Every once in a while I get into battles with my mind and or my body. Friday training night was one of those battles. We were not in the basement so my warmup was a little different. I do not know if that was the cause of my demise, but you can bet I will never deviate from my normal routine again.

As I started lifting everything felt fine. I had a new number for my max rep set on bench of 430. I had no preconceived notions on how many I would get. I pushed out 5 and racked it feeling very unsatisfied. First, I felt kind of loose with my form. Second, after I got off the bench I felt a pretty fair amount of pain building up in my right shoulder.

I pushed the pain aside in my head because I was pi$$ed about my performance. If I had been tighter I could have easily gotten six or more reps. A lot of times when I get that feeling I take the weight again. However, with my shoulder nagging I did not think it was a good idea. So I came up with an even more ingenious plan, I will take 470 for a double. Yeah, I do not know how that makes any sense now that I look back at it. Anyway, the first one went really well, but I could still feel the shoulder. The second one started to come up and I told them to take it.

I did not really talk about my shoulder, but the guys could see it was banged up. They were really nice about it, they asked if I could use some Monistat 7 or something like that. Touching group huh? Regardless, I just pushed ahead and got ready to take my down sets/fsl work. When I took the 340 down I did not even try to press it. I just told them to take it. My shoulder was completely wrecked. So that was it for the night.

When I got home I licked my wounds and went to bed. My shoulder throbbed all night to the point that it woke me up many times. That is far from normal for me. I sleep like the dead. By the time I got out of bed I was in excruciating pain. It was so bad I had to sling my arm and start some pain medication. If you had asked me at that moment I would have told you I would need some type of surgery, it hurt that bad.

As the day wore on, it felt a little better. I had it slung for my morning cardio session. By the afternoon session I was able to take the sling off. It seemed like the walking helped get some more circulation flowing. That and the pain meds were working.

The best thing about it was we got that snow storm here and I did not have to shovel. Jess took pity on me and did all the shoveling. I am equal parts lucky, enabled, and an incredible man to get such treatment.

When I woke Sunday I felt much better. I stayed away from any pain medication so I could make a proper assessment. I had a lot more range of motion and a lot less pain. Oh yeah, speaking of range of motion, it is a good thing I am a smaller version of myself. Luckily I am more flexible than I used to be, and more ambidextrous than I thought. I can now call myself a lefty where bathroom maintenance is concerned, if you get where I am going with this.

I knew I would not be able to squat and deadlft like usual, but I had to do something. I squat with the safety squat bar anyway, but messing around with changing plates would not be smart. I guess I am learning a little. I ended up just going with 155 for a bunch of sets without using my arms on the bar. I got through it unscathed.

So that is it. I often pride myself on battling my mind and my body. I feel strongly the only way to make it to the top is to push yourself beyond your limits. I lost this time. I would like to say I learned from the experience, but I probably did not. Only time will tell.

Friday
Warmup
Bench 340x5, 380x3, 430x5, 470x1 (missed second)
^Shut it down

Saturday
AM Treadmill 1 hr
PM Treadmill 1 hr

Sunday
Safety squat bar squats 155 10x10
Back raises 3x20
Back and hip stretching