PDXStrength News

Blog 9 – Weekly Challenge Update/New Challenge, Equipment Ideas and Reminders

Week 5/Blog 9! Never thought that I’d have this opportunity to start and keep a blog running for this long, but here we are. It’s been an enjoyable experience for me cathartically pretending like I’m talking to each of you individually as I compose my 500 words oh so carefully. For those that didn’t think it could be done… YES, I am struggling at times to come up with things to say. Again, any feedback or topics you want to know or read about through my lens, please throw them at me. 

Last week’s challenge was mottos and hashtags. I’m happy to report that all teams have turned in submissions. Before I tell you what they are, this week’s team challenge is to:

• Post photos of PDX Strength swag while doing any of your weekly challenges using @pdxstrength, your team motto, and your team hashtags! (What’s that?! Don’t have PDX Strength gear/swag? Jocelyn and crew are making home deliveries for that too!)

Now for the mottos and hashtags to use:

• Apocolifters – “Sweating through the Apocalypse.”  #dystopianburpees
• CHOMA-19 – “Choming to get ya!” #chomingtogetya
• Quaranteam – “Be the gains you want to see in the world.” #LiveLoveLift
• QOTDs – “Questioning everything daily.” #wehavetheanswers #daybydaybyday #theanswerkey

Equipment Ideas and Reminders

As to balance my blogs with a lot of intention and feelings, it’s probably a good idea to supplement that with a little more humor or practical information. Since we are seemingly in this for the foreseeable future, we wanted to give some guiding principles while we work out at home, so here goes:

• It’s ok to slow down. Sometimes we can get a little ahead of ourselves, especially if we have a clock or are really trying to motivate ourselves, but at the same time we are at home. We might find ourselves taking breaks more during workouts since we are at home. Your dog peed in the house. Your kid needs his butt wiped. Your partner ran out toilet paper. You left the coffee pot on. 
• We need more space than we probably realize. There are valuables residing in your “gym” space now. Take inventory of breakables (I live by this creed at all times – I’m just not very good at remembering), sharp edges, and living beings. Just because that sharp object is “over there” does not mean that it’s out of the way. Think to yourself, “If I were in a pillow fight, could/would ‘object X’ be in the way?”
• Increasing weights should be down gently. See above, but also know that we may not have spotters and/or support that we have had otherwise. AND that we may or may not have warmed up to a weight that we may have previously lifted in optimal conditions. Also, consider whether or not if dropping said weight will cause your doomsday-prepping neighbor to bug out thinking that “the big one” has finally hit Portland, and of course it’s happening during a pandemic. 
• As we program more and more things, try to find:
  • Something to jump on (BEDS!? No, Dylan.), and step off. Ideally, this something firm without slick surfaces on top or bottom. It also doesn’t have to be that high, we can just jump maximally and land to a lower target. Stacked weights work great, as would something like bricks/pavers/landscaping or stairs/steps. 
  • Something to pull on. DO NOT try to do a pull-up on the door. Yes, it can work. Yes, people do it all over social media. No, we will not guarantee that the hinges you are hanging on will support anything more than the weight of the door. There are a few door jam options that would be ok to use, but I personally like an inverted row under a heavy desk or table. 
  • Somewhere to do handstands. Very similar to all the above. Take an inventory of the space. Have an exit strategy. Also, I have a really close friend (name rhymes with, Bylan) that has kicked through drywall in an effort to “work on (his) handstands.” Unless you have the heel control of a ninja doing a roundhouse kick, perhaps find a hard surface to kick up in to – exterior walls may be better than interior walls. 
• Have fun. All of this should be about you. Be safe, be careful but have a blast. Play loud music. Jump on beds. Build forts.  Kick through the drywall. Yes, you won’t have a nice wall any more, but you’ll have a hell of a story. 

Blog 8 – Weekly Challenge Update, Reframing Why We Train 

Hi! (Totally running out of unique ways to start these…)

WEEKLY CHALLENGE UPDATE

A few folks have asked, so I wanted to add a little clarity around the weekly challenge. The individual challenges will remain the same week-to-week. Our goal with these are to try and help maintain, or build, our routines in a longer term way. We don’t have any expectation that you’ll reach 10 points each week, but we do want to help you build more time for you in some uncertain times. 

The 5-point team challenge will change every week.  This challenge should be all fun, our intention is for folks to participate with their coach and team to build a little camaraderie. 

I’m excited to see the mottos and hashtags that folks come up with. 

REFRAMING WHY WE TRAIN

FAIR WARNING – This section is going to get a little more feelings-oriented as we revisit and build upon one of the previous conversations. This one a little more pointed towards why we train and reframing how we talk about PRs. 

There is no question that the four walls and all of the equipment at PDX Strength provide us tools that physically challenge us. Some of us may have used those tools to find your first pull-up or push-up, or run a mile faster than you thought possible, or lift more weight than Atlas. All of these things are fantastic, and they provide us an easy connection to rationalizing why we go to the gym. They are tangible things – gold stars of achievement, if you will. Infinitely motivating as long as the tools are available… But now, most of us don’t have the same tools and our physical setting is not train-dodging through a park or finding a level spot to deadlift.  The PRs aren’t coming, the faster times aren’t there, and cathartically throwing heavy shit might be manifesting in a differing form of anger or stress. All of that is ok. Emotions are as normal as they are hard. 

But the coaches at PDX Strength know that all of you are capable of making it through a very odd and hard time. “How?!” you might be asking. Well because every time you set a new PR, we see you change and grow as a person. We see you fight. We see your resilience. And we see that in you now. You see when we are in the gym, we’re not growing bigger butts; we’re growing bigger brains. The butt stuff is just a nice side effect (For those of you wondering my “No touching in the gym unless you consensually touch outside of the gym” is still strongly in effect… Perhaps now more than ever.). When we recreate, we slow things down, remove the clutter of stress, recharge our batteries, and come out the other side a better version of ourselves. It makes us better people, better friends, better partners, better professionals, better handlers of adversity – like a global pandemic. 

So I’ll give you that your PRs aren’t coming and you might even lose a little strength and conditioning along the way; hell, our bodies might even change too. But Strength Tribe, we’re prepared for this. We’re slowly adjusting and learning that the four walls of PDX Strength down by the tracks exist in you and your home or park or garage as much as it does down around a stop sign on N Bradford. 

This is hard. No one will deny that. But you are more capable and stronger than you know.