I had the opportunity today (and likely you did, too) to test how my performance has developed over the last five weeks of cold method training with atlas stones (see: the Cold Stone Challenge). While my input (the number of reps I completed) looked quite promising, my output was a bit of a flop.

I improved by 10lbs. It’s not nothing, but it’s not extraordinary, either, and it’s certainly less than I was hoping for. What’s not outwardly apparent, though, is that I really shouldn’t be that surprised that my improvement was small.

While over the last five weeks I did dedicate time to accumulating reps in the Stone Cold Challenge, it happened to coordinate with a time during which I neglected a lot of the other important pieces of the puzzle. Additional demands on my time meant that two of the five weeks were spent with lots of sitting, not enough sleeping, and poor diet. I neglected to spend time working on a few cranky joints. I was inconsistent with my other training. The list goes on.

What’s relevant here is that while my success was less than I had hoped (i.e., I made only a small improvement in my performance), I did not come out of the challenge empty-handed. I was able to walk away with insights -- things that worked that can be used again, things that clearly hindered my progress, lessons about how to get the most from my training, lessons about training economy and time management.

Conventional “success” or not, there’s progress to be had if you ask the right questions and listen to what your results are telling you. Sometimes your victories won’t come to you -- you have to find them.

- PS

9/18/18

• 8 min EMOM:

• 3 front squats (AHAP)

Then...

• For time:

• 40 wallballs (20/14)

• 400m run

• 30 wallballs

• 300m run

• 20 wallballs

• 200m run

• 10 wallballs

• 100m run