“Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;
Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim
Because it was grassy and wanted wear,
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,
And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh I marked the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way
I doubted if I should ever come back.
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I,
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.”
-- Robert Frost, “The
Road Not Taken”
Frost’s famous
poem explaining why it is important to take the road “less traveled” is a
fitting description for the Nemesis Program, as I have found myself alone many
mornings on this journey into the undergrowth.
Yes, occasionally I have found company for my trek – a Starting Strength
disciple who dropped in for three sets of five across; a Crossfit Football
manchild who grinded out heavy doubles in a most respectable way; a nameless
female weightlifter who asked if we could share the platform – but these primitive human
interactions were few and far between.
More often, I sat alone in the corner watching others come and go and
wondering where that day’s attempts at maximum might end.
The
one-week “deload” provided a nice reprieve from the Nemesis Program’s crushing
volume, but the attempts at maximum remained.
Despite the fatigue, loneliness and boredom, the first cycle’s results
were very good – my previous best in the back squat is now but a “heavy” triple
(I could probably make five reps at that weight on a good day), and I added 10#
to my personal record in the front squat.
In both classic lifts, despite my tired legs, I equaled or surpassed my
previous bests.
I spent this past Sunday resting
and eating hearty, knowing full well that a new loading cycle awaited me Monday.
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