Goals are stupid things humans do. Short term, long term; doesn’t matter. There are countless examples of goal-setting gone awry, and there are reasons for this that are hardwired in our brains from eons of evolution. Our brains are programmed to survive. New situations and challenges are a threat to survival, especially if they require changes in behavior or routines. We have an innate bias commonly called the Status Quo bias, where the present situation is preferable to any change. Even if the changes you are planning are alleged to improve your situation, e.g. losing weight if you’re one of the ever expanding number of people dealing with obesity, there’s a fear of failure. Our brains, in the ongoing attempt to keep us alive, seek comfort, and to avoid pain. Pain includes fear, and fear of failing on a goal you’ve set, especially if you’ve broadcast it broadly, is no different to our brains than fear of falling, or fear of getting eaten for dinner by a ravenous grizzly.
As I reflect on my recent goal shifting regarding my strength and hypertrophy endeavors, I easily see the folly of my ways. After diving headlong into training for a powerlifting meet, I discovered my strength levels were below average amongst my peers and this caused me to reconsider my goals. I still want to do it, but I want to feel good about it, not embarrassed by my performance. It’s similar to that feeling we get when we scratch something off our To Do list. The list may still be agonizingly long, but there’s a sense of personal satisfaction that one of the many were accomplished. If you find out later that task was poorly done, requiring rework or receiving a less than acceptable reception, the very short term satisfaction once felt is now vanquished. With the challenge ahead of me, I set about on a course to get me where I needed to go. My goals shifted to hypertrophy, and I began the process of assembling the ideal way to accomplish it. That searching and assembling is something my mind seems to enjoy immensely. But now faced with this new goal, I find my Status Quo bias kicking into high gear. I don’t want to change my focus. I don’t want to change my behavior, my routine, my preferences.
It’s similar to the decision I made to ditch my EFS Knee Sleeves in favor of an IPF-Approved knee sleeve. I can’t tell you how much consternation this caused. The main reason, I see now, was fear. “This change will bring about less support in my squat, less rebound force from the bottom position and as a result, I will squat less!” Terrifying. To further illustrate this remarkable thing my brain is doing, I’ve been using the EFS sleeves again the last few times I’ve done squats and as I sit here writing this, about to disclose the reason for the title of this post, I again have fear of ditching the EFS sleeves. I want to keep using them because a powerlifting competition may happen,Ā far off in the unforeseeable future. Or it may never happen! “Why shouldn’t I squat with the sleeves that give me the most support? Because if one day I do decide to compete, I’ll have to do it without them!” So I even fear the future event that may never occur enough to give me angst in the present moment.
I think I’ve set the stage sufficiently well to finally come to my point. Powerlifting is what I love. Whether I’m good at it or not isn’t as relevant as the pleasure it brings me. I’m not willing to put powerlifting specific training on hold for an indefinite period to attempt a hypertrophy specific training plan that may be a complete failure in terms of actually putting any new muscle on me (see my brain’s protection scheme at work here? ), only then to return to powerlifting and begin anew, hopefully with a bit more muscle. Instead, I’m going all the way back. Literally ground zero. I’m starting from scratch. In fact, the 8 days off I took from training to intentionally decondition from all the lifting I’ve done is a perfect springboard from which to start.
I need a progression plan that I won’t second guess continually. The most specific and detailed one I have ever found is Powerlifting to Win’s Programming to Win. I have written about it before, having started with the “Advanced Novice” program and moving into the Transitioning Intermediate before my revelation of weakness brought it to an end. This time, I’ll go back even further to the very beginning and do it right from the get go. No EFS Knee Sleeves, no skipping forward a bit. Just training. And this time, I will set no goals. I will focus on the now; the present tense. The small win, the mundane yet rewarding completion of the task on the To Do list. I will do my best to avoid the self doubt and the self deprecating way of telling myself I’m not strong enough. What difference does any of that make if today, in about an hour actually, I Squat, Bench and Deadlift and enjoy the hell out of it?
Don’t worry, lift weights.Ā
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