PR’s are cool, but..

Personal records are cool and all, but don’t allow them to define your worth. Of course, for professional athletes in weightlifting & powerlifting, we use those PR’s to determine where we are at within our goals and wanting to increase weights, but sometimes we need to take a step back and re-evaluate the situation and look at the bigger picture; which happens to be our consistency and dedication. I love a good ego boost when hitting heavier weights, but sometimes it can be a huge hit to the ego when I don’t hit a new PR each week, its almost like we get rejected after putting in so much work. I’ve known people to rely on their PR’s and when they don’t hit one, they give up or get angry with the process. Not always is a PR a good thing, not when you are pushing your body beyond its means in order to gain it (unhealthy manner), not when you are sacrificing attitude and dedication to achieve it. I figure it like this, if you hit a PR — AWESOME! but if you don’t, and sometimes you won’t, then take it with a grain of salt, because we are human and we aren’t perfect 100 percent of the time. 

The point of working out, regardless if you are an athlete or not, is to stay healthy, to discipline yourself & to gain insight on your strengths and weaknesses (while working on the weaknesses to make into strengths) and of course to enjoy the process no matter how hard it gets, because in time, it will pay off. If you forget those steps & focus on hitting new PR’s each week, it will get old fast & it will weigh you down when it comes time you fail. I want PR’s to be a bonus to your workouts, a goal that is achievable & as a means of an ego boost to your confidence; all the while pinpointing your weaknesses before a competition so that you can use it to excel. Your gym worth is based on how you feel when you leave the gym, how you feel about yourself when you see small bouts of progress or obstacles that seemed rather hard but you hurdled; nothing compares to the process. It’s like watching yourself evolve. PR’s shouldn’t hold you down, or make you feel weak, they should give you a reason to keep pushing, prevent you from wanting to give up and make working out a fun journey. Even so, being an athlete, it’s hard not wanting to PR frequently in our sport and as a powerlifter, you learn that PR’s can come from various forms (not just lifting heavier) — and while that is the overall goal, you hope to see yourself transform into a stronger person in other ways as well. 

Thanks for reading, hope all of you enjoyed a fun tip to share with your peers, feel free to reblog, share, comment and like!