“Some people exercise their bodies. I exercise my patience.”  U.S. Bates
I was discussing this line from a 1980’s movie, The Toy.  The Toy starred Jackie Gleason, who played U.S. Bares,  a newspaper owner and Richard Pryor, who played a reporter that befriended his son, played by Scottie Schwartz. Schwartz also became famous for getting his tongue stuck to a frozen flagpole in A Christmas Story.
My brother and I were discussing how certain endeavors take time, and no matter what you are training, you are really training your patience.
My brother dropped this line from this movie, which I remember, but not as well as he did.  We had The Toy on a VHS tape and we watched it over and over.  I’m not sure why we watched it so much, but the line stuck with him for 30 years.
I was struck by this after some discussions about our current strength progressions.  I was talking about how the Deadlift/Clean progression had almost immediate results.  The Push/Jerk complex is a little more rascally.  Because the lifts are tough, and fairly technical, some days the weight doesn’t just jump of your shoulders.  Couple this with the handstand work, which may not be easy or super fun, but you will develop strong, stable shoulders.
Now we are adding a Pullup/Dip progression.  We will stick with this program for the next 8 weeks.  This may not be sexy, and your numbers likely won’t jump immediately, but you will slowly but surely develop the skills and body awareness to pull and be strong.
It just may take a little patience.

Workout of the Day
AMRAP 20
Even Rounds Parking Lot Run
Odd Rounds 50 Doubleunders
5 Deadlift 275/185