As I walk into the gym, I am still bothered by today's stresses and disappointments. I have a lot on my mind, but I know I will soon be escaping my day-to-day worries. As I look through my training journal I realize that today's workout will involve deadlifts. It dawns on me that what was celebrated as a victory the last training session is only a measuring bar of progress today.

As I walk past the people to the seldom used deadlift platform, I try to block out all the chit chat. I wonder why these people are here. They don't seem to be doing anything related to training. I then remember that I have only so much energy and I need to focus it on the upcoming task at hand.

The Ipod comes to life as I begin the warm up sets. The blood begins to pump through my vains more rapidly as my body begins to adjust to the load. Each warm up set is one step closer to the day's ultimate challenge.

Alas, the time is here. The weight is loaded and the objective is clear. I am not at a war with the weight, I am at war with myself. The focus is becoming more intense now as my mind is locking in to the task. I grab a bystander to count reps because I know all of my focus must remain on the lift. I begin pulling the weight up, rep by rep, forgetting about everybody else in the gym. I hear a beastly scream as I pull and I'm somewhat surprised that it is coming from me. My mind is clearing, only hearing Master Of The Puppets in my headphones. Another rep and another, now I am in THE ZONE. My mind is completely blank, all the stress and disappoints of the day are gone. Another rep, getting harder and more painful. My body is shaking and my mind is whispering one more rep then quit. I manage one more and my body is screaming for mercy. My mind tells me it is ok to drop the weight but my heart says no. Another rep and I am begining to get blurred vision. Every instinct in me says stop but my heart says anything short of absolute failure is failure. I yank to the bar once more. Eyes bloodshot, heart pounding, head hurting, back breaking, one more rep. As I near the conclusion of the last rep, I hear a blood curdling scream come from my mouth. My body fails and the weight comes crashing to the ground.

As my senses begin to return, I realize the onlookers are shaking their head. Is it disbelief or disrespect, at this point I don't have the energy to care. My mind is coming back to reality and my body is struggling for balance. Deep inside I realize that the last rep was not a failure, in this game I have to fail in order to succeed.
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good read, pumps me up for my workout tonight

Really interesting, you are very talented, try to write a book, or may you already have one?

Thanks, Q. No books, don't have enough patience and focus to sit down and write one. Just moments of inspiration!

A burst of sheer genius my friend!

i feel the same way before i started my diet plan. well good mind setting will help you a lot on getting with your prospect body. i cant say that iam successful but still i'am working on it..