Tony Gentilcore

It’s My Fault, Too

It pains me to admit this, and a part of me is really hesitant to do so, but I’ve reached a tipping point and I can’t take it any longer.

I’m in a training rut.

And I don’t mean one of those “eh, I don’t feel like training today so I’ll just skip it and increase my level of awesome tomorrow.” No, what I’m referring to is something a little more insidious. I literally don’t look forward to training.  I see it as a chore and I’m not having any fun doing it. I still do it, of course.  But I have no focus right now.  No goal.  I’m just treading water and going through the motions and it sucks donkey balls. It needs to stop.  Like now!

I know this seems like a bit of a shocker given my proclivity for inspiring people to “lift heavy things,” as well as going out of my way to write about health and fitness on a daily basis – but even I’m not infallible. No one can be “on” all the time, right?

Seemingly, I need someone to inject a dose of caffeine directly into my left ventricle and/or dropkick some sense into me.  I don’t know, something to get my training mojo back!

As luck would have it, I was perusing some blogs last week and came across THIS one from Neghar Fonooni titled It’s My Fault. In a nutshell she explains how she, too, has been in a rut and essentially calls herself out, grabs herself by the bootstraps, and comes up with a plan to make some changes.

Reading it couldn’t have come at a more appropriate time.  Not to sound overly dramatic, but I was thiiiiiiiiiiiiis close to walking into the local 711 to grab a pint of Ben & Jerry’s and then spend the rest of the night watching lame Julia Roberts movies while I drowned myself in a pity party.

Inspired by Neghar’s post, I decided to take matters into my own hands.

Unfortunately, I’ve been putting myself second.  I spend so much time writing programs for other people, that the last thing I want to do is actually write one for myself.

On the one hand, I’ve been training for so long that I’m able to go by “feel,” and know what I need to do in order to give myself a training effect.  In fact, I’ve discussed this approach in the past HERE.

Now, I’m not saying following more of a cybernetic approach (long-term) is ideal – it’s not – but when you’re seemingly balancing your time between a cornucopia of responsibilities life throws your way  – sometimes it’s just the way it is.

On the flip side, however, I’m human and tend to gravitate towards those things that I LIKE to do. It’s Monday?  Deadlift.  Only have a half hour to train?  Deadlift. There was a super moon last night?  I’m going to deadlift baby!

Newsflash:  I like to deadlift.

The obvious answer here is two-fold:

1.  I need to write down a few discernible goals I want to accomplish.

2. Rather than rely on myself, I need to swallow my pride and ask someone to write a program for me.  As I’ve stated in the past, the hardest person to train is yourself.

Put another way…….

The painter’s house is always the last one to get painted.

Goal(s):

1.  I’ve been stating forever that I’d like to get t0 a 600 lb deadlift.  It’s about time that I make that a reality.

Thing is, I’ve been battling some nagging injuries recently which has thrown a monkey wrench into my training. Specifically, I’ve been dealing with a shitty SI joint issue. And when I say shitty, I mean S.H.I.T.T.Y.

I have some pretty smart friends, so I contacted my good buddy, Dean Somerset, to gain some insight into the problem.

This is the ACTUAL email correspondence between Dean and I.  As you’ll undoubtedly note, we like to keep things professional.

Me:  “I’ve got a bit of a conundrum.  My SI joint is FUBARED.  Not to the point where I can’t walk or anything, but it’s definitely been hindering my training for the past few weeks.

Was wondering if you’d be interested in making some recommendations/suggestions as far as programming is concerned?  I’ve got some more info I can shoot your way, but just wanted to send a “feeler” out to see if you’d be willing to help out.  I love you.

Dean: Hey, I’m definitely down for helping out as much as possible bro-ski.  I know how much SI joint pain sucks. Send me a few vids on things like leg toe touch, side profile deep squat, and birddogs from overhead view, and I’ll see what I can offer to get you back to bullet-proof.

Me: Great!  I’ll send along some vids ASAP. Do you need them to be shirtless?

*crosses fingers that you say yes*

Dean:  Yes, and oiled up would be a bonus too. Nothing sexual, just seeing the light glistening makes joint angles easier to see. Yeah, that’s it.

I ended up sending Dean a few videos, including this one:

Funnily enough, the day prior to sending that video to Dean I had JUST written how most people tend to butcher the birddog exercise.  Irony.  It’s a bitch.

And this is where I’m going to end it today. How’s that for a cliffhanger?  What do you see in the video above?  Can you tell by watching which side is problematic?

Tomorrow, I’m going to elaborate a bit more as to what Dean had to say, as well as delve into the nuts and bolts as far as the game plan moving forward.

• Date 05/08/2012
• Comments 38 Comments
• Category Uncategorized

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