I have become a regular reader of the CrossFit Journal because the articles/video are enlightening. The depth and breadth of this thing called CrossFit is amazing. At it's core, CF is simply an unbelievably effective way to get fit. At its depth, it will teach you things about yourself that you may or may not want to know.
With articles like "Your Form Sucks", "Getting Off the Crack", and "Silly Bullshit", how can it not be good? My routine is to download a few article and videos to my Dropbox account in the evening, then watch/read them on my iPhone over lunch. (P.S. If you have an iPhone or iPad why the hell haven't you downloaded Dropbox?)
The ones that have captured my attention lately are articles about the mental aspect of Crossfit. Mainly because I'm fairly sure my head is holding me back.
Where is Your Head?
CFing for the last 6 months have taught me more about myself than anything else I've done. What have I learned?
1. I should be doing better. Sure, I genuinely celebrate my victories but every victory seems like a step of a ladder versus the top. Trevor suggested I call a knee push-up "Rx". That's probably reasonable. They are pretty damn hard with 1 arm. Like a total moron, I refused. But I knew if I did, I would never push my knees off the floor and get to a "real" push up. After this week, I may reconsider ;)
2. I suck HARD at mental preparation. Most WODs, I psych myself out or approach too confidently. In both cases, I'm left whimpering on the floor and pissed at the "extra 3 minutes" it took me. On the rare days when I have it just right, I feel like I destroy it.
3. I'm not good at taking praise. People feel strongly positive about my endeavor. I've had at least 30 people ask me "how'd you do it". A lot of people ask s lot of polite questions without really caring about the answer. In all but 1 case, people really wanted to know. One conversation lasted almost an hour. Many of you have complimented me in various ways. If I seem to dismiss your words, it's only because I'm not sure what to say. I think I'll just say "Thanks" from now on.... or maybe "That's what she said!" One of the two.
The Art of Self Talk
- In trying to improve on #2 above, I read a great article in the CFjournal about self talk. I will only point out one thing from it: Always talk to yourself (and others) in the positive. Example: say "keep your heels down and drive through them", instead of "don't let your heels come up." Why? The subconscious does not understand/hear the negative. So your subconscious hears "let your heels come up". You doom yourself or your partner to failure. I started this yesterday during my first miserable attempt at beating my 1 mile PR. It worked. I destroyed my previous PR by 45 seconds.
Of course now (through the art of self talk), I have also convinced myself I look like Matt Damon, sing like Sinatra, and ummmmm... "That's what she said." P.S. I hear Mel Gibson is really good at this.
Of course now (through the art of self talk), I have also convinced myself I look like Matt Damon, sing like Sinatra, and ummmmm... "That's what she said." P.S. I hear Mel Gibson is really good at this.
Gaming WODs:
In the vein of mental preparation, there is another article about Gaming WODs. I think it is an unfair title because it really is about having a strategy for a WOD. But since it involve methods of pacing and calculating, many consider it "gaming". What is gaming a WOD?
Example: For a 20 AMRP of Cindy, assume it takes you 30 secs to blow through round 1. What if you decide to rest until the 1 min mark and then start round 2. With that rest you can probably keep close to your round 1 pace. If you finish round 2 in 32 sec, you get 28 sec of rest. If you pace yourself like this you can get 20/21 rounds. A very respectable score. But if you go as hard as you can from "GO", you may gas after 6 rounds and then struggle.
At a basic level, it is picking a good pace and then building in rest to keep the intensity high. I have mixed feelings. I think it is good if you repeat workouts and have a reference point from whence to improve. But we don't repeat much and I may be slowing myself down. The jury is out for me on this method.
Finally, my favorite inspirational picture:
Example: For a 20 AMRP of Cindy, assume it takes you 30 secs to blow through round 1. What if you decide to rest until the 1 min mark and then start round 2. With that rest you can probably keep close to your round 1 pace. If you finish round 2 in 32 sec, you get 28 sec of rest. If you pace yourself like this you can get 20/21 rounds. A very respectable score. But if you go as hard as you can from "GO", you may gas after 6 rounds and then struggle.
At a basic level, it is picking a good pace and then building in rest to keep the intensity high. I have mixed feelings. I think it is good if you repeat workouts and have a reference point from whence to improve. But we don't repeat much and I may be slowing myself down. The jury is out for me on this method.
Finally, my favorite inspirational picture:
And in honor of my blog:
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