Achievement for all for the pursuit of excellence!
My school tag line. I didn’t really pay attention to it when I was at school. I just wanted to fit in and have fun. Achievement was for all the talented people in school.
To be fair I’ve probably underestimated my ability to get better at things for many years. But last weekend I achieved something that I had been working on for several months, lifting a 200kg deadlift. I know this isn’t something that everyone is interested in or cares about but I thought I would share my experience of getting to this point and achieving my goal.
As a physio I work with many people and finding a goal that motivates them is very important. Rehabilitation can be very monotonous and repetitive so having a goal that is meaningful is key otherwise you will likely give up. My goal was to lift 200kg.
In 2019 I took part in the tactical strength challenge (TSC) and saw a lad lift 200kg. Im quite competitive and when when I saw this it made me want to do it as well. I can’t say the goal is that meaningful but it was enough to get my attention.
1 year went by and I procrastinated, put off the training I didn’t get any closer to my goal. I actually did a testing day in March 2021 and I could lift exactly the same as in 2019, 185kg! Now that was a sign that I was maintaining well but that wasn’t the goal. I wanted to improve and clearly I wasn’t putting in enough time and effort.
Thankfully I had Lauren there, my training partner for the next TSC. She is very driven and always trying to better herself. This gave me the example I needed to work harder and more consistently. We arranged regular retests throughout the summer to keep us on track and before I knew it I was lifting more and managed 195kg in a practice test. Having the support and motivation always you to keep pushing even when you can’t be bothered or feel like giving up.
It would seem that having a couple months until the TSC and having already lifted 195kg in practice it would be a doddle to hit my goal. Well that’s where life likes to throw you a curve ball. I had just started my new deadlift programme and I felt this stabbing pain in my hamstring. Panic set in and I thought it was all over. How can I train with a pulled hamstring? I’d be set back for weeks.
After doing some assessments I realised I hadn’t pulled my hamstring as I didn’t have any pain in my hamstring when I loaded. It was a sciatic nerve issue that was triggering my pain. This didn’t give me any additional confidence as I was very wary about lifting heavy in case I set it off again.
I cautiously continued training at a lower weight to build my confidence and maintain the strength that I had gained over that last year. With every tight feeling in my hamstring I would get anxious and never pushed it too far. It was too late in the day now to give up so I just did what I could.
Oct 30th arrived the day of the TSC. I was feeling good, no sciatic nerve pain and the adrenaline of the day had kicked in. I can’t say my practice lifts felt easy and I was doubting myself to lift 200kg but I was going to give it my best shot.
I have learnt about visualisation over the last few years, a skill professional sports people use to prepare themselves when they are about to perform. It is all about imagining yourself doing the thing you set out to do. It’s not easy to do as you have to focus on something that hasn’t happened and maybe something you do not believe you can do. Well I spent that morning preparing as best I could physically and mentally to go into the lift with a positive attitude. The visualisation was working really well that morning and I could clearing see it happening in my mind.
As I mentioned at the beginning it was a success. The lift went well and I felt I had more in the tank. In summary, there are many things needed to achieve a goal – a meaning reason, consistent practice, a support network, positive thinking, a bit of luck. There are many more but these were the keys to my success.
