Back At It Again

Usually every 2-3 years, I end up having some issue with my back when I'm deadlifting. It is always me reaping the consequences of not listening my instincts, and pushing ahead with a heavy lifting day when I'm fatigued.

It's been about 4 weeks since I pulled a single at 315 pounds and my whole lower back tightened up. There hasn't been any pain, beyond the discomfort of having really tight lower back muscles that get aggravated by sitting for long periods of time. I've been able to squat fairly heavy — 365 pounds for multiple sets of 5 — but even using the trap bar for light deadlifts was a no-go.

Aside from having a mattress that, realistically, needed to be replaced several years ago, I'm also having to reckon with the fact that I'm probably expecting a little too much, performance-wise. I've solved the mattress problem and, no shit, it made a big difference — proper sleep is expensive but a worthwhile investment.

I now have to internalize the fact that I am 5 years older and 30 pounds lighter than when I would squat multiple sets of 405 pounds and deadlifted my way up to a 500 pound lifetime PR. I don't think I'm declining because of age per se, but rather because my circumstances are so much different than they were back then. The pandemic-era closures were (mostly) over with, my gym was a 7-minute walk from my front door, and I was still working shorter days exclusively from home.

Fast-forward to present day: my gym is a 15 minute drive, I go from 5:30am to 7:00am, I work longer days and they are exlusively in the office. I've slowly lost the majority of the bulk I gained midway through my lifting journey and now I walk around just-under 200 pounds. Pound-for-pound I am much stronger; my conditioning is better; and, honestly, I look a lot better. But, man, I miss those old numbers — and the equipment I had back then.

I'm slowly figuring out what works with my new schedule, and I foresee myself probably making better progress once I accept some limitations. I'm experienced enough at lifting that, in order to improve, I need to put a little more thought into what I'm doing — and not be such a creature of habit. I've known what I need to do for a while, I'm hopefully getting closer to putting it intro practice.