Snow Days Off I woke up this morning in a pretty bad mood.  This may baffle you some of you.  Half of you probably woke up this morning full of excitement due to a school closing.  The other half of you were most likely relieved not to have to go to that dreaded office and deal with your boss for another day.  I, on the other hand, was supposed to deadlift today.  Mother Nature has won yet again.  Doing her best to get in my way and hinder my gains, one snowday at a time.

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There’s a phrase I hear from time to time, you may have heard it.  People use it with good intentions, often trying to shine some light on a particularly unpleasant or annoying experience.  It’s meant to be uttered with optimism, and can be a useful tool to help you stay the course when unexpected events try to get in your way.  That phase is this, “Everything happens for a reason.”

I, for one, have never been a huge fan of this phrase, but I understand its intent and usefulness.  Today, I’m going to attempt to join you optimists out there, and adapt this phrase to my challenge of the day – my inability to travel to SAPT and hoist hundreds of pounds of iron off of the floor repeatedly.

At first glance, you may not see the reason.  I know I didn’t see it upon waking up this morning to the winter wonderland that is Reston, VA… and then it came to me.  Mother Nature delivered a snow day because she knew that tomorrow should be my deadlift day.  Of course!

I was supposed to return to conventional style pulling today, after pulling sumo-stance for the past 6 months, but really, Friday is a much better day to make the switch.  It’s my day off!  I will be able to devote my full attention to transitioning back to a more posterior chain dominant deadlifting style, and it should make for a much better training session.  On top of that, Thursday would just be a weird day to lift.   Due to my schedule, I haven’t lifted on a Thursday in quite some time.  Friday’s have long been a lifting day for me, and it would simply be weird to break that streak.

To really cement the fact that Friday will be a better deadlifting day for me, I began a new cycle this past week, which has resulted in a bit more soreness than usual.  The re-introduction of RDLs and some other movements that have a bit of an eccentric-focus to them have taken their toll, and I could probably use another day of rest before lifting something heavy.

So, instead of getting back on the conventional deadlift train today, I’m going to seize the opportunity to work on my mobility, get in some active recovery, make myself a few proper meals, and study some anatomy.  If I’m lucky, I’ll be able to start a book I’ve been looking forward to reading: Science and Practice of Strength Training by Vladimir Zatsiorsky.  I’ve heard quite a few glowing reviews, and it’s been on my to-do list for quite some time now.

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This “optimism” thing isn’t too bad.  I just might be warming up to that phrase after all.  I hope you all have a wonderful snowday, and that you dedicate an hour or two to your own growth and development.

P.S. Mother Nature: Just so you know, you could deliver us a monsoon and that still won’t be enough to further delay my return to conventional pulling.  You’ve won today, but I will win tomorrow.