PROBLEM SOLVING

What is a workout; a competition? It's just a continuous presentation of problems. "Your emotional response to those problems will bring you either success or failure". If you expect to 'game' a workout and everything go smoothly, you're likely in for an awakening. We have to learn to be good problem solvers. We have to decide to control that emotional response when the game plan goes out the window. 

-Problems bring out greatness

-You choose the way they affect you

-Everybody is mentally tough when there are no problems; problems are a true test of that emotional response (which is a skill; not inherited)

HUMILITY

I had the pleasure of working with Chris Spealer (left) and Josh Everett (right) a weekend or so ago at a Crossfit Level I Cert. Not the best picture, but I covertly snapped it while we were at Mi Cocina! You may be familiar with these two, you may not. Doesn't matter; what's cool about these guys is that they are humble dudes. 

First let's talk about what I mean by humble. Humility is not hanging your head low and assuming a "meek" and "lowly" disposition. To me, it means you are so engaged in making yourself a better person that you have little time to be critical of others &, on the contrary, are quite interested in what others have to say. I saw Chris hit 27 squats consistently on a tabata mashup & Josh C&J 335. These are impressive stats but you wouldn't have known it after watching them. 

My point is --what comes first: humility THEN athleticism or is it the other way around? I say be humble first and you will achieve much more. Be so focused on what you are doing to make yourself better in every way that you are out of time to criticize the person next to you.

Performance Intelligence

I like to talk about the mental game. I think (and I'm not the only one) it might be the missing link to our training as athletes and coaches in Crossfit. Most guys and gals with a sports background would agree that you have GOT to have it in check. Why would it be any different for Crossfit? I have been able to work with Dr Julie Bell for the last couple of months and we have come up with way to apply the world of sport psychology to Crossfit in a incredibly effective way. Crossfit Dallas Central & Dr. Bell will be hold a one day only workshop on August 29th. Regardless of your aspirations as an athlete, I personally think this could be one of the most valuable days you could spend. I'm not much of a salesmen, but if you are looking for an edge (and I am) or you just need the mental skills to get through workouts each day and be consistent...this could be it.

I'll be updating this blog on a regular basis with more and more information as we get closer to the launch:

PerformanceIntelligence

For the WIN

At our little box we have an acronym that we attach to everything: FTW, For The Win. You like that WOD? FTW. You dig that fresh almond butter? FTW. The question I have is what is the win for your training? 

Does it speak in positive terms? 

 FTW: “I will execute every rep with perfect mechanics” FTL: “I’m just gonna try not to suck today” 

Does it constantly compare with yourself or with others? 

FTW: “I will do Fran unbroken today” FTL: “I just want to beat Bobby’s ass” 

Is it realistic? 

FTW: “I know C&J takes time. By the end of the year, with constant practice, I should be_______” FTL: “I can C&J 225#, so I think I’ll try 295 today”

Think about what it is you want. Is that to compete in the games/ qualifiers? To compete as a Mom? Well…are your actions aligning to achieve that win? It’s not just gutting it out, it’s having a plan. Pull back from whatever that win is for you and figure out what steps you need to take to get there.

Strength of Mind

My friend Dutch recently posted on his blog about Strength of Mind. With the recent qualifier in mind and the fact that I'm in school ultimately for sport psychology, I was compelled to post. 

Here it is (might make more sense in context):

Nice surprise to check my friends’ blog and see a topic of interest and so many responses. I’m an average athlete and mildly educated on the topic at best, but I would love to add.

Let’s demystify the subject for a moment (and I apologize ahead that my thoughts don’t agree with some of the previous comments). OPT, Dutch, Thiel, Cantuu, Speal, Everett are not ‘Gods’. They bleed, poop, and sleep just like everyone else. So since we are all reading this blog to get better and to pinpoint what it is that establishes superior performance, it doesn’t help us (and it’s not true) to say “he never slows down”. Everybody slows down, everybody is human. I can show you videos of all the guys listed above crashing and burning (not often but its there). I mention that again, because I don’t think it’s healthy and I don’t think it helps anyone to say “oh they’re just good because they’re born that way” - BullSh*t.

Now that we got that out of the way, lets try to analyze what these guys have in common and try to define what it is that they are doing, so we can do it to:

-THE MAJORITY SPEND A SIGNIFICANT AMOUNT OF PRACTICE ON THEIR MENTAL GAME. How important do you think mental preparation is for competition? 50%? 90%?? Do you spend that amount of time in comparison to your physical training? There is a radio interview of OPT where is talks about taking about 2 hours the night before and a good hour and a half thinking about it before he gets into a workout like ‘Jackie’. Jeremy I hear goes through a similar prep.

-THESE GUYS ARE FOCUSED ON THE PROCESS NOT THE OUTCOME. How many of you guys out there are ’stop-watch whores’? You put out a sub 3 minute fran but half of your thrusters you didn’t push your head all the way through, and 10 of your butterfly pullups were technically over the bar but not really? These guys aren’t like that. I get to workout with dutch pretty regularly and ALL his reps count. He is focused on the execution of the rep and not really the stopwatch. OPT - same way; look at all his videos and read the ROM requirements on the blog (borderline obsessed with the process). These guys focus FIRST on doing the movement flawlessly and SECOND on the clock. If your goal is to be the stud of your garage or gym, then this might not pertain to you BUT if your goal is to compete, then this has to be your mindset.

-EXPERIENCE. How did Dutch know he could do 50 burpees in a row? It’s not because he told himself before “you can do it buddy” it’s because he had done 50 burpees in a row before!!! He knew what it felt like! Everyone of those guys he mentioned in the original post workout and workout ALOT. Guess what? All the guys listed do this for a LIVING. Every one started crossfitting before there were 1000 affiliates, before there were 500 affiliates. They have all competed on some level in the past. That’s thousands of hours of practice. It’s not just “well, I’m going to tell myself not to stop and that means I won’t stop”. Its primarily that they’ve all been in a similar situation. Everyone has had their ass handed to them multiple times. Everyone has crashed and burned;they are used to pushing passed that limit, so that feeling or response isn’t new either (sorry dutch).

So what is the point of a post that has gone on and on? *Train your mental game more. That might be visualizing the movements before you do them it might be going through the whole workout before it happens. Do what you do consistently. *Think about doing everything perfect and stop worrying so much about the clock. Shut your brain off and enjoy the process. *If your goal is to compete, then you better put yourself in some situations that are similar. *Consistently train what you would hate to have come out of a hopper. Dutch says he only “trains what he likes to do” but I’ll share a little secret with you guys: HE LIKES PRETTY MUCH EVERYTHING! (except running)

What I'm Worth

I think at the heart of every man lies a question: what am I worth? Do I have what it takes? If I try and fail, what will it mean to me? Crossfit and specifically the qualifiers last weekend gave me a chance to answer some of those. I got 19th place. I did not qualify. I did not preform the fastest time for any of the workouts we completed. What I did get was an opportunity to see where I stand and a surge of motivation to improve and pursuit a level of excellence that will be greater than what this year's training had for me. The athlete I will become will be born out of this weekend.

"It is all coming together"

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