When a crap training session goes.....well!

Really didn't want to train today. 6 degrees C in my gym, it was -7C overnight, and I'd been lugging concrete pavers around the garden. Cold, tired, no food in the fridge, hadn't gone shopping.

Bloody Foundation training. OK, let's just get it done.

* 5x5 L-pullups (RC/PE10) ...finally (instead of failing on the last 2 reps of set 5)

* 5x60 straddle hollow body rock ... finally (with little or no "flat spots" towards the end of set 5, as usually happens)

* 4 x 30s SLS/SE2 (static single leg squat)...finally, though done over 5 sets.

* 5x5 Russian dips....finally!!! (Unassisted, which for me means very lightly brushing the ball of one foot on the floor on the ascent, to take maybe 5% of bodyweight). But not today. All 5 sets, no feet on the ground. Some reps were a bit agricultural, but all were off the floor.

* My nemesis, MN/PE2 felt a bit better, more control (though hammies are still the problem)

* SL/PE10 1/2 windshield wiper: I count one rep as one side to the other AND back again, since my hip flexors need it. 10, 10, 6, 6, 6 then I fell off the stall bars.

All in all, was quite happy with today. It's nice to have a win once in a while!

Awesome work, Nicholas!!! 

This is DEDICATION and I'm sure this post will motivate a lot of people, definitely gave me a boost! Didn't even know your temperature could hit that low in Australia!

Congrats, and well done  keep cranking!

Great job, congrats on so many PRs  :-) maybe that's what you need in your life, too cold and no food in the fridge…. 

-7.... gonna take a stab that you're in Canberra too

I love gettin these days. I think it's a bit of psychological disinhibition; 'just by turning up when I feel like this I've succeeded, so I'll just do what I can,'  and it turns out to be more than. I think it may also have to do with being in thr mindset of a) non investment and b) success going in due to, as mentioned, just turning up.

My old sifu drilled in to me that when you don't want to train, it counts double good job mate.

Now of course you have no choice  but to exceed your 'bad day' when you are feeling better

@Jon Douglas: Yes, in Canberra, in Evatt. I think you can always do more than you can, and it seems that the training sessions that I like the least are the ones I get the most from!  One aspect I like about this training is the focus it requires - if my attention wanders, I fall over, lose balance or can't complete sufficient reps.

@Suzanna McGee: No, what I need is your boots

I'll def look back to this post for motivation when winter comes around here in New Jersey. My garage will be cold cold cold..

Hi Nicholas,

Great post. Very inspiring also a good reminder for me as to why I have never considered living in Canberra. 

Every day that you turn up and give your workouts your best effort you are moving closer to your goals even though at times this can be hard to see. It's nice every so often when those results will show themselves to us during a workout.  

Keep up the great work.

Thanks Darin. -1 last night but sunny and 15 C today - most Canberra winter days have some sun, unlike the one Swedish and two Danish winters I went through a few years ago.

It is quite remarkable the effects the mobility work has, though I'm a long way off getting hands below feet for Jefferson Curls - hence the spectacular lack of progress on MN/PE2 - the fact that FL/PE1-4 feel smooth and not like the wheels on a shopping trolley is probably the biggest win I've had yet!

Yes,  lovely today after a freezing Saturday! We were training wushu on th ANU oval today, whilst up till now we've been restricted to the gym

Wow, we lived in Hobart for 3 years and I thought that was cold but it never got done to -7. 

We also trained at a gym that had no heating so we often trained when it was between 3-5 degrees inside. Long warm ups and lots of layers of clothing were a must in those days. 

There is a chapter in the "Talent Code" where he talks about the Spartak tennis academy in Russia. Run down and freezing cold, sometimes challenging environments have a way to bring out the best in ourselves.

Great job!