First Competition, Illness, Humility & Motivation

[Matt Taylor]

Hi all. First time poster. Male, age 49, 5'7", 170lbs. I have made several runs at the NLP, disrupted multiple times due to injuries both old & new. I finally figured out technique enough to not keep hurting myself, and I have been making some progress since last November. So I signed up for my first powerlifting meet which will be May 4th...two days before I turn 50.

11/22/23
Squat: 205
Bench: 155
Deadlift: 225

Making workout-to-workout progress despite catching a virus in January, and February, and March...then COVID on April 8th.

4/7/24
Squat: 340
Bench: 180 (had been up to 197, but I had to correct my form for competition...was lifting my butt from the bench)
Deadlift: 360

With all the COVID fatigue, dizziness, and brain fog I didn't lift again until 4/21. Did 70% of prior work set weights. Will do 80% tomorrow, then try 90% this weekend. I have no idea what I will be able to do for the competition, but I'm going to give it my best.

My question is this...when you keep getting setbacks due to illness/injury/life events, how do you stay motivated while life keeps reminding you to be humble?

[Mark Rippetoe]

Stop responding like you're supposed to, and become aggressive against pussification. COVID fatigue? My god, man, you might as well be working for the CDC.

[Jason Donaldson]

Matt, have you tried getting angry? Converting frustration at setbacks and challenges into anger at them can be a powerful catalyst. It can take your attention away from what happens to you and onto what you can do about it, while simultaneously giving you focus and determination to do what needs to be done. The scope is ALL the training variables: food, rest, consistency, not just lift execution.

Be less Doc Banner, more Hulk.

[Maybach]

When I am unwilling to practice my declensions or my arithmetic, and mostly inclined to lounge in the gazebo and catch tadpoles, mother is often wont to promise me a helping of fig and blackcurrant trifle, and the honey-soaked sweetness is all the motivation I require.

If you find yourself in the unenviable position of not being mother's favorite little boy, or yourself set to tasks greater than The Odes or Long Division, you might not have such incentives, or find such incentives insufficient. So I suppose you will simply have to do your work for its own sake.

The setbacks don't undo training. They undo strength. If you hadn't trained at all, you would be weakwr than you are, even if you currently aren't stronger than you started.

[Matt Taylor]

Maybe asking how to stay motivated was the wrong question. I keep lifting, but I make poor choices about how I lift. I looked back through my training log to see how/where I can do better. Problems I see: I lack consistency in too many areas.

(1) I don't stay with the same training long enough. 3 days/week, then 4 days/week, back to 3, then 4, then 2...
(2) I need to stick with the prescribed lifts unless a modification is necessary. Safety bar squats made sense when I couldn't resolve shoulder pain for months, and had to get physical therapy (I have partial rotator cuff and bursa tears in both shoulders) but just to change things up...nope. Doing push presses instead of the press 2.0 because a local coach told me it was a good idea...yeah, that led to no real progress.
(3) I don't always trust my own judgment if I get sick or injured. Is it an actual injury? Sometimes I reduce weight the make a quick recovery. Other times I exacerbate it so it's much worse.
(4) I have made too many overly aggressive resets. Stupid, stupid, stupid.
(5) I need a coach.

[Lee Pinac]

Hi all. First time poster. Male, age 49, 5'7", 170lbs. I have made several runs at the NLP, disrupted multiple times due to injuries both old & new. ............ My question is this...when you keep getting setbacks due to illness/injury/life events, how do you stay motivated while life keeps reminding you to be humble?

How much weight have you gained since November 2023? If you have not gained very much weight, then there is part of you answer regarding setbacks due to injuries. Gain some weight. Bigger people don't get hurt as easily. Life happens. Adapt. If that means working out every third day rather than every other, then do that. I've gone to working out twice a week and I'll be 59 in June. Get as much sleep as possible. It does amazing things for recovery. Post-covid, eat and drink and do so some more. Get angry and use that as motivation. Don't puss out.

[jwbucha]

Maybe asking how to stay motivated was the wrong question. I keep lifting, but I make poor choices about how I lift. I looked back through my training log to see how/where I can do better. Problems I see: I lack consistency in too many areas.

(1) I don't stay with the same training long enough. 3 days/week, then 4 days/week, back to 3, then 4, then 2...
(2) I need to stick with the prescribed lifts unless a modification is necessary. Safety bar squats made sense when I couldn't resolve shoulder pain for months, and had to get physical therapy (I have partial rotator cuff and bursa tears in both shoulders) but just to change things up...nope. Doing push presses instead of the press 2.0 because a local coach told me it was a good idea...yeah, that led to no real progress.
(3) I don't always trust my own judgment if I get sick or injured. Is it an actual injury? Sometimes I reduce weight the make a quick recovery. Other times I exacerbate it so it's much worse.
(4) I have made too many overly aggressive resets. Stupid, stupid, stupid.
(5) I need a coach.

Look, none of that shit matters until you address the most obvious problem here. You have no business weighing 170 lbs at 5’7” if you want to lift heavy weights with a barbell. Period. Forget all this second guessing and questioning your programming bullshit. Get your body weight to 205 lbs while doing the program as it’s described. That’s it.

Now go find some protein.