"Summer Camp"

Training away from your coach or team is a lot like going to summer camp as a kid.

Summer camp is the first time where you get to make your own rules, your own bed time, deciding whether or not to brush your teeth, and eat your vegetables. It's your first glimpse at responsibility, and being in charge of yourself. Your parents aren't there to hold you accountable for your choices.

Training alone is similar, there's no coach to keep you on track in the workout, no teammates to push you. You get to decide if you're actually going to do those extra sets of squats or pulls, if you're going to focus on finishing on your assistance work, or just call it a day early.

Training away from my coach has been tough. Training with Jon was a blessing, absolutely the best environment I have ever trained in. Every day he brought intensity to the workouts, he pushed me past my mental barriers. At the same time he knew when I was done, when I had nothing left. Training alone under The Dark Orchestra programming has brought about some challenges. I am the only one in my gym who knows my prescribed workout, and as the coach of the barbell club I often train before or after team practice, with a few stragglers in the gym, and sometimes no one.

I'm not gonna lie, sometimes it's hard to push myself training solo. If I skip the last few sets, or ditch my assistance work no one is there to call me out on it. I could easily skip out on the last 10% of every session, and I would be the only one who knew.

But remembering why I'm training has, for the most part, kept me honest. Climbing the ladder and getting stronger, putting up a higher total, qualifying for national meets. All of this is a fire inside me that keeps me going. I've spent a lot of time telling people what I want to do in the sport of weightlifting, and I'm a man of my word.

One thing that helps is the unique community we have on Team DO. We have a private Facebook group where all of the athletes post videos and questions to be critiqued and answered by the coaches. If I don't post the team will call me out, the coaches will call me out, much like I do if I see others not posting. It may not be the same as having a team atmosphere at the gym, but it's a hell of a lot better than nothing.

I know that by not giving 100% on my workout I'm not only letting myself down, but my teammates and coaches down as well.