Training & The Inflexible Mind

Training still going well. This will be the final week of 5x5 coming up. I normally have been doing T/Th/Sat as my lifting days, however, due to scheduling this week I'm going the more traditional M/W/F. 345x3 on squat tomorrow, which hopefully won't be too bad (should be doable based on what I've been hitting lately), and 275x3 bench on Friday (eminently doable, and if I'm feeling good, may go for 5). Diet is still going. Again, I don't feel like I'm as lean as I should be, but it's only 5 weeks in. Patience...

I was recently listening to Dan Carlin's podcast. I first became familiar with Dan from Joe Rogan's podcast. Dan is a really smart dude, who's very into history and politics. He's an independent with an eye toward figuring out how to simply make the world a better place (and pointing out why politicians aren't doing so). In the podcast I was listening to, which was a year and a half old, Dan was talking about the need for a flexible mind when discussing the necessary changes in order to bring about a better world. Essentially, most people will simply reject his ideas because "they could never happen." If you're operating under the mindset that, for instance, we must have a 2 party system, or that revolutions can never happen, then you are absolutely correct. Many of the policies could never be enacted. But when you actual look at the whole of history, and realize that almost anything is within the realm of possibility, then you realize that change can happen. As usual, I related it to training very easily.
In the world of training, particularly for sport, the popular line of thinking is that of a separation of "sport practice" and "strength and conditioning." Under these umbrellas, then, there are discussions of the "best way" to get stronger, or more explosive (or whichever trait you deem necessary). This was the line of thinking I subscribed to for a while. While reading guys like James Smith, it made some sense to me, but not too much, because I couldn't possibly comprehend what he meant. Now that I have a much firmer grasp, and an understanding that training is training, it makes much more sense. The idea of strength or power for the sake of it is ridiculous. Everything must have a context. And it opens up a world of possibilities because you are not confined to traditional ways of thinking.