Saturday, May 31, 2014

Dropping the Barbell, Lessons in Humility


Attempted an 85 pound overhead squat during my last gym visit and I dropped the ball...I mean the barbell. It wasn't a fast drop because I was able to control it on its way down but I definitely didn't place it on the floor, it fell. The drop was loud, and I felt all eyes on me from other gym-goers. The drop definitely frazzled me and left me wanting to hide out somewhere and regroup.  No, the gym is not meant for barbells to be dropped, the floor is not padded up like a Crossfit box... boo. Good new is there were no injuries except my ego...so I consider myself lucky.

Even when trying to get the barbell overhead on this attempt, I ended up doing a sloppy push press instead of a snatch because my shoulders were already shot. That was a big RED FLAG that I didn't pay attention to. But I kept on going, tried to complete the squat and ended up dropping the barbell in front of me.

Where's the silver lining in the barbell drop/fall? I took a risk and failed, but I am really proud that I tried it. I figure, if I'm going to go all out on my lifts, I am bound to miss some attempts.  Pushing myself out of my comfort zone has brought me a lot of joy recently and I can't stop now! What I will need to do is to try this again another day when my shoulders are fresh, that's going to take some courage!

All of this talk of overhead squats brings me back to Rich Froning who did three 310# overhead squats in the 2014 Crossfit Regionals. Rich Froning's body performs like a machine and I can't even tell you how much he inspires me. Here's Rich doing a 310 pound over head squat, enjoy!

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