Chopping Onions & Hugging Trees? Are you really in your zone?

I have a confession to make. I am a bit of a control freak. I don't mean to be, sometimes I try not to be but fact is my little freak usually wins the inner and outer dialogue. Even in simple things like cooking it will manifest it's military commander head. Poor Mr. G will ask if there is anything he can do to help, I will allocate a task and he will be more than capable of chopping a fucking onion BUT no....no not how I want it to be chopped. I will sidle up and double check that chopping is to standard with a 'let me just.....' and taking the knife and VOILA control has been regained. I feel a perverse sense of satisfaction. What a fucking weirdo. Let the man chop. I know he can chop. Why can't I just let him chop? Now that said this only applies to things I consider to me my jobs. Mr G chops the wood for the log burner and not once have I sidled up to take control, actually if I did I would probably get my fingers chopped off lol. So does this make me a selective control freak? I don't know. I am sure someone somewhere will be able to take me back to childhood and put it down to losing a banana mojo in the sandpit or some such bollocks. Anyway I digress as usual.

Back to the point. I consider my training and the programming of my training to me MY domain. For those of you who have been along for all of my ramblings you will know I have handed over my training to a new coach, Nicola Vaughan-Ellis (who is fucking awesome btw...that is not up for debate.), at the time of handing this over I knew I would have 'issues' with it but I never thought it would be quite so difficult. Up until now I have always kind of 'winged' my training. I have never really followed a set program. I have simply trained hard, appropriately and consistently. I have always decided, with the input of my training buddies, what I will be doing on any given day but sometimes that would be decided on the day and sometimes before and often change part way through the session. So now to have 3 weeks training in advance, written down, planned with precision....by someone else has taken me outside of my personal training comfort zone.

The training we are doing is SO different from what I have been used to. Different moves have been introduced with a different empahisis, a different split, different...different.....just soooo fucking different!!! Now any of you who are the opposite, who can't function without a plan set in stone this will seem rather weird. And one would think that as a trainer/coach (whatever the label is today), I would list every rep, set, rest from every session in order to assess my SMART goals (YAAAWWWWWNNNN). Well I don't and I am a fully fledged kinaestheste when it comes to training.

Kineasthesia -
The sensation by which the bodily position, weight, muscle tension and movement are perceived. Also called muscle sense 

I suppose it's kind of like hippy dippy training. Let's hug a tree, see how we feel then rip a big ass weight up :0)

Alas this is no longer. My tree no longer needs hugging, in place I have a training diary. Yes an actual paper one (made from the aforementioned hugged tree perhaps?). I have a pencil, I have a rubber and I have a big fat plan that has been written by someone else. This has sent me, over the past 4-5 weeks, into a mental turmoil. I was in my groove, knowing what I did felt right. And it worked right? I mean I have won shit? I have records? I have bloody worlds records? I am awesome right??? Or am I? Have I been in my groove or stuck in a rut? OK I have had some pretty reasonable results but can they be better? Should they be better? Do I want them to be better? Now for some the level I have achieved would be more than personally adequate and that is perfectly fine as we all have different paths and expectations, but I know I want to be better. I don't want to be good, I want to be GREAT. Yes this is personal ego and I am OK with that, me and my ego get on just fine. I also know that I do not have all the tools be be this great lifter I aspire to be and in order to get out of that rut, my tree hugging comfort zone I need to trust other people. People who have forgotten more than I will ever know. People who see the greatness. People who know what true greatness is and will encourage yet not blow smoke up my arse. 

I am competing in 4 weeks and I am still have mental dilemmas and physical ones to be fair. My body is aching in places that is hasn't ached and in a different way. Some elements of the program I can make an instant connection with and other elements I am like 'what the fuck????'. And yet I have to trust what I don't know and that is hard. Now what if it all doesn't work? Well so what. There is no way that I will walk away at the end of this year that we have committed to working together that it is possible that I leave with having learned nothing. And that is the point. We only know what we know. Sounds obvious huh? And it is but that also mean there is a whole lot of stuff out there that we don't know so if you want to improve in anything go and find people who have what you want and ask them, pay them if you have to and if it is worth it for you. Be the best you can be but I guarantee you can NEVER be that on your own.

While on the subject of comfort zone anything 'technical' is definitely out of it but as just discussed in order to move forward we must....well move forward so my new website is being developed and it will be fucking awesome. :0)

And if any of you fancy having your own comfort zones made a little edgey why not come and join us on this? Play the video peeps....play the video :0)

I even set up the Eventbrite page ALL on my own....yes it took me days but I did it :0)

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/nodumbelles-powerlifting-weekend-workshop-tickets-10358098351

PEACE OUT

http://www.extremenutrition.co.uk/