfelt congratulations and asking when I could move into the OTC.  Nothing.

I can't pinpoint the exact moment when I realized that this wasn't a communication breakdown. I think it was somewhere around the time that summer combine dates were announced in the following spring. Yes, I have a very thick noggin from rugby.

I can, however, tell you when I finally stopped lying to myself about sport. It was about twenty minutes after I finished an awful Olympic meet (see "How to go 2/6 in an Olympic Meet") last December. I spent that summer/fall training as Ivan Abadjiev had trained his Bulgarian champions. I trained every day, twice on the weekends, and did the classic exercises daily. I also squatted daily. For some variety, I did a max jerk and some chins to give the legs a "day off". I also managed through a new job working in derivative trading. There was only work, training and sleep. My body felt great and set PRs for the first eight weeks, then went to hell in a hand basket right before the meet. My results speak volumes.

Where does this incredibly long-winded example get us to? Shobogenzo! Dogen believed that the Will to the Truth is a vital aspect of Zen Buddhist study. And it sounds great, right? So easy; just seek the truth and accept the truth as it is. Everyone seeks the truth, right? Everyone wants the truth and everyone wants to accept the truth, right?

Can I handle the truth?

Everyone thinks that they seek the truth and they will accept it, but do we really?

I think most people see "Seek the truth and accept it for what it is" as a call to identify all of your faults and all of the shitty things that you've been glossing over. This is FALSE. Well, it's sort of false. It's true that we should fully realize and accept the faults or things that we have been lying to ourselves about, because this is the first step in addressing them or at least the first step in reducing their power over you.

One of the biggest issues as it relates to acceptance of the truth is the need to compare ourselves to one another. We measure our success by creating an imaginary battle in our minds between ourselves and some we classify as a "measuring stick". Conversely, we find someone at the top of the sport (Klokov, the strong guy in the gym, etc) and logic dictates that, if we train as this person trains, we will have comparable results. We "know" that these methods aren't rational and untrue, but we haven't accepted it.   

I think that I'm starting to seek the truth. Well, I think I've always looked for the truth, so it might be more accurate to say that I'm starting to accept the truth. The main thing I'm starting to wrap my head around is as follows:

"I am no longer qualified to train myself as a competitive athlete"

This stings, as I have what you'd consider to be decent credentials and previous experiences. I've held CSCS and USAW certs, an undergrad in sports medicine, two years spent as an intern and as an assistant strength coach at a Division I university, a couple Top 3 finishes in lightweight strongman, an All-American year of collegiate rugby and some close calls with the US National rugby team plus the previous brush with bobsled glory. I troll EliteFTS and I consider Michael Keck, Jen Comas Keck and Jen Sinkler to be friends. Surely I'm qualified to train myself for athletic endeavors, right?

No, I am not. That is the truth. I am qualified to make adjustments specific to my body. I'm ok at coaching other people as far as technique and making suggestions, but not in writing any sort of full training program. In no way, shape or form am I qualified to be giving myself a full program. I also have too many biases to previous training experience and certain methodologies. Upon full realizing this, I made some decisions and reached out to some coaches to provide higher level guidance. This has lead to some PRs and a nice reduction in BF from 14%-sub 11% through some nutrition coaching from Michael Keck. Yes, I mentioned Mike twice (now three times), because he knows his shit.

So what can I say? Find some truths (positive AND negative) and fully realize them for what they are. In realizing and accepting the truths, they cease to have power over you and you can either address them or simply move on from them. As with most things (especially as it relates to the gym and sport) this is a very simple endeavor, but it is not easy. Fully realizing truths, whether they are positive or negative, will lead to making good choices. As the below scientific diagram shows, good choices = awesomeness.

Thanks to Steve Pulcinella for the above graphic as well as his help writing my training program and providing some coaching for Highland Games. Steve's lifting program as well as throw coaching has yielded mucho PRs. Some slow-motion throwing breakdowns here, but be warned: I practice in Rehbands and they do not leave much to the imagination.