Mahler’s Monday Morning Motivator # 125 – Standing on the Plateau - JP Fitness Forums

Mahler · 07-24-2006, 07:49 AM

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Mahler’s Monday Morning Motivator # 125 – Standing on the Plateau

Standing on the Plateau

It happens to all of us, sooner or later. You are plugging along, making steady progress. Each day is bringing to you new accomplishments. Each task is completed with greater efficiency or speed. Every undertaking gives better results. And then, suddenly and without notice, one day, it happens. You stall. The gains begin to dwindle and become harder to achieve. You do what you have always done, but seem unable to do more. You have reached the dreaded plateau.

I became a victim of the deadly “p” word recently while doing dead lifts. I had fought my way from a long-standing 335 and made steady progress finally reaching 385. I was blithely heading toward the landmark 405; a landmark for me, at least. Somehow the thought of an Olympic bar with four big plates on each side and me standing in the middle supporting it at the end of my arms after having lifted it from the floor was a picture I could not get out of my mind. Call it vanity; call it pride; call it insanity if you will, but that picture is indelibly burned into the mental circuits somewhere and I just can’t get it deleted and the escape key seems to be broken.

What are we without depths to plumb and mountains to climb, even if they be fantasy? It is our goals and our dreams that transform themselves into the targets that we aim for throughout our lives. And there is a funny thing about a target. Even when you aim at it and miss, you have made progress. While that bulls-eye may elude you, you have come closer than you would if you had never fired a shot. So too, the man who has climbed and reached the plateau is higher and closer to the peak than the man standing in the valley below.

Plateaus are disappointing. There is no escaping that feeling. They are down right unnerving to anyone who possesses a single ounce of drive and determination. It is how we stand on that plateau that will be the defining moment of that particular journey. Yes, there will be doubt. Can I go farther or have I done as much as I can? Have I reached the end? Yes, there will be frustration. Why can’t I do this? What is wrong with me that I don’t seem to have the energy to get past this? And, yes, there will be that sense of dissatisfaction. Regardless of the great progress you might have made, it will all seem so much less, because you have somehow faltered in your quest.

The same is true in any aspect of our lives. It’s part of our nature if we are the type of person that has the need to succeed. Disregarding all that has come before, we get that “what have I done for me lately” feeling. That is when it is time to use the plateau as it was meant to be used. We can sit there and let our doubts, frustrations and dissatisfactions take hold and settle in comfortably or we can stand up, walk confidently and without hesitation, and look over the edge.

For a plateau is nothing more than a resting place from which you look down on how far you have come, before trying to climb higher.

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Have a Great Week

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ninja · 07-24-2006, 07:55 AM

Mahler · 07-24-2006, 07:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ninja

OldGuy · 07-24-2006, 07:59 AM

Niiiicccceeee!!!!

Thanks, John.

ODB · 07-24-2006, 08:30 AM

I was just thinking about this during my morning run. Probably should have been concentrating on the run.

Blackjack · 07-24-2006, 08:31 AM

Quote:

For a plateau is nothing more than a resting place from which you look down on how far you have come, before trying to climb higher.

Another great quote...thanks John.

Ted

buster · 07-24-2006, 08:45 AM

Another excellent MMMM, John. Plateau's are a natural part of this game we play. If we didn't have these new challenges to overcome every so often we could just sit on the sofa and eat chips.

gobbla · 07-24-2006, 10:45 AM

awesome.

Iamjennmedic · 07-24-2006, 11:41 AM

John, how true this is. I am struggling right now to pull myself outta my plateau. Your words constantly inspire me and I find myself repeating them in the gym when struggling with myself. Thanks for the nudge

GG300 · 07-24-2006, 12:22 PM

How painfully true you are.

Irishdazza · 07-24-2006, 01:54 PM

True...all too true.

K-Court · 07-24-2006, 03:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Blackjack

Another great quote...thanks John.

Ted

Gotta agree with Ted. That line's a classic!

Chris Correia · 07-24-2006, 03:48 PM

Plateau, schmateau.

Good one, John.

Lisa~ · 07-24-2006, 03:55 PM

Good read John.

jj · 07-24-2006, 11:50 PM

John, all I can say is WOW!

karkid · 07-25-2006, 12:02 AM

Last time my deadlift plateau'd at 335 too. I went to the chiropractor, got an adjustment, got a massage, and gave the deadlift a break for couple weeks. Then I took some spike and power drive, went back, and pulled 365.

I tried doing the same thing for my jump from 385 to 405, but i'm just plain not ready for it yet.

milkman21 · 07-25-2006, 06:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mahler

So too, the man who has climbed and reached the plateau is higher and closer to the peak than the man standing in the valley below.

That, my friend, is a gem.