Road to Nationals 3: Are your goals screwed up, or is it just you?

Road to Nationals 3: Are your goals screwed up, or is it just you?

Craig Gilbert

So here I am, six weeks out from the Canadian Masters Nationals and with absolutely no chance of meeting my initial goal weight. Ugh!

I thought that I was doing everything right. I have a good meal plan, I’m training hard and I don’t really cheat on my diet that much (honestly Alex!). But the pounds just aren’t flying off like I thought they would.

That’s not to say that I haven’t been making positive improvements. I’ve lost maybe slightly under a pound a week, but easily an inch and a half off of my waist. My legs are exploding, and I actually have a bit of an ass. Not some hang-my-shirt-on-my-butt ass like Paul’s, but it’s definitely there. I’m getting some man-sized shoulders, but do I still have a bit too much body fat? Yup. So what gives?

I was discussing this with my weightlifting coach Terry Hadlow, and the conversation went something like this:

Me: “Hey Terry, I’m down to xxx kg.”

Terry: “Well, you’re probably not going to get down to 105.”

Me: “Well not by April I won’t, but sometime this year I will.”

Terry: “No, I mean not ever.”

Terry explained that as long as I was training as an Olympic weightlifter, it was unlikely that I would lose enough weight to drop below 105kg and into a lower weight class while still building strength. Every ounce of fat that I burnt off was going to be replaced (ideally) with some lean muscle mass. I’ll definitely lose some weight, but not as much as I thought that I would. The conversation continued something like this:

Terry: “Why 105kg? Is that some ultimate goal?”

Me; “No, as long as I lean out a bit and lose some body fat while continuing to build strength, I’ll be happy.”

Terry: “Well then, why not make a body type your goal then, instead of some random number?”

And with that, a light went on! I had thought that if I dropped to a particular weight, I would automatically have met all my other goals. If I was just 230lbs, then I’d be strong, and powerful, and lean. But that’s a bit backwards. I should be focused on being strong and powerful and lean, and whatever number ends up being associated with that result doesn’t really matter. I was looking in the mirror and seeing positive changes, but was still frustrated because I wasn’t seeing the number drop. Now I’ll use those visible changes as my barometer for progress, and maybe not be too concerned with the number on the scale.

So what about competing? Well since I’m going to remain in the highest (and strongest) weight class for a while, then I guess I’m just going to have to get stronger...