I just validated my confidence in TMS. As I mentioned in an earlier post, I have been very stressed since last Thursday. I was really looking forward to my Spring Break and the relaxing feelings I anticipated. My stress came to a climax on Sunday (Easter), and I started getting it under control. In the meantime, my pain increased dramatically. This, in itself demonstrated that my pain IS psychological, because there would be no other reason for it. But that isn't the most convincing part. On Sunday, my mid and lower back ((I normally have tightness in these areas, but not really pain) really felt as if I had a severe acute injury. It felt as if I had injured myself. At first, I thought to myself, crap, I won't be able to do my heavy Benching and Deadlifting on Tuesday. On Monday, the pain was still bad, but I told myself I would do what I could. Well, today (pardon my language, I want to be very honest here) I got up early anticipating a great day, then told myself, f_ck it. I am staying woth my scheduled lifts no matter what. If I injure myself, then that's OK. It will give me an excuse for some time off. Well, I got my mind ready before my workout, then proceeded. I started off Benching. After warm-ups, I added 40-50lbs each set performing just 2 reps. I was working up to a new 2-rep max. At each weight, I felt very strong and explosive (I wish I felt this way all the time). I finally got to my top set of 340lbs. As I unracked the weight, it felt heavy, but I felt tight and strong. I exploded the first rep up and got a pretty smooth 2nd rep, then actually got a 3rd sloppy rep. WOW....I was really surprised, because I didn't feel all that strong the days before. In fact, with the extra pain, I felt weaker, until the day of the workout. NEXT, came the true test....DEADLIFTS. Like I sai, my back actually felt injured the last 3 days. As I was warming up, I was telling myself, maybe I should just perform my higher rep lesser weight workout. But, as I was warming up, I said to myself again....f_ck that sh_t. If I really have TMS, this shouldn't be a problem. I worked up the a 415lb DeadLift (I use a trapbar). I exploded both reps and felt as if I could have done a few more. I can't explain what is happening to me. The past few months, I have felt like crap during some of my workouts, and I am setting PRs (personal records) all over the place, Maybe by not feeling my best, I am unconsciously taking the pressure off of myself to perform, which then, allows me to perform better. Even while not feeling so great. Anyways, it's been 12 hours since my workout, and my low and mid-back feel good. My chronic neck and upper back pain have been exasperated the last few days, but this experience tells me that my pain is PSYCHOLOGICAL. If anybody reading this has any answers to what is going on here or suggestions to help me find the last pieces to MY puzzle, feel free to post any suggestions or experiences.
