Overcoming The Fear of The Unknown. Using New Lifting Bars and Routines To Overcome Gym Anxiety.

     Today I had a workout set up alongside Brandon McConnell, who is into strength training and powerlifting as well. I love pushing my body to its limits. But I was scared, or maybe I should say, my anxiety was a little high. I knew it would be different than the normal routine of just working up progressively to a set of reps or a certain amount of weight and then just finish out with some assistance exercises.  I knew I was stepping out of my "comfort zone".  That is a lot of our problems as people, we are too afraid to step out of that said comfort zone and grow (and Im not just talking about muscles growing.) We become too content on being complacent and this stagnates our ability to adapt to new things. (I still struggle with it to this day).


     As I said, I knew I was stepping outside of my comfort zone and was a bit apprehensive when I got there. The gentleman and his wife were nice to both my brother and I and were very knowledgeable about what they were doing and talking about. That definitely help with the anxiety a bit. To start, we did Cambered Bar Squats. This was a big challenge for me because all my powerlifting career I only ever used a regular bar. The cambered bar really challenged me. I worked up to my way of 325lbs with chains included and had to focus real hard on staying tight on the negative part of the lift (the eccentric which remember I wrote about why it's important right here http://laytonslifechoice.blogspot.com/2018/05/why-eccentric-part-of-lift-is-important.html ) because it forces you to use your legs and get away from using your back. I almost had 360 (with chains included) but I know it was not a strength issue, just need to get more work in on using it and before I know it, I know I will be able to master its use and increase my leg strength


    Next we did four sets of eight reps with snatch grip deficit deadlifts. This challenged me not only on the deficit alone, but the width of the grip made it seem and feel like the deficit was greater. But I calmly yet with precision,
was able to power my way through the sets with ease and engage my targeted muscles. After that we did 4 sets of belt squats, and made did this fire and activate your glutes!  Standing there between 30-60 seconds holding up 600-700lbs. with just my legs keeping it up while the belt wrapped around my torso really made my legs feel shaky for a lack of a better term after each set. But boy could I feel the effects!


    We finished up with swinging a kettlebell up. I just did two sets of 15 reps since Im trying to focus more on getting the form down. But what you do is you take a band, step on it in a certain manner so that the band is being stepped on but also around your ankles and you push forward with your glutes and swing it through into the air. Another great exercise for the glutes.


    After it was all said and done, I was happy! Not just for the hard work I had put in, but for doing something new and stepping outside my comfort zone because I knew I would be exposing myself to something completely new. Now that I have done it, I know what to expect for next time and I will be ready! That is what my life choice is all about. Not only growing physically with strength and muscles, but overcoming something which my anxiety may rise from, meeting it head on, and coming out on top!