I was fired up.

Maybe it was the little extra calories I had the day before after being in a caloric deficit for a few weeks.

Maybe it was my first few clients that came in before the sun was up and worked their rear ends off.

Maybe it was just one of those day.

I was all set to squat a thousand pounds. Hit the weights with a passion and aggression.

Then I started feeling a little kink in my shoulder. Even with a good warmup. For a moment I got mad.

Again..? Come on!

So I said ok, it's not my day for putting a bar on my back and squatting so I did some variations instead.

Worked the legs. That was the point anyway.

I had my mind set on doing the squats a specific way but I've learned to listen to my body as it gives clues to what is feeling right and what isn't.

In previous years I would just push right through that little pain and maybe nothing came of it...or maybe it got worse. That has happened many times over the years and I think maybe (finally) I have learned to take the signals and adapt on the fly.

Live to fight another day.

One of the only things we have control over, our fitness. And at my nice young age of 37, with almost 20 years in the gym and many years before that playing baseball, football, hockey.. I think it's a good idea to train in a way that builds my body/mind up, rather than snap up the joints.

So get in the gym and get crazy. But have the awareness to listen when you should hold back, or switch it up or adapt in some way to make progress rather than regress.