The Icebox

Monday I learned two things. #1 - Cold weather and even colder barbells and plates make for an absolutely miserable training day. #2 - Walking into the gym with no plan is as productive as not walking into the gym in the first place.

Currently we are undergoing expansion at the training compound. Hopefully, in a few weeks we'll expand to 1400 sq. ft. and all my hopes and dreams of having large private training facility will begin to be realized. But thanks to a blast of Canadian air, our little uninsulated steel building barbell club feels more like a meat locker than a gym right now. The barbells in the early morning below freezing temperatures make you hands ache they are so cold, it's like grabbing fire ants, and i've found you spend nearly as much time warming up as you do actually training.
I went in Monday to begin preparation for the various upcoming strongman shows in GA this spring. I had high hopes for the day, but most of them froze solid and fell to the ground when I woke up to 28 degree temps. Plus the landlord had removed some walls as part of the expansion and his junk and bolts and screws were everywhere and there were plently of new holes to let in the draft (Our propane heater did nothing to combat this kind of cold). Everything was in disarray and more importantly I had not plan for training. Sure maybe a loose idea, but no script to follow. And in my foggy, early morning daze and the ice cold temperatures, no plan was going to get formulated on the spot. So I stood around and looked stupid for a while, tried to train for stones, made a half hearted attempt at doing something that looked like exercise, and then sipped on my coffee and called it a day. I accomplished nothing except mild sleep deprivation from crawling out of my warm bed so early. So, from now on I'm going to do a better job of planning, I'm going to script my workouts and dress in three layers of clothes(and a hat, and gloves), and try and make some honest to goodness progress (even in these unfavorable conditions). I'm also going to look into that wood buring stove I've always wanted...