I've put a lot of thought into things lately - why I do what I do, why I lift, why I diet, why fitness is such a part of my life. This week I realized I have been off course, distracted, sidetracked for quite some time. When did I stop lifting for the love of it? When did diet take over my life? When did appearance start to trump performance? When did being strong get so complicated?
I blame the Internet. Prior to my move to NC in April of 2003 I had no time for the Internet. I commuted. I worked. I worked out. I had a social life. I was busy all the time. I actually went to the gym at 5am then because it was the only way I could fit it in. Then I moved. I had no job. I had no commute. I had nothing but time on my hands. I drank beer. I went to the beach. I lifted. I sat on my ass in front of the computer and read forums, articles, websites. I learned about macros and diets and figure competitions and cardio and supplement and programming. I had time to obsess over things. I changed the way I ate. I changed the way I trained. And know what? I am now fatter and weaker than I was back then. The downside to education? Over-thinking.
Sure I have met some great people on forums and I have learned some beneficial things. But like most people I get easily distracted by shiny objects. What type of programming to follow? What about cardio? How much to eat? What to eat? When to eat? Years of people's lives are spent jumping from ideology to ideology looking for the magic combination. I'm pretty sure I had it back when I started this long ass detour - I just didn't realize it. I lifted heavy and ate a lot. I weighed the same when I moved as I did when I competed in August 2010 but I was lifting three times as much. And eating twice as much, at least I think I was. I never worried about what I ate so it could have been five times as much. I couldn't have had an intelligent conversation about macros or programming but did it really matter when I looked awesome and could do pull ups all day long?
I've given some thought to who I am willing to discuss training and nutrition with, what pages I have deleted on Facebook, what I read that inspires me, whom I think is bat shit crazy, etc. And I've come to a conclusion.
For me, it is time to get back to the basics. Barbells, dumbbells, meat and lots of them all. Of course this great epiphany comes when I am fighting another reoccurring shoulder injury and a carrying a lot more fat than I need to be. But I'm ok with that. I have a plan. The next month (more, or less) I will be straightening out my diet - too much low quality crap has snuck in and that won't work when I go back to training heavy. So smaller portions of all the good stuff - steak, potatoes, protein pancakes of all types with some nasty fish and veggies just because I should. As for training, I'm going to take this time to work on form and identifying exactly what makes the broken parts act up, correcting a few imbalances as well as ankle and hip mobility which is a constant battle. I've got some thoughts on what I am going to do once this injury problem subsides. Starting with getting a lot stronger.
