I can't help but reiterate, as I write my monthly training updates, how much I continue to learn about myself as a lifter and coach. If you're not learning, it's impossible to grow, get better or help others. It's one thing to learn X's and O's of training (the sets, reps, tempos, periodization, etc), but it's another thing to learn how to put it all together in real life situations.
I think many of us began our lifting/coaching careers with an all or nothing attitude. I truly think it's common in many industries (hobbies, jobs, etc). And if you're aiming for the top, sacrifices will always be made. Ask any professional athlete who has won at the highest level, or any billionaire business owner or Top 40 musician that there are other things they've had to give up... kids' birthday parties, family functions, sleep, other ventures, travel.
But most of us aren't at that level. And if you want to be at that level, that's totally fine. You will make those sacrifices to get there and hopefully not regret a single one. 99% of my clients aren't looking to break world records. The gym is an outlet, a stress relief, an added bonus to make their life better, not make it more stressful.
My coaching style falls in the line of showing my clients that it takes COMMITMENT to reach their goals. You can't get to where you want to be (that goes for anything in life) if you keep making excuses. Commitment and consistency pay off. But life does happen. And giving yourself grace for those moments is important.
In the 24 years I've been lifting weights, it's rare that I don't get my training in. It's not always perfect, but my life has become that I'm in the gym 4 days a week. That's just the rhythm of my schedule. This past week, Christian and I drove to North Carolina to have his super fast supercharger car worked on and it threw a wrench in our plans.
Originally I thought we'd be able to get in all our days, but when we had to go back 3 times to get something on the car adjusted, we ended up missing a training day. Now, it's easy for me as a coach to tell my clients how to manage that situation. Usually I say, "Skip a day... don't try to cram it all in because training is taxing and you'll end up digging yourself into a deep hole." Many don't like to hear that, so I'll usually modify their training to combine two days together so we get all the main stuff in.
When our days got messed up, I asked my coach what I should do.
"Just keep rolling. Don't skip any days. Don't cram them together back to back to back to back. Just train and eventually you'll be back to your normal training days in a few weeks."
Man, you guys... that's really hard for me. Haha. My days feel off. My body isn't sure what it's supposed to be training, but I'm staying the course and learning from it. And because of that, we were able to spend time with friends, spend time with each other and enjoy the down time.
While it seems such a simple lesson, it wasn't for me. The important thing to remember is that this was a learning experience in many different ways... managing training, enjoying life, and learning to take training and life as they come and go.