Weather
The Pine Tree, News for Calaveras County and Beyond Weather
Amador Angels Camp Arnold Bear Valley Copperopolis Murphys San Andreas Valley Springs Moke Hill/West Point Tuolumne
News
Business Directory
Weather & Roads
Sports
Real Estate
Search
Weekly & Grocery Ads
Entertainment
Life & Style
Government
Law Enforcement
Business
Wine News
Health & Fitness
Home & Garden
Food & Dining
Religion & Faith
Frogtown USA
Calendar
Polls
Columns
Free Classifieds
Letters to the Editor
Obituaries
About Us


Log In
Username

Password

Remember Me



Posted by: thepinetree on 06/16/2013 01:14 PM Updated by: thepinetree on 06/16/2013 06:13 PM
Expires: 01/01/2018 12:00 AM
:

Sometimes Bad Math Makes Everything Add Up! By John Hamilton

Arnold, CA...As many of you know who have stopped by ThePineTree.net over the last 8 years we try to resist the urge to write editorials. We feel our readers probably do not care or should care what our personal thoughts are on a given matter. Today on Father's Day though I couldn't resist as I thought I should pass along a personal reminder that all of us have more strength than we think. I hope my experiences last night and this morning might help you redouble your efforts as it has really helped me. Ok enough stalling and onto the story...as some of you know at the ripe old age of 47 ½ I made the decision to try and get back into shape and after losing 70lbs or so and keeping it off I felt fairly positive about the progress on many levels...

The last couple of weeks however I felt like I was hitting the wall. I was afraid father time was catching up and I was starting the long, slow, slide of diminished expectations. Everything felt heavy, not only the weights in the gym but other areas in life as well.

It had been a busy week and I had missed a couple of days in the gym and it was late Saturday Night and I was hurrying to make up some workouts so that I could still tell myself I at least got them all in. The last 5-6 months I had set a goal of going up on every exercise 5lbs a month. A goal I had been reaching until this week and I just thought the run was just over.

So last night on the last set of the night I was doing a last set of curls. I had gone through all the dumbbells and I was loading up a curl bar with the next step up in weight. Last week 4 reps at the 5lbs higher than May weight felt like a 1,000lbs. I got it but I left bits of tendons and muscle fiber on the gym floor after I left.

This week I needed to go up to 6 reps. Just had to...the routine is to pick a number in your head and shoot for that number. Last week was 4 so this week had to be 6. So I pick up the weight and it felt not just heavy but the kind of heavy that I was thinking if it feels this heavy just to pick it up how can I expect to curl it?

Somehow I got the first rep up, then rep number two, by rep number four which I thought was last weeks total I literally felt like I was going to collapse under it. I just had to get those last two reps. At stake was not only this set of curls but I felt like my will to keep fighting in other areas of my life as well.

On rep five the left side started to give out and I kinda had to throw myself down and under it to finish the rep. Onto six...I just HAD to get six. Yes I admit it I yelled and shouted at myself you have to get this John. The mental gymnastics must have worked as rep six went up easier that rep five. I had done it and I was satisfied but still convinced that what I had just done was all I was ever going to be able to do.

I left the gym still feeling that age was really starting to impact my physical capabilities. This morning for some reason I went back to that last set. Actually thinking back to the weights as I had put them on the bar.

Then I broke out laughing...I had actually put 10lbs more on the bar. So last night on the set that I thought was all I could do and I had hit the wall, physically and mentally I had actually set a personal record and curled 10lbs more than I had ever curled in my life. I hadn't just set a personal record I had curled it 6 times!!!

So quite by accident and some late night bad math I had lifted more than I ever had on this exercise than even when I was a young man. It was only a small victory but for me on Father's Day it was a big one. It helped give me the strength to redouble my efforts to be a better man in all areas of my life.

To know on days where life just takes everything out of us and we feel that is it we can't do anymore, we may just have our math wrong. It may have been the best day we have ever had a we didn't even know it.

Last night was a concrete reminder that in life and in the gym most of our limits are self imposed regardless of our age. We are all more capable than we believe!!!

To all the Fathers out there including my father Jay Hamilton who passed away many years ago...Happy Father's Day!!! May we all be better men in the future!!!


Comments - Make a comment
The comments are owned by the poster. We are not responsible for its content. We value free speech but remember this is a public forum and we hope that people would use common sense and decency. If you see an offensive comment please email us at news@thepinetree.net

What's Related
These might interest you as well
Local News


Mark Twain Medical Center
Meadowmont Pharmacy
Angels & San Andreas Memorial Chapels
Bear Valley Real Estate
Gerard Insurance
Bank of Stockton
Fox Security
Bistro Espresso
Chatom Winery
Middleton's Furniture
Bear Valley Mountain Resort
Cave, Mine & Zip Lines
High Country Spa & Stove
Ebbetts Pass Scenic Byway
Sierra Logging Museum Calaveras Mentoriing
Jenny's Kitchen

Copyright © The Pine Tree 2005-2023