November 20, 2015: Humility and Growth

I was reflecting this week on humility. I know I've written about this previously, but it is so important that it always helps me to repeat it. Humility is not weakness. Instead, it is the courage to look at things the way they truly are, instead of through a lens of pride and overconfidence.

I have found that my greatest periods of growth in business, martial arts, and relationships occurred at times of great humility.

I learned this lesson the hard way when I was about 20 years old. I was introduced to a new Kali instructor named Doug after training with another teacher for several years. I was young and perhaps overconfident. I told my instructor about my previous experience and although I felt I was being respectful, in hindsight I can see how my introduction of myself may have come off as slightly pretentious. After the class, he gave me a private "lesson."

To be kind (to myself), he showed me some nuances that I had failed to grasp in my previous training (to no fault of my previous instructor, but perhaps to my overconfidence in my technique). This lesson involved very sore knuckles - we used rattan sticks as seen in my last workout - and a bruised ego. From that day on, by revisiting and relearning the basics, I learned how to use my body more effectively and once applied to my previously learned techniques (along with the new ones I learned), made me much more powerful and fluid. Besides humility, my experience with Doug reinforced the importance of mastering basic movements before attempting more complicated ones.

I have similar somewhat embarrassing experiences in other parts of my life. Fortunately, I can laugh about them now. More importantly, I am grateful for them because it is through them that I have found the greatest growth in my life. God bless you.

November 19, 2015 - Recovery Day

November 20, 2015 - Workout

Warm-up: 5 minutes Elliptical 

I'm not a big fan of the Elliptical, but my son was using the one next to me, so we hung out for a few minutes. It is a nice non-impact way to warm my knee up though.

BW Squats: 5 reps x 3 sets
My right knee felt a little off, but warmed up as I did the squats.

Back Squat: 
1. 65 x 5
2. 95 x 5
3. 115 x 5
4. 115 x 5
5. 125 x 5! New PR!
I felt like challenging myself, and it was a challenge. I took several breaths at the top before holding a big breath through the squats. I focused a lot on keeping my core engaged and reaching proper depth. I'm thinking I might work some pause reps in my lighter warm-up sets next time to accentuate my bottom position and driving out of the bottom. I was pleased to hit a new PR. 

Push-ups: 5 reps x 3 sets

Bench Press:
1. 95 x 5
2. 115 x 5
3. 135 x 5
4. 135 x 5
5. 135 x 5
These were hard sets, but solid. I'm going to stay put at this weight while I bring up some of my other lifts, although if it gets too easy, I will add some weight to it. I'd love to hit 1x bodyweight by the end of the year.
At this point, I actually drove home and did some pull-ups at home.

Pull-ups:
1. 4 regular reps + 1 assisted rep (with band) This felt a little awkward and the band wasn't very strong, so I decided to use negatives on the following sets.
2. 3 regular reps + 2 negative reps (5 seconds down)
3. 2.5 regular + 3 negative reps (5 seconds down)

I realize in order to progress with these I need to get more reps in, so I'm using some assistance to increase the volume.

Stretching: ~5 minutes