When It All Becomes Clear

By Zane Geeting

It happens to all of us, at least I think it does. Several times in my life things have become abundantly clear, and I’m sure I’m not alone here. Although I do wonder why a lot of people have no idea where they stand in life… That’s another topic for another day.

[wa-wps]

It can be the first time you realized that you have a terrific singing voice, or in my case, that you should never sing in front of anyone, ever. It might be the first time that you realized that you have a gift for strength, speed, or anything else. It can also be that you realized that you just aren’t cut out for something or that certain things just aren’t going to go your way. Now, that certainly doesn’t mean you lie down and quit, but it may mean that you take things in a slightly different direction. Being a defeatist sucks, but being self-aware is a great quality to have.

My latest moment of clarity came when talking to a lifter that I mentor and program training for. He’s a gifted individual and his strength has surpassed mine quickly. As we talked I realized how much hungrier he was than myself, and how much more time he devoted to training and doing the things that he needs to do to be successful. You see, I was sitting there talking to him in my barn, covered in dirt and pig shit, after working on the farm all day. This time was time that I used to spend working on recovery modalities. I also realized that I hadn’t eaten in about 7 hours and I was starving, something that never would have happened when I was living and breathing lifting. My priorities had changed; taking my farm from a hobby to a business had eaten up a lot of my time. Those of you who’ve followed me and my training in the past know that I already dealt with very limited time because of work, and several other activities. I always thought that no matter what I made the time to do what I needed to, to be a successful lifter… until this moment.

When I lost my right pec in 2011, I was climbing the ranks of powerlifting fast. I had taken myself from a very run of the mill lifter, to a high point of #7 in the yearly rankings in the total according to powerlifting watch, and #2 in the deadlift in my respective division.  I had planned on hitting an all-time top 20 total at my next meet. After I lost the pec my bench obviously took a huge hit, but my squat still progressed rapidly, and my deadlift was still creeping up as well. Those two lifts were right in the running with the best guys in the world actively competing, and I was convinced that I would still be one of them if I could just get my bench back to mediocre, it didn’t even have to be good. At the time I had squatted 935 and deadlifted 755, as those improved I figured I could carry my way through. The all-time top 10 in my class was a goal that I intended to see in the not so distant future.

12341333_895320780545731_5811814454163480579_n

Fast forward a couple years, and a whole lot of injuries later. It was becoming painfully obvious that things weren’t going to be as easy as I thought. On top of that my career was taking off, I got married, my wife and I bought a big old farmhouse that needed a complete renovation, I was trying my hand at farming, etc. Things were going great, but lifting was becoming less of a priority, and I didn’t even really notice it happening. I got healthy, trained when I could, picked a meet, and started my comeback. The all-time top 10 was still in my sights. I figured a pro total at my first meet back would be a good start, so I did it, 2100@220 at the XPC finals. I was right back on track and ready to go, but then was I?

Something always comes up in life, and what you do with that dictates what happens next. Do you address the issue, fix it, and move forward? Or do you brush it off and continue on the next path? You can only spread yourself so thin and expect to have any kind of success. A lot of people think that they can be successful at a lot of different things at the same time. I guess that all depends on your definition of success. This is where my latest epiphany really comes into play.

11009081_10153214448245250_8740852115503475301_n

Can I be a successful manager of my people at work, sustainable farmer, and powerlifter? Sure I can, but it my definition of success has to change a little bit. The goal in powerlifting is no longer to be one of the best guys to ever compete; I just cannot devote the time and energy that is needed to make that happen anymore. I instead am making a focus to train wise with the time that I have, and remain in the yearly top 10 rankings for my weight class. I believe that this would be a success for me personally with the hand that I have to play. Let’s be real, training two times a week for most of the year, and working around a life altering injury (less than half of a right pec remaining) isn’t really the perfect storm to be a world-class lifter. It’s silly to think that it would be.

Moving forward, I will pick back up on my training log for those of you who are interested in following it. I will include some looks into what I have going in life, and I will chronical my training with notes of how I’m feeling, what I’m doing, and why I’m doing it the way I am. As always I will be using the 10/20/Life principles that helped me have the limited success that I have had in the sport. I think this will be good for a lot of people to see, people who don’t think they have enough time to do anything noteworthy in powerlifting, or sports in general. I think that if we are realistic in our goals, and we train in a smart, consistent manner, a little bit can go a long way. I hope to showcase this, and I look forward to still reaching some personal goals while competing at a high level in the sport with this new refreshed outlook on my lifting. I hope that some others will be inspired and that I can be of some help to them. After all, that’s a large part of the reason I still do this; helping people is one of my passions.

The following two tabs change content below.
Avatar photo

Zane Geeting

Zane Geeting is a pro multi-ply powerlifter with best lifts of a 935 squat, 625 bench, and 765 deadlift. He is coming back to competitive PL after a year and a half layoff that was a result of several serious injuries including a severe rupture of the right pec that could not be repaired. Zane has an extremely busy schedule that would make most people quit before Friday. He works 55+ hours a week as a finance manager. As a renaissance man, he is also currently restoring a 140 year-old farmhouse and maintaining a hobby farm. Despite all this, Zane still finds time to train 2-3 times per week, as well as coach other lifters.  
Avatar photo

Latest posts by Zane Geeting (see all)

No Comments

Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time.

Contact Brian Carroll

Schedule A Consult Below


Take 25% OFF
Your first purchase
Subscribe Now!