The same obstacles that some people stumble and trip over are the springboards others use to leap ahead.  Life just dropped a great big stumbling block in our way and it is a great opportunity to examine how you respond to obstacles and a chance to practice optimizing your response.  Don’t deny your 7 stages of grieving, they’re going to happen.  Just sit with them, examine them, accept them and then get on with things.

As Dan John points out, there are positives to come from this and it’s not just silver lining stuff either.   How good does it feel to have some quality time with family?  To walk on the beach in the sunshine at 10am on a Tuesday?  To cook family meals together?  To exercise 5 days a week with your kids?  What about that commute from your bedroom to your laptop?  Good on the environment and allows you to trade in commute time for extra sleep.

Here’s what I wonder: when this is all over will we just go back to how we were living before or will we hang on to some of the great things that came out of this global health crisis?

And what about now?  Are you using this time productively to recharge, to reconnect, to get educated,  to get caught up, to get organized, to improve yourself or are you moping around in a funk?  Character is measured in how we respond to bad times.  Everyone can excel when the going is easy, who are you when the road gets rough?  Are you absorbed in feeling sorry for yourself or reaching out to lift others up?  As Victor Frankl taught us, we always have a choice in how we respond to life’s circumstances.

This is it!  This is your moment!  Life has just handed you an opportunity to choose who you want to be in the face of adversity!  And you’re up to the challenge.  I know this because I am your coach and I’ve been putting you through adversity in the gym every workout.  What did you think we were training for anyhow?  We’ve been developing your grit muscles, your heart, your perseverance, your determination and your community spirit.  You are ready for this challenge!  This is your spring board; go take that huge leap forward!

Thursday
Classes played with SLIPS and Back Squats and answered the question: what is your favourite lift?
1 vote each for the snatch, squat clean and floor press, 2 votes for back squat, OHS and SDHP (that’s a surprise), 4 votes for the clean & jerk and the deadlift was the winner with 5 votes!

Friday Zoom WOD

Warm Up:
3 rounds:
50 Single unders/jumps
10 Goblet Squats + Overhead Press
10 Door-frame squat pull ups

Triplet
3 Rounds:
250m Row
21 DB Thrusters @20/30#
12 C2B Pull Ups

Adapting
IF you don’t have a rower, you can do sumo deadlift high pulls as we did.  I did 25 reps per round with a picnic cooler filled with a sack of rice.  This should not be heavy but a weight that you can complete your “row” unbroken.  You could also substitute with a run or bike or swim of approximately 1 minute.

For the thrusters I used a case of coconut water.  The RX’d weights are light, the 21 reps are meant to be done unbroken, select your loading implements accordingly.

And I used chest-to-branch pull ups on our favourite tree in Almond Park.  As with Helen you should use a pull up alternative that allows you to keep your heart rate elevated.  For pull up alternative options you can review this video.

Cool Down
Hamstring stretch (calf stretch if you ran instead of rowed)
Quad Stretch
Lat Stretch
Shoulder pass throughs