Training Update & Determination

Training still going pretty well. Got 260x5 on bench Saturday, which was a PR (I'm pretty sure 255x5 the week before was as well). Admittedly, the technique can use some work, as I can feel the scapulae "riding up" (for lack of a better phrase), which, while it enables me to use more weight, will make for unhappy shoulders at some point. That said, it's a bit lighter this week, so we'll see what happens. This week is a bit of a deload, though I must say that squatting today went pretty damn shitty. 290x3 on my top set felt heavy as hell. Good thing it's a deload I suppose.

Among the many joys of parenthood, one is getting to see a little human mature from the completely helpless little thing you bring home from the hospital into a little person, and all the stages of development that go along with that. With my son coming up on 7 months, he's trying his damndest to start crawling. He can army crawl all over the place, and he can get up on all fours, and even crawl backward on all fours, but still no forward crawling in that position. But it's certainly not for a lack of effort. The kid pops up on all fours all the time, and is constantly trying. In fact, sometimes you can almost see his brain working, thinking "OK, now how the hell do I make this work?" It's truly amazing to watch (and I'd be lying if I said it doesn't make me a proud papa!). The determination that he clearly has to make it happen is pretty awesome to watch. While I do believe many of our traits are inborn, in that some babies are just inherently more active than others, I do think that things like curiosity and determination are also traits that are mostly inherent. However, over time I think these traits are slowly pulled out of kids, as they begin to be coddled and roped in. Rather than being allowed to explore and feed their curiosity and thirst for knowledge, they are given the answers and told to sit down. Over time, this becomes the modus operandi, and the child essentially thinks this is the way of the world. I am much more of the school of thought of allowing him to explore and make his own mistakes (possible fatal or severe-injury inducing mistakes notwithstanding) in an effort to find the answers he seeks. I can only hope that his curiosity and determination stick with him and continue to blossom the same way his motor abilities are as well.