I started Foundation course a little short of two years ago. Some year and a half ago, I mastered the very first step towards developing a manna - the tuck-up. Normally, I was very excited about progressing to the straddle up. But my starting enthusiasm was soon put down by the painful realisation that I can't do a single rep. I am not joking; I could barely straddle my legs and the angle between my shins and thigs was like 60 degrees. My lower back was killing me during the movement. I was shocked about how could this transition be so damn hard. I tried and tried, but to little or no success. I was doing somewhat well till the 5X9 or 4X12 rep scheme with limited mobility, but moving beyond that was just not possible. After months and months of rewinding my training 4 weeks back, I had a moment of truth when I realized that doing what I was doing for over a year can get me far only as much. Something was wrong. If it wasn't, I wouldn't be doing the same thing over and over again to little or no avail.
So I started watching the clip of Coach's athlete doing the exercise a couple of times before my training. I started training in front of a mirror. I comitted to listen and feel every part of my body during the movement. And then suddenly I started noticing small, barely visible things about it. About how should I pull with my core, and not my legs. How my pelvis behaves during the execution. How I breathe. How I do this and that form my head to my toes. My form slowly but definitely became better. From week to week, my legs were getting a little more straight and the fluency of the movement improved. I hit 4X12 plateau a couple of times, but continued to correct my form and flow every single training session. I even went back to doing tuck-ups for a while to adress some weak points. And finally, after a year and a half long process, I finally did it. 5X15 with solid form and fluency with coupled mobility.
I s**t you not, gentlemen, I felt like a king of the world. That kind of excitement was simillar to the sentiments I experienced when I was put under the anesthesia before surgery or when I went on a date with a hot girl and kissed her on that same date - it was a moment of eternal bliss. As if everything, literally every thing on this Earth stopped and nothing seemed important any more. I was floating in a timeless bubble where nothing else mathered because everthing was just like it was supposed to be.
So what's the point of this essay if you put my bragging aside? It's about dedication. I could have easily quit the straddle ups after a couple of weeks frustrated with my inability to do even a single rep. But I sticked to them. After a year of doing them, I could have once again quit for simillar reasons. But I stayed dedicated to the exercise and put more effort in it.
I read about it here on the forum and hear about it in real life - people complain about a problem, but opt do do nothing to solve it. They expect you to essentially confirm what they decided long ago - to quit or to try the easy way out. Let's face it - we, here in the western civilization, have become lazy and spoiled. We have everything in abundance and that made us soft. Why should I sweat and work hard for something when there are other, easier options? And that's exactely what's wrong with not just training, but life in general.
If I opted to be lazy or to try the easy way out, I wouldn't end up in the surgery to reconstruct my deviated septum that made breathing very difficult for me. I wouldn't ask that hot girl out. I wouldn't achieve mastery with straddle ups but I would be a sorry excuse of a man.
If there's a problem, there's a solution as well. If I can't do it, I am doing something wrong and I have to correct myself. I have to be dedicated to whatever I am doing. I have moved on to the V-ups, but I still work on my straddle ups and Jefferson curls. There is still room for improvement and I am dedicated to become the best version of myself I can be.
Good luck with your training and your lives ladies and gents, but please do remember - luck favors the bold.
P.S. I'm in a relationship with that hot girl for almost a year now.
