Check out one of our six E-Books:
• “Squat Every Day”
• “Eat What You Want”
• “Squat Every Day 2”
• “No Weaknesses”
• “Mash Program Sampler”
• “The Mash Blueprint for Program Design”
Check them out here: ⇒ Mash Elite E-Books
Slight Set Back
Lately I have been writing about all the great things going on with my training. Well today I am going to give you a dose of real life and how I handle it. Monday was probably the greatest day of training that I have experienced during this comeback. I benched a pr 375lb and hit a pr squat of 255k/563lb. Everything seemed to be heading in the right direction.
On Tuesday I caught a 115k/253lb Snatch, which would have been a 5k PR in this comeback of mine. Instead, I tore my right tricep. Actually that was good news because I thought I snapped my elbow. I am waiting to set up my MRI to find out how badly I tore it. Hopefully it was just a mild tear, which means that I will be ready to go in a couple of weeks. If it’s bad enough, then I will need to get surgery.
This is a pretty big let down as I was just getting in shape enough to consider competing, but such is life. This is just another chance for me to learn some lessons in perseverance. That’s the thing about the barbell. Training will normally mirror life. It’s full of ups and downs. It’s all about how we as individuals handle those ups and downs. That’s what truly defines us as strength athletes.
It’s easy to be the king of the hill when everything is cruising along. The question is, “What’s your attitude when things are dark and gloomy?” This is when your values will guide you. You have to know the answer to the following questions:
1. What’s important to you?
2. Why do you train in the first place?
The answers to these questions are keeping me sane right now. Let’s go through the questions, and you will see what I mean.
1. What’s important to Coach Travis Mash? Glorifying God is number one. Loving my family is number two. My athletes and friends come right behind. Then I want to inspire the world to live better, healthier, and more focused lives.
This injury bothered me at first for all the wrong reasons. I wanted to compete to show the world that I could still be strong at 43-years-old. That goal was too selfish. I am not sure that God was getting glory in any of that the way my motivation was becoming. Being healthy for my family is another reason that I train, so I can focus more on fitness and cardio now that my upper body is jacked. There was a part of me that was focusing at least as much on my training than my athletes.
I am just using this injury as a wake up call. I can still inspire all of you with the way that I rehab and comeback from this injury. I can now get in better conditioning which is better for my quality of life with my family. I can focus more on my athletes, which is always a good thing.
2. Why do I train? I train to inspire all of you, and to stay healthy for my beloved family. I want to affect as many lives as I can while still on this earth. This injury doesn’t change this goal what so ever. Therefore there is no reason to really be upset. I can just shift gears, and still inspire all of you to live healthier and more fulfilling lives.
Just writing these words pumps me up to see what I can do while I am nagged by this injury. See that, self-pity didn’t fit in any of those goals or answers. Here’s a bit of advice that I want to pass on to all of you. You can take it or leave it.
When you spend the majority of your time loving others, helping others, and inspiring others, you will notice more joy and love in your own life. That’s my secret. I don’t follow society’s catch phrase of “you have to love yourself”. Deep down, we all love ourselves. I have never met someone who didn’t love himself or herself. However I have met a bunch of people that love themselves and only themselves.
Where did that saying even come from? I mean maybe there are things in my life that I want to change. That doesn’t mean that I don’t love myself.
Here’s the thing though. If you are doing things for others because you expect something in return, then your motivation is selfish. That’s not what I am talking about. Truly loving other people is loving them and doing for them with no expectations. It’s a very hard concept, but if you are able to pull it off, your entire life will be flipped upside down.
I am not saying that I have this concept down. It was Christ that told us to love others. If I perfect it, that means I am probably dead and in heaven. I am just saying that it is something that we should all work to do. It’s a game changer y’all.
Anyways I hope that this helps all of you see how I handle an injury. It can be a trying time in one’s life. Hopefully I will handle it, and come out the other end stronger spiritually and physically.
Coach Mash