Goals vs Expectations

So there I was, February 2013, looking over the Masters Weightlifting website and I see it.  The American Masters Weightlifting Championships are to be held in Savannah, GA in November of that year!  Sweet, I hadn’t been able to really compete the last couple of years because of my schedule.  But this year was going to be my year.  I have months to train for one competition.  I counted the number of days; I built a training program for the time period, dusted off the blender bottle and bought the protein powder from Sam’s Club.  I wrote out goals for the competition in the snatch, clean and jerk, and back squat.  I even broke them down into quarterly numbers that I needed to reach in order to achieve these “long range goals” in November.  I really geeked out!  I stalked potential competitors and found their best lifts to see how mine might stack up.  I not only expected to compete, but I expected to be as strong as I had ever been, and expected to win.

This was faulty thinking on my part.  The goal setting was great.  The preparations that I made were right on.  I scoped out the competition, I calculated squat numbers that I needed to be strong enough to achieve the kind of numbers I needed.  My flawed thinking came in the form of having expectations.  I EXPECTED to compete, I EXPECTED to get strong, and I EXPECTED to win.  Bad idea.  You see, goals and expectations are different.  Goals are something to plan out and shoot for while expectations are arrogant assumptions about how life will turn out just by crossing the fingers.  A set of goals is a step-by-step process to reach a milestone.  An expectation is really just a hope and a prayer based on life’s current layout.

As it turns out, I was unable to compete because of a hamstring injury that I didn’t EXPECT, four days out from the competition, using relatively light weight.   I was completely bummed for a couple of weeks.  I could not believe that I had worked so hard, I had planned, I had force-fed myself, and four days out it was all gone.  I wasn’t upset about failed goals; I was upset because of failed expectations.  So the moral to the story is, goals are for planning and expectations are for dreaming.

Major in the Major, not the Minor

I am going to pick on this idea of randomized training just a bit.  I have fallen prey to its allure before myself.  It sounds good, that if I train hundreds of things randomly I will get overall, more fit in the long run.  The idea that I can train jumprope one day, back squat another day, snatch, run, swim…. and keep going down the nearly infinite list of skills to be perfected, that I will eventually get good at them all.  The truth is I will still be terrible at each.  The problem with this approach is that I never really practice anything enough to become proficient at it.  It takes thousands of quality reps to really master something or even perform it fairly well at least.  I think that this “practice it all” approach is too much to handle.  Most of these skills are just arbitrary trivial tasks to some extent, until you have built your engine.  You are majoring in the minor to some extent.  I would prefer to major in the major.  Really get good at the proverbial “meat and potatoes” before concerning yourself with how many one-legged overhead squats you can perform with the barbell.  How about learning to squat way below parallel without your knees caving in?  So below is a list of minors you need not concern yourself with until years of good eating, sleeping, and training:

-Carbohydrate timing (morning, post workout, before 5pm?)

-Is the workout the perfect one?

-Supplements

-Heart rate during training

Major things to major in instead:

Sleep 8 hours per night uninterrupted

Eat primarily meat, veggies, and fruit

Don’t eat until you are stuffed

“Earn” your carbs with activity

Make your training point toward your goals

Have goals

Major movements in your training (squat, press, pull)

You've Got to Put Something In, To Get Something Out

After weeks and weeks of eating junk and training intermittently, your physical goals probably seem to be on the ropes.  January first seems to be the time of resolutions and promises.  I say good for you!  Just remember, in order to get a result, there must be an input.  The great Zig Ziglar will explain the rest.