It's been nearly two years since I last stepped foot on the platform.
You've all heard the story. Pregnant. Kid. Another kid. Moving. Job. Moving.
I've been working out for the past 18 months, but not training. And yes, there is a difference. Working out is when you go to the gym without any real goal in mind. Mindless lifting. Working out just to work out.
Training is a mindset. A beast. A monster. It's counting down the weeks to meet day. It's going to the gym each day with a purpose...to set and surpass PR's...to train beyond your limits.
The last few months have been a huge change in my life. Since becoming Program Director, I have a lot more responsibilities on my shoulders. This means my training took a back seat. I didn't plan or coordinate my schedule well at all, and what started out as a problem the size of a grain of sand, snowballed into a massive mess. Being unmotivated led to poor training habits. Poor training habits led to making excuses. Making excuses led to being unmotivated. You can see where this is going...
I did the basics - squat, bench and deadlift. Ok, so maybe I didn't deadlift much. Or even train my abs. I did what I liked and what I thought I had time for. For all I knew, I didn't have any desire to step back on the platform.
But little did I realize that it was just what I needed.
I changed my training schedule around to make it work for me. I had my husband write my workouts for the next 18 weeks. Why? Because I train people all day. I don't want to think about my own workouts. Because if I do, I'll skip things and take the short route. (No height jokes people.)
Once I picked the day of the meet, the transformation of Mom to Monster began. I couldn't get by just "working out." If I skipped training abs, it would show come meet day. If I didn't do enough hamstring work, it would show come meet day. If I didn't go hard every day, it would show.
Sometimes, being accountable is just what a person needs.
