View this post on Instagram

Adaptation is how an individual remains competitive for years and years, and even further than that, how they remain present. I cringe every time I hear a friend, training partner, or acquaintance make a jump, do set after set, or endure chronic injury after chronic injury just because it's what they were SUPPOSED to do. I have coaches, I have mentors, and I have people I trust but it is still MY training. I adjust when I need to, I pull back when I have to, and I full send when I want to. Ownership is a lost skill and i firmly believe it is why so many people cannot think freely and cannot face the decisions they have made and always look to blame circumstance or others for their results. . . . Tonight I wanted to do 1x3 at a straight weight, followed by triples with chains. Rather than straight weight, I elected to just use 160lbs of chains and work up to a potential triple. I did this because I plan to hit straight weight work later in the week and get enough stimulus there. However, I hit some reps with the chains and was getting pushed out of position very hard on every 2nd rep due to the swinging chain. I did not want to risk injury or further fatigue than needed, so I then chose to hit 3 high quality singles at 735, 755, and 775 plus chain to get 3 reps in but as separate events. . . . I THEN hit a straight weight back down set for additional movement and work. None of my coaches told me to do this, it was self created and resulted from my own examination of my training and my movement. A hundred decisions like this can be made before an individual even enters the gym, but if you are blindly allegiant to a program, plan, or a coach you are doing yourself a disservice and electing to sacrifice your ownership and your self reliance for convenience sake. . . I am a coach. So I expect individuals to follow the plan. But I ALSO expect them to think for themselves and adjust when necessary and more importantly, to communicate. How can we ever expect to learn and more importantly to teach if we do not encourage this adaptation?

A post shared by Joe Sullivan (@joesullivanpowerlifter) on


knee-sleeves-home (2)