Tag: exercise

Rest days, work days, and the Sabbath

JulianLeave a comment

Weeks don’t end, they loop.

I prefer working on weekends. 

Perhaps it’s the contrarian in me. I enjoy having free time on weekdays and working on Saturday. It’s certainly not respecting the sabbath. But today I ran through a bunch of necessary items for my apartment renovation. Lighting, mainly. Also contemplating a particular business situation. 

This gym session, I missed my bench press again. I’ve now missed it 4x in a row. After 3x, it suggests I deload. I did not deload. I should have deloaded. 

It turns out that the body decreases strength gains when it is too intensely stimulated. If you’re not increasing gains, you might benefit from another rest day, not another gym day. This is tough for me. So a program where I can still go to the gym, just at a lower level of intensity, is good. Better. Preferable. 

I’m learning about my body. Learning about intensity and how not to injure myself. Learning the value of pushing myself, but also the value of relaxing and resting. 

I like this style. I like this growth. I like this muscle. 

I can currently bench press 185lbs for 3 reps. When I can bench press my bodyweight, I will benchpress Partner. I might only be 12 weeks away. How nice it is to have a long-term goal. 

Humans experience beautiful variation. I like working on Saturdays and Sundays, and prefer taking some weekday afternoons off to compensate. Plenty of people (most, even) prefer the typical workweek. Maturity is a process of learning yourself. Plus I can get a pickleball court without waiting for 45 minutes. And weekday lunch specials / theater tickets are delish!

Then again, one friend of mine stays up until ~5am, then sleeps til the afternoon. He thinks it’s healthy. In his case, I disagree. 

The Grasshopper turned Ant

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(Only in one area)

I never understood weightlifting. Lots of pain, no obvious gain. 

Partner loves weightlifting. Her spirit animal is the ant. In graduate school, she could bench press more than her bodyweight, a particularly impressive feat for an estrogen-powered life form. (Among non-professional female powerlifting competitions, benching one’s bodyweight is generally enough to medal.) 

Earlier today, I benched 155lbs for 5 reps. A new personal record. Not very impressive for anyone who has lifted weights for a while. Still, I yipped with glee. I remember the day when I broke 135lbs (one 45lb plate on each side of the 45lb bar). Now, I crank out 4 sets of 145lbs with no trouble. 

“I remember the day when X was hard. Now, X is easy.” ← a wonderful lesson of weightlifting. 

A coaching client of mine has felt incredibly stressed this week. He tells me he wishes not to feel this way every week. I told him he won’t, for two key reasons: 

  1. If he truly wants to feel less stress, he can grow slower. It’s a real option. (One he’s not taking 😉)
  2. As you improve, the former difficulty feels easy. 

I’ve promised Partner that, when I can bench press my bodyweight, I will bench press her. We might be six months or a year away from that day. But one beautiful trait of the gym: if you show up and do the work, you will see the results. 

Lots of pain, no obvious gain? After a few months every day, the gain is unmistakable. Once I learned to breathe properly, the whole experience became enjoyable. 

And the pain? You mean the intense difficulty that only lasts for a few seconds? You call that pain? I call it fun. 

Win the Hand, Lose the Tournament

JulianLeave a comment

“You already want. Want at the right level.”

Somehow, moving 6,205 lbs in 45 minutes is easier than moving 0 lbs.

My life was forever changed when I encountered this idea in Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics: 

  • Virtue is formed through habitual, repeated actions.

In college, I focused on habit formation. Routine is simple – and for me, can be easy: “Every day” is often easier than five days per week. Habit is a valuable default. 

But sometimes, excellence requires non-habit. Sometimes, wanting to win can make you lose.

Know When to Fold ‘Em 

The hunger that makes you a cutthroat poker player can also lose you tournaments. 

In many poker tournament situations, the winning move is to fold. There are plenty of spots where one has the guaranteed best hand yet the proper move is folding! (E.g. pocket aces with a short stack on a tournament bubble when multiple other players are all-in.) 

The fastest way to lose a fortune at poker is over-bluffing. 

Give up on this hand. Find a better spot.

Know When to Walk Away

The strategy that makes you a skilled weightlifter also exacerbates your injuries. 

Ten years ago, I bulged a disc in my spine. 

Three weeks ago, I re-activated the same injury. I paused deadlifts and squats, only returning to them 3 days ago. My sciatica flared up again. I stopped.

In the long term, one day without lifting doesn’t matter. One week wouldn’t matter. A re-injury could bench me for life. 

Wanting to lift weights makes you a good weightlifter. But wanting to lift weights can also make you a permanently-bad weightlifter.

Know When to Run

For the next 6 weeks, any lifts involving my back would be “rolling the dice”. Contrary to popular opinion, I don’t like gambling: I like situations where gambling leads to an edge. 

This isn’t one. Today, I’m taking a rest day from the gym.

Count Your Money When the Dealin’s Done

The game isn’t one poker hand. The game is long-term winning. 

The game isn’t today’s weightlifting. The game is long-term health. 

These intellectual reframes – “it’s not about this hand” and “it’s not about lifting today” – can have cascading effects. They relax your mind. They create new patience. 

Today I will take a rest day. And each second when I’m not lifting weights, I will remind myself I’m getting stronger.