Goals

I have a goal problem. I like to set them. I like to change them. I like them short-term and long-term. I like them related to scale weight and weight-room weight and running time and pretty much anything that can be measured. I pretty much like them any way you can serve them up. I like to plan them out in detail and break them down into little steps and set up count-downs and charts and all that OCD-jazz to see how far on/off track I am.

This is all fine in some ways (and it's good to have goals as something to work towards and to track success or failure), but it's also a problem in that I have too many goals, and also goals that directly conflict with each other. For example, running training for a Tough Mudder decreases power strength in the gym, or the large amount of physical activity I engage in makes me more hungry and less likely to be able to stick to nutrition guidelines for body comp change. The conflicting-goal issue is a problem that Jen (new nutrition coach) has gently prompted me to address. (This is also something that Chris has pointed out to me, but I think he also kept waiting for me to come to terms with on my own. I am slow.)

So now I just have two goals and they are:

1. Lose bodyfat/look better. (Aka, become a ripped hottie :)
2. Perform well at the RPS powerlifting meet October 12.

Compare this to my list of stated goals that I sent Jen in the process of setting up our work together:

1. Lose bodyfat while gaining muscle and strength.
2. Compete in Tough Mudder August 12.
3. Compete in powerlifting competition October 12.
4. Find a sustainable nutrition approach for the long-term.
5. Get leaner, lighter, faster.

And for further hilarity, compare that to my own goals set for myself in April after my last powerlifting competition (post-competition/big event is a major trigger for me to go on a goal-setting binge. The edits in the list below were added post-goal-list-creation):

Goals (Set April 21, 2013):

1. Focus on technique/form for three major lifts this summer while also conditioning for Tough Mudder (August 10 and August 24) and building upper body strength. Get bodyweight comfortably to mid-high 180s by August/September with conditioning work and whole-foods diet eating (4 months)

2. Recover from Mudders and focus on powerlifting. Train for meet in December October 2013. Compete in 181# class with a 650# total (235+120+300 goals) (8 months)

4-month (August 25, 2013):

• Complete 10, 8, 6-rep KB complex with 16kg bell
• Turkish get up with 12kg bell
• Weigh 188-190#
• Gym PRs: 120# bench (met 5/31 w/ 135#!), 240# squat, 275# dead
• Mile run: Under 7:45 minutes
• Unassisted body weight chin-up (neutral grip)
• 2 Tough Mudders

8 month (December 25, 2013):

• Compete in meet in 181# class with a 675# total (235+120+300 goals)
• Unassisted bodyweight pull-up (overhand grip)

Ah yeah . . . like I said, I like goals.


Not all of these are directly conflicting and some are just small steps towards a larger goal, but at least for today I am appreciating the clarity of having two goals, and only two.

Training today: OFF. I am feeling sore and pretty beat up, and grateful for the recommendation to cut down on my training frequency (and cut out the running entirely, more on this later.)