Some days how much weight I lift surprises the heck out of me.

I dragged my butt into CrossFit last night in a really terrible mood. I felt tired and run down physically, and I'd just been handed some rather big and sad news at work, so mentally and emotionally, I wasn't really there.

I figured I'd just lift a little easier, push it enough, but not to the point where I'm dropping weight on my head or toes or something.



We got through our warm up, and I did what I needed to get it done and nothing more.

We moved on to lifting. My program had called for deadlifts, presses and carries last night. The presses and the carries were nothing to write home about. I upped my weight on the carries, but stayed the same on the presses. Fine by me.

The deadlift plan was two sets of five. My previous PR was 133 pounds, and I had no intention of lifting more than that last night.


My former deadlift PR

I went through a few warm-up sets to solidify my form, and then started loading up the bar with weight.

103 felt easy. 123 felt easy.



133 was tough, but not as tough as normal.

So I threw 10 more pounds on the bar. Figured what the heck, I'd give it a go.

Banged out five reps and felt really good about it.

No clue where that came from, but just like that I've got a new deadlift PR.

And it happened on a day when I dragged myself into the gym feeling like crap, when a big tub of ice cream, my bed and PJs sounded so much more appealing.

I guess it just goes to show that even on days you feel drained, exhausted and utterly crap-tastic, you can still make gains -- and surprise the heck out of yourself -- in the gym.