Lifting weights is cathartic for me. It’s one of the things that let’s me completely stop focusing on everything else except the workout and be in the present.
Getting Healthier
This year I am striving to become healthier. Before COVID, I’d say sometime around 2017-2019, I was an avid lifter. I was generally working out 4 times a week using a program I found on the Fitness subreddit of all places. I think it was call the nSuns workout, but I don’t fully remember. Anyway, I loved it. During the workouts, it’s a time of intense focus – everything else has to get pushed away to focus on moving the weight. At peak, I never broke any records or anything, but I was pretty happy with where I was at. Here are some numbers for what I achieved through two and a half years of consistent workouts:
| Exercise | Weight |
|---|---|
| Squats | 185 lbs |
| Bench Press | 185 lbs |
| Deadlift | 285 lbs |
| Overhead Press | 90 lbs |
| Barbell Rows | 140 lbs |
For context, I was 175 lbs and 6 feet tall at the time (well, I’m still 6 feet tall, but you know, definitely not the same weight).
Why did I stop?
One day while doing chest dips, I pulled a muscle in my chest. It took me out of commission for quite awhile and left me in a weird funk. You don’t realize how much you rely on your chest muscles until you try to do something as innocuous as pushing yourself out of a chair.
My wife and I were also in the midst of buying our first house and preparing for a major move, so the added stress on that was eating away at my motivation. Even though lifting weights (or really any type of exercise) is great for your mood, I just didn’t want to do it.
And then the world ended
Well, not so much as ended, but close enough it feels like. The COVID-19 pandemic put me into a proper state of malais. I was not feeling it at all. I’m doing better now overall, still have ups and downs, but managing my mental health has definitely taken a proactive approach to ensure I don’t fall back down a few rungs in the ladder.
Something that has been helping recently has been finding more personal sites to browse and see how other people are doing online. I’ve been making a conscious effort to stay away from the major social media platforms (and have long-since deleted the big ones, namely Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and more). I still have a Reddit account but I’m trying to focus on my RSS feed over the Reddit feeds and it’s been surprisingly refreshing.
None of that last paragraph is related to lifting, Chris
Back on topic. For the last 4 weeks, I have been doing the Stronglifts 5×5 workout program. This is what I originally started with when I first dipped my toes into weight lifting. The primary program is a beginner-friendly plan that allows you to progressively increase the weight you are lifting. For folks that are rusty like I am, the first few workouts will be tough thanks to DOMS but once you get over the hurdle, you should start seeing those numbers soar up for a few weeks. At least until the beginner gains are depleted.
My goal is not to break any records but rather general fitness and improving my overall health and mental wellbeing. The hardest part about the workouts is showing up – even a bad workout is better than not doing it at all. For now, my focus is on remaining consistent and steadily progress until I get back up to the figures that I initially posted. It’s going to take some time – it’s a marathon, not a sprint. I am committed to paying close attention to my overall form and listening to my body. If something feels weird, I’m going to pay attention.
For reference, here are the latest numbers from my most recent workout today:
I want to hear from you!
What type of workouts do you do? Even something as simple as walks around the neighborhood are great ways to get the heart going. I’d love to hear what you do to stay active, feel free to send me an email (details in my contact page)!