Better Is Better

Fear of failure

Yesterday, I did 500 straight Double Swipes with my 15 lb Clubbells.  My former PR, from a few days ago, was 350.  Obviously, the big step from 350 to 500 has to be more attributable to the Mental/Emotional Preparedness aspect of fitness than on physiological progression.  In fact, I think I was less optimally primed for my 500 day than my 350 day.  I still had a huge blister on my left palm from my last run at the Mills, and it just kept getting more and more painful as I went, but I still busted the PR by 150 reps.

I had one really interesting realization during this session.  At one point, I figured out that the fear of running into a wall of resistance was much more real than the actual danger of it.  At around the 200 mark, every little burn or sign of discomfort led me to believe there is no way I would even get to my former 350 record.  But when I made it back into the 300s, I suddenly realized that there really wasn't any great danger that anything would give out any time soon.  That is when I knew that I would certainly push past my PR.  I started shooting for 400, but when I got there I still didn't see any signs of failure, so I just kept going.

That early fear could have stopped me.  Self-doubt is a strong "protection" against exertion.  It keeps us in our comfort zone and prevents us from achieving what we are capable of.  This kind of realization in the physical sphere makes me wonder how this same mechanism is affecting the rest of my endeavors.

In the end, I stopped at 500 for the sake of that darned blister.  I really wonder how far I can go with 100% healthy hands.  I am looking forward to finding out.

Gremlins and Willfulness

Today I did 275 continuous Mills (each arm) with the 15 lbs Clubbells.  My previous PR was 200.

The mental process during a trial like that is interesting.

The New Paradigm
To begin with, I set out with the mindset that 200 reps was a given.  After all, I had already done it.  Whereas the previous time I went in with the paradigm that "it would be nice to get to 200."

Early Groove
I found that this paradigm shift led to an early groove and a slight feeling of euphoria.

First Seeds of Doubt
But it isn't long before the Gremlins start to work their way into the thought process.  The first sign of a "burn" in the triceps, the first twinges of that blister from last time or the first time you start to feel that tingly feeling in your fingers, all kinds of nagging doubts start to creep in.  "What am I thinking, trying to break 200?"  "Last time must have been a fluke."  And the list goes on.

Milestones
But breaking the feat up into milestones is what always keeps me going.  Mentally, I seem to gravitate towards those denominations of 25.  I just shoot for that next mark rather than thinking about getting to the end.

Mental Threshold
At one point, you just hit a threshold at which you just know that you are going to go beyond your PR.  For me today it was at about the 150 mark.

Just Plain Stubborn
Then there comes a point where you are well past your PR, past your imagined new PR, and you are just too stubborn to quit.  I hit that at about 250.  The Clubbell wasn't falling out of my hand, so I just kept going for that next denomination of 25.  And on my second side, I did my last 50-75 reps with a broken blister on my palm.  But again, at a certain point the willfulness kicks in and discomfort gets put on a back shelf for later.

Regret
Then you stop, shake it off for a minute, and wonder if you couldn't have done another 25!  A lot of the game is mental and emotional beyond a certain point.  Oh well, it gives you something to shoot for next time.  A nice round 300 sounds nice...

King of Corn

I ran across this clip yesterday.  It is from a documentary about the insidiousness of corn in the American diet.  The industrialization of the food supply is one of my pet peeves (as my family and friends can attest - sometimes with great frustration...).  So I am looking forward to watching this.

Underestimating

For a while now, I have been wanting to show the participants in one of my group classes a fairly advanced movement.  But I have been hesitating because I did not know if they would be able to handle it.

I decided to finally give it a go last night.  But I was careful to prepare "remedial" versions in anticipation of the majority of the class not being able to do it.

Much to my delight, almost half the class got the full version immediately.  After a couple tries three quarters of the class had it.  In the end, only about a quarter needed the remedial version.

Needless to say I was impressed, and it was a lesson to me.  Do not underestimate people and do not underestimate the power of progressive sophistication.  Most of those students have been with me for 7 weeks working on various CST materials, and it is really starting to show!

