Tough or Reasonable?

Well, the past few weeks have been an absolute whirlwind.  Besides this past weekend being the 4th of July, I’ve been jam packed at the gym during a normally slow-ish time.  Oh, AND Lindsay and I moved from Brighton to Somerville on July 1st.  

Suffice to say, it’s all been a bit nuts. 

It may come as no surprise that during this hectic time, I’ve heeded the advice of legendary strength coach Dan John:  When it comes to diet and workouts, is it time to be tough?  Or, just reasonable?

To get a better grasp of what I mean, here’s the original article that was published on T-Nation, “Tough or Reasonable.”  Dan John talks about how there are only a few times each year when one can really expect to be tough in either diet, exercise, or both.  Most of the time, it’s perfectly fine to be reasonable in both and accept that it’s all you can manage.

With my work schedule picking up, and getting my life in order as a new Somervillian (yup, that’s my new name for living on this side of the Charles River) , I realized that I can’t be as “tough” in every aspect of my life.  What used to be a tough diet and tough workouts have now both been relegated to “reasonable” until a date to be named later.

Do I still have my goals of deadlifting 400 and overhead pressing 200 before the end of the year?  Of course I do.  But am I willing to take a slower approach, and enjoy the ride?  Absolutely, because I have faith that I’m still on the correct path.

Contrary to what you may hear, having the courage to do less is not an easy way out.  In fact, sometimes it’s just the opposite.

 ….and the brevity of this blog post can surely attest to that. 🙂