What a week!!

I don't really know what I'm thinking or where to start with this blog but I just feel like I need to write something.

This last week has been quite possibly one of the best weeks I've had in as long as I can remember. Training well recently brought me a 207kg squat. My max is 215kg but I haven't been able to hit anywhere near that basically since I got that lift due to a recurring groin injury. The best I've managed since then was around the 150kg mark. In the same session I also got a new max of 111.6kg for bench. (random numbers because the plates are all in pounds). I finished off the session with a massive PB for rack pull from 2 inches below the knee, taking my max up from 260kg to 311kg. My great friend Andy Rutland has been telling me for a while I could top 300kg and once again he was bang on the money. We worked our way up to 288kg. That flew up, felt so easy, so I thought yeah this is on. So we loaded up the bar. because we had pretty much hogged all the weight in the room there were only random plates left so it ended up being 311kg. Bit of a jump from 288kg but I addressed the bar, took my grip, set myself and go! It seemed to take an age to come up and my knees were shaking like a cold wet dog. But I got it to the top. Bang!! happy days. In this same session Andy smashed out a 147kg bench and I think it was a 240 or 250 squat. Andy's dad trains with him and at 63 he is inspirational. Tom has only been lifting a very short time and he can really shift some weight. I think his squat was up past the 160kg mark, for bench he hit I think it was 97kg (which is way over bodyweight) and he rack pulled something like 220kg. It was a cracking session, PB's all over the place, happy days. The plan is to work that rack pull to the ground. When I can deadlift that from the floor, shits gonna get real!!

311kg (686lb) Rack Pull

Tomorrow I have a tattoo appointment booked which is also a bit of a buzz as its been almost 3 years since my last one. I'm getting some script done on my right forearm. running up the back of my arm from the wrist to the elbow. It will read......

"Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure"

All of that is kind of taking a back seat to other events. I wont expand too much on them as its not my place to but a close and very good friend lost their mother this week. My thoughts are with them during what is a very tough time. I know they are strong and will most likely only get stronger but any loss is a sad and difficult thing. They have my deepest sympathy.

I was asked recently what I thought life meant, and I have thought a lot about this. Its actually something I have pondered many times. My conclusion is that life has no actual meaning. It is a journey made up of events each with their own significance, it involves people who all make worthwhile contributions. At the time their contribution may seem to be insignificant or negative but everything has a silver lining. My grandad once said to me. "Everyone brings happiness, some by arriving, some by leaving" so maybe those negative people are necessary to ensure you really do appreciate the positive ones. I guess everything is relative to something else. Perception is a major factor too. As a very crude example, consider loss. One man loses a golf ball, one man loses his wallet and one man loses a loved one. It doesn't take a genius to work out which one has suffered the greater loss. So in everything in life look at the bigger picture and things will often be better than at first they seem. Trust me it works.

The best way I could think of to rationalise lift is below. I dont see it as a set or random encounters or inconceivable events. Everything you do leads you to a given point at a given time. I dont believe there is a higher power at play, but I do have some faith in fate. whether we really are fated or whether we make our own way is not for me to say.

Things in life are not set in stone, they are fluid, they move like rivers. They twist and turn and never follow a direct course. You can steer yourself along the river and stop off to look around but you cant dictate where it will ultimately take you.

Connections.

We can never know what new connections we will make from day to day. Its the great unknown. What kind of connection it will be, with whom, on what basis, under what circumstances, whether it will be long term or short term, what will it lead to, will it lead to anything at all, what will we learn from it, what will we lose from it. So much potential and so many pitfalls from each connection.

The only certainty is that every connection changes you in some way, sometimes for the better sometimes for the worse (if you allow it). Every connection leaves its mark on you. It may be that it influences you, inspires you, motivates you, brings you comfort, even pain. What is important is that you embrace these connections and take what positives you can from them. Ill qualify this whole blog by saying that I use connection not necessarily to mean relationship in the partners sense. I mean friendships, relationships, all kinds of interactions.

Almost a year ago I made a connection with someone. It led to something I wasn't expecting. It started out positively enough, but ended almost as suddenly as it had begun post breakup, it dragged on for quite some time. It was painful at times and infuriating at others. The man I am today would not react the same way as the man I was yesterday. I'd no longer allow things to rumble on when no good can come from them.

They say that people come into your life either as a blessing or a lesson. I think that they can appear to be one then become the other. In fact Id go as far as to say that they are not mutually exclusive. If you can learn from something, that in itself is a blessing. I could bemoan how things turned out and feel low and down on life about it but why the fuck should I? I learned another valuable lesson. So in the end it was worth experiencing. What did I learn? I learned that some people will take take take. They are all about themselves. Now I'm all in favour of looking after number one, but its a fine line between that and treating other people like shit to achieve it. I also learned that its often not how much you give that makes any difference. You also have to accept your own part in any such interaction and how your part affects things.

I'm conscious that this could come across as a pretty bitter blog but that isn't my intention. In many ways I'm really glad I made that connection and experienced those things. There are many other positives to draw from this particular connection. Firstly it led to other connections, may of whom I remain friends with even after it was over. It showed me how strong I can actually be, and more importantly where I am weak.

I think what I'm trying to say is that throughout our lives and likely on a daily basis we will make a myriad connections with other people, whether it is via social media, or in person. We should welcome these connections (they are going to happen anyway) and take them for what they are. enjoy them, even the bad ones are good. Its just how you look at them.

Perspective!!