[Alon]

Over the past few years, I've been pretty serious about Olympic weightlifting, however the past year has been pretty pathetic. Injuries, and a shift in my life from being a student, to being a workaholic, have meant that my training is recreational at best.

Today, I decided to try have one last competition. I don't expect to lift anything huge, no personal bests, I just want to push a little bit harder and enjoy myself. Anyone else have this experience? Any advice on how to set a realistic goal (the competition is in late September)?

[DC-Chubbs]

cant help you due to inexperience but good luck

[DrBdan]

If you've been having trouble staying healthy and getting to the gym maybe a good goal would be to simply stay healthy until the comp and just increase your current max's by 10%. It could be something to strive for without killing yourself trying to get huge numbers. Just an idea.

[flak]

Originally Posted by Alon

Over the past few years, I've been pretty serious about Olympic weightlifting, however the past year has been pretty pathetic. Injuries, and a shift in my life from being a student, to being a workaholic, have meant that my training is recreational at best.

Today, I decided to try have one last competition. I don't expect to lift anything huge, no personal bests, I just want to push a little bit harder and enjoy myself. Anyone else have this experience? Any advice on how to set a realistic goal (the competition is in late September)?

Having been a workaholic in a couple of job situations in the past 10 years (and having little to show for it except gray hair and unhappy memories of arguments with my wife), I want to throw out something slightly off-topic but very important.

That is -- DO NOT be a workaholic unless you are damn sure there's a good payoff for you, either right now or in the foreseeable future.

Seriously. Some employers way demand more than they deserve, and some employees give it to them.

With that in mind, hell yes, do the comp, just to shift your mind back toward the idea that your life belongs to YOU, not to your employer.

As far as specific goals, I'd say focus on having fun. And why does this have to be your final comp? If it's because you "don't have time," then refer back to my earlier point.

[Oblivian]

Originally Posted by flak

Having been a workaholic in a couple of job situations in the past 10 years (and having little to show for it except gray hair and unhappy memories of arguments with my wife), I want to throw out something slightly off-topic but very important.

That is -- DO NOT be a workaholic unless you are damn sure there's a good payoff for you, either right now or in the foreseeable future.

Seriously. Some employers way demand more than they deserve, and some employees give it to them.

I'll definitely back this. If you are working more than 40 hours a week on salary, always calculate out what you would be making if you were hourly. That means time and a half for anything over 40. I've seen a bunch of people who when the dust settles are really only making $9 an hour!
I had to put in my 2 cents on that. But to get back on track, only you know what you have the time and resources to achieve. Just work on getting back in the groove and you'll be fine.

[takeahnase]

Why "one last competition"? Are you 70 years old? In 20 years you'll kick yourself in the arse that you quit lifting just because the other guys at the office didn't have any hobbies/friends and staid till 23 every evening.

[TrinitronMaximu]

man i do not look forward to getting a real job

[Oblivian]

Originally Posted by TrinitronMaximu

man i do not look forward to getting a real job

It's not that bad. I work in a professional environment (real estate transactions), but you get so used to it that the stress goes away. If you are lucky, you can find a job where you spend hours at a time on sherdog while getting paid for it.
The bad part about working a "real job" is explaining to your fat coworkers why you can barely walk after a squat or deadlift day. Also, it's tough explaining your ripped up hands. Explaining your hobbies isn't that easy either.

[RredRrover]

Originally Posted by flak

Having been a workaholic in a couple of job situations in the past 10 years (and having little to show for it except gray hair and unhappy memories of arguments with my wife), I want to throw out something slightly off-topic but very important.

That is -- DO NOT be a workaholic unless you are damn sure there's a good payoff for you, either right now or in the foreseeable future.

Seriously. Some employers way demand more than they deserve, and some employees give it to them.

With that in mind, hell yes, do the comp, just to shift your mind back toward the idea that your life belongs to YOU, not to your employer.

As far as specific goals, I'd say focus on having fun. And why does this have to be your final comp? If it's because you "don't have time," then refer back to my earlier point.

Heh, been there.

I was night supervisor at a gym. I worked hard and smart, and was promised a managerial position because of my proven skills and work ethic. This was to be down the line when the gym would stop being 24 hours and a night shift was no longer needed.

Time came to deliver and they forgot about me. They'd already re-assigned everyone else and gave me and my staff (arguably the best and hardest workers in the place, we had to be) about 30 hours to be divided between the four of us. Cleaning.

The other guys were mad. I trained them and got them working so well. So me, I hit the fucking roof. Promises were made and I was commended on my work abilities over and over again. But the club manager didn't want to upset any of the staff he dealt with as friends on a day-to-day basis so the guys he DIDN'T see every day got the shaft.

I was smart and got this prior promise of promotion in writing, and with it I brought up the faint possibility of a massive legal and PR shitstorm. With him and HIS boss (the GM, who was the one that MADE the promise of that promotion), who had no idea the club manager was shitcanning me. We worked out that the two of us that kept the part-time cleaner job got a promised layoff whenever they wanted out, and the other two just took the layoff so we could collect unemployment.

The best part comes some months later.

A sales position came up there. I spend a lot of time there anyway so I figured I'd apply -- I've got experience working there and even on nights I pulled better numbers and closing percentages than the mouth-breathing chuds they have for full-time sales staff.

Manager told me I wasn't a safe long-term bet because he'd heard through the grapevine that I was enlisting in the not-too-distant future.

He quit without warning and moved to Toronto two weeks later.

I want to punch that snake's teeth down his throat.

---

Let my bad experience be a lesson. Your life is your own, and some employers will look out for themselves before the look out for you. You do the same.

[ghostwipe]

Originally Posted by takeahnase

Why "one last competition"? Are you 70 years old? In 20 years you'll kick yourself in the arse that you quit lifting just because the other guys at the office didn't have any hobbies/friends and staid till 23 every evening.

Exactly. Best me to it, Take.