I made sure I married someone smarter than me.  Or I?  She’d probably know better.

If you have been following the blog lately you may have noticed that the focus has been on babies, not barbells.  Heavy barbell training has simply been uncomfortable.  The wifey, physical therapist extraordinaire, seems to believe my issues are related to a weak core and tight hamstrings.  Her prescription has been to lay off the exercises that annoy the area and do those that strengthen the weak spots.  Easy enough?  So, I have had to lay off the heavy squats, big deadlifts, cleans and snatches for some time.  Yup, all the fun stuff.  I am supposed to incorporate planks, single leg hip thrusts, stretching my hammies, and a host of other less than masculine movements into my warm up and cool downs.  It’s been frustrating.  Partly because the second I feel ok I try to pick something heavy up and re-irritate the injury.  Plus, ego always comes into play and scaling down a workout is just something that doesn’t happen – right?  Here is a great example of my poor behavior.  After a 10 day hiatus from all WODing in general my first day back I decided to attempt a 3 rep deadlift max and then tackle a 21-15-9 WOD that included a 275 DL and a 30 inch box jump.  I completed the workout, attempted some big lifts, but felt like junk after.  Too much too soon – DUH!!!  No to mention I usually arrive at the box with a baby that needs attention.  So, truthfully speaking, I rarely get the time to warm up properly or take care of myself appropriately after the WOD.  

The last two weeks I have done a decent job of laying off the big stuff, doing what my wife says, and working on my capacity.  It’s been a struggle but I feel like I am making my way through the woods.  Today I was very good and laid off the three rep power clean max attempt (my favorite lift) and focused on movement proficiency and speed.  Truthfully, I need to stop being my own worst enemy and start getting a little smarter.  I know this is a little different than the normal go heavy or go home talk I promote on the regular.  Going heavy is necessary and the most fun but so is being smart, staying healthy, and being able to do work – EVERYDAY.