By: Derek Wellock
I sit here on this Sunday morning in pain. My back is locked up. I have hurt myself before, but this time it is different because when I really get down to the nuts and bolts of why I am hurt I am disappointed.
Many of you know little baby Claire has come into my life recently. Having her has been the greatest thing ever, but with being a new dad I have to reevaluate some things about my personality. Joel knows the best, my struggles with being overly competitive. I really hate loosing at anything. This has been a great strength but also a great weakness. Ever since my wrestling career ended, I have been looking for that next thing to compete at, and then competitive exercising came around. Alvie introduced me to Welded about 5 Years ago and from that point on I was hooked. I could workout, and compete everyday. This filled a large void I had inside me. With that said, Welded for competing and Welded for health are two completely different animals and this is where my ego check needs to happen, and my ego needs to take a back door for my health. Especially as a new dad.
It’s hard to write this. I believe I am a pretty good athlete and a huge part of me wants to continue to train and compete with the guys at the gym. My little brother Jacob (who is now bigger and a lot stronger than me for the first time in my life) has turned into an animal, which I am super proud of him, but I would be lying if I said I wasn’t jealous that I can’t be there training beside him to compete. I know I am not the only one who struggles with this overly competitive animal inside. I have talked to many people at the gym who struggle with the same thing.
Being competitive is our culture and its part of who we are. We should not change it or tone it down, but what we need to do is choke the shit out of our ego, and start looking at life through the eyes of a mature older athlete and not the young high school or college athlete that was 10-30 years ago for some of us. 13 years ago, was my prime time as an athlete. I wasn’t a husband, dad, or business owner. I was 18 years old and all I had to worry about was training for wrestling and go to school. Looking through those eyes, it was great to push the limits of my body all the time. Today it is not responsible for me to approach things like this. I am not saying I am going to roll up in a corner and feel sorry for myself, but I am going to pursue my fitness goals with a more mature outlook.
This starts with checking my ego at the F****** door when it is time to workout. The best part of Welded is the daily competition. It breeds intensity which is the only way to truly get results in a short 1-hour workout. So, I must keep intensity. But when I am tired from the baby keeping me up, stressed, sore, and stiff, maybe the new mature thing to do is scale the weight down. I always feel like I have to do advanced in class, but let’s be honest is there a prize at the end of the wod for doing advanced and hurting myself more or is the bigger prize getting a good workout in and being healthier and more energized for my family, and not sitting here complaining about my sore back.
There is not a single activity that is better than Welded for all around health and fitness which works so well in such a short time frame each day. It improves your strength, bone density, endurance, balance, coordination, flexibility, stability, focus, and so much more in an hour each day. Constantly learning new skills and improving old ones. Nothing is better. There are activities that are fun, but there is not a single gym activity that can produce the results that Welded can. I must keep my competitive side, and I will keep doing Welded every day. But what I won’t do is let my ego control my life. I will scale weight if I am not feeling great. I will slow down if my body is not on point. On the days I feel awesome I will go up in weight and push the limits of my body.
God made the human body an amazing machine and it would be tragic to sacrifice it to mediocrity. Excellence is the only option. But getting there maturely, by constantly improving everyday injury free, because I keep the ego I check. This is me looking at my health, fitness, and competitive side through the perspective of a husband, father, and business owner, and not a teenage athlete who can’t let go of the glory days.
GROUP CLASS WORKOUT
Warm Up:
20/15 cal machine
20 scorpions, 20 KBS Russian, 5 inchworms
2 Rounds 15 PVC PT, 15 air circles both directions, 12 v-ups
Strength:
8 Sets Every 1:20
2 Power Snatch + OH Squat
Lean: 3 Hang Power Snatches
Metcon:
Welded
14 Min AMRAP
Buy In: 75 Ab Mat Situps
8 Push Press 95/65
9 Pullups
40 DU
Adv: 115/75
Welded Lean
14 Min AMRAP
Buy In: 90 second plank
8 Box Jumps 24/20
9 KB Swings 53/35
10 Cal Alt. Machine
Mobility of the day: Overhead Tissue Smash (pg. 255)
Improves: Overhead position and Shoulder Pain
OPEN GYM
8 to 9am
SKILLS CLASS
4:30 to 5:30 With Coach Leo
- Pull ups practice
- Back accessories
COMPETITORS CLASS
6:30 to 8pm With Coach Jacob