Be The Experiment

“I have approximate answers and possible beliefs and different degrees of uncertainty about different things, but I am not absolutely sure of anything and there are many things I don’t know anything about.”

- Richard Feynman

My back was irrationally tight this morning. “Tight” doesn’t really do it justice. An evil death grip on my spine that would intermittently take my breath away as I tried to pull it together for a long day of sessions is probably a more accurate depiction.

My plan for the day was to catch an early 7am training session before my first client at 9am. Front squats were on the menu. I knew the numbers I was looking to hit and there was a solid chance they weren’t going to happen.

30 year old me would have either cut bait on the entire session or more likely would have pushed too hard to hit the numbers on the page. Frustration and ego were often running the show at this time in my life.

45 year old me knows to show up for the session and stay open to what my body has available to give. Quiet the ego and understand that this process isn’t linear. This isn’t my first bout of back pain and it won’t be my last.

I was able to comfortably work into about 70% of my target weight for the day and have a productive session. More importantly my back felt great for the rest of the day.

This whole pain thing doesn’t make a lot of sense. It doesn’t have to. I don’t need a narrative around it to run the experiment. It’s simply information and I’m going to gently poke and prod around the edges of my discomfort until we are in agreement of what is reasonable for that day. Some days that is significantly less than what I want it to be. Other days I’m surprised by what is possible.

The key takeaway is to run the experiment and stay open to what’s possible. The workout can and should adjust to you and what you have available that day. You may do less or you may do more than what’s written on the page. Don’t let a single session derail the long term plan.