Being Consistent
A few days ago in the gym I tweaked my lower back while doing some deadlifts. I know exactly why it happened.
I've been more focused on running since around November, and because of that, I got more lax than I intended with my lifts. I missed a few pull days, took some time off from working out over the holidays and then tried to get right back into it with my previous weights and reps.
That was a dumb idea, obviously.
After missing that much time I should have at least worked back up to my my previous lifts gradually. But what I really should have done is avoided having that much time off in the first place. I should have been more consistent.
Consistency has been on my mind a lot over the past few weeks, both because of this minor injury1 and because work is starting to ramp up and get busier.
There are a lot of things I need to write and a lot of things I need to report on. There are tons of projects in the works that are group efforts and require lots of meetings. Next month my travel schedule will start to get rolling in earnest.
In the past when work has gotten busy, I've allowed myself to get less consistent with other areas of life that matter: things like reading, eating healthy, sticking to a workout routine. It can be easy to see a jammed work schedule for the day and talk myself into sitting at the desk and eating like crap or nixing a run or lift.
Things are busy, which is a good thing. But it also means I need to be especially mindful of staying focused and carving out time for all these other areas of my life that build on each other and have a lot of value.
Some days I'll have less time than others, obviously. That's just a reality we all have to deal with. But doing a short, quick run in the morning is still almost always something I can make happen. It's not hard to drop some accessory work on a lift day and still get the benefits of the compound lifts.
Perfection isn't goal, but consistency should be.
Keep striving for it.
I think I'll probably be back to normal by the end of the week, but it's been a lot of stiffness and stretching for me in the meantime.↩