The movement we introduced last night was Crow, from Forward Pressure.

Excuses

It is amazing how many excuses people have for not being able to do something.  If they can't do a movement, it is because of x, y or z problem.  What they don't realize, is that their coach is in front of them telling them precisely how to overcome that problem.  Instead of focusing on the solution that is right in front of them, they are focusing on the problem that has plagued them in the past.  I think maybe it is easier psychologically to rely on the crutch of a "problem" rather than open oneself up to the possibility of failure which unfolds when you try something different.

So, next time you are trying to learn something, remember that it is more productive to ask your coach how to overcome your "problem," instead of telling him or her that you can't do something because of it...

Climbing a descending escalator

I just wrote this to a client and thought it would be interesting to share it here...

Training is like climbing a long set of stairs, one step at a time.  The only problem is that the stairs keep going slowly down in the opposite direction like an escalator.  So if you don't keep climbing one step at a time you don't get to the top.  So intermittent training will not get us to our goals.  When exercise is intermittent, it is no longer training, it is just a workout.  You work out some sweat, some tension and maybe work off a few calories and fat, but you don't climb towards your sport specific goals.

Training Movement, Not Muscles

The other day, a participant in one of my classes came up to me afterwards and asked me about one of the exercises.  The exercise should be performed from the deepest squat you are capable of.  Her question was, wouldn't it be better to perform the exercise with a thighs parallel squat because it makes it "harder?"  The answer is, it's not about harder, it's about better.  I'm not looking to isolate and build certain muscles.  I'm out to develop movement.  And good movement will lead to overall and balanced physical development.

And this morning I read this from Dr Yessis. (source)

Increasing physical qualities such as strength and power is not sufficient unless the physical qualities relate specifically to the athlete’s technique. General physical training or improving the basic physical qualities will show the most improvement in performance with novices but will have very little effect on high level players who need physical qualities specific to their technique. That is, they need training specific to the skills that they must execute during game play.

He is talking about injury prevention.  Basically, he is saying that training attributes will only take you so far if you are not training the foundational movement patterns to support that strength.  So if you have strong pecs, but don't fire them in the right sequence during a movement, your injury risk goes up at worst and your performance goes down at best.

This is where the CST Training Hierarchy Pyramid comes in.

The progression of General to Specific to Sport Specific to Mental/Emotional Preparedness takes you through the entire gamut of needs for a given task, be it in life or in sport. 
Using the THP will help ensure that you are always training rather than just working out.  It will help you develop the entire package of functional movements backed up by the physical attributes and the mental/emotional skills needed to perform them optimally.  Training this way, that muscular development will still come, but it will be there to support the functionality you have built.

Relieved

Phew!  The past week has been a whirlwind.  I was struck with a case of acute tronchanteric bursitis to start with.  That got me down in the dumps and brought my training to a snails pace (I couldn't even walk without severe pain).  So what did I do about it?  About the worst thing I could... eat!  It is almost as if I replaced the bio-feedback I usually get from my training with food.  Great solution!

The good part about the last week was my great buddy from Germany came for a visit with his daughter, my God daughter!  But of course, that was just another occasion to eat!

So you see the pattern I guess.  I spent the past 10 days eating anything and everything that I fancied.  And this from a guy who eats pretty cleanly 95% of the time (so much so that it drives my wife crazy).

Although it was kind of fun to just completely let myself loose like that, the after effects are not so great.  My energy levels are crazy and my body fat percentage has significantly increased (I'm scared to actually measure how much...).  It is amazing how quickly one can pack on the fat when genetically "gifted" for it...

Anyhow, today is my first day truly back on the wagon.  Yesterday I managed to clean things up quite a bit, but with a few indulgences.  Today was and will remain clean as a whistle.

The only word I can use to describe how it feels to be back on track is... RELIEVED.  I really like food.  I am an avowed sugar addict.  I get a kick from eating.  But nothing tastes as good as fit & healthy feels.  So it is great to be back to a lifestyle that I know makes me feel great day to day for the long term!