state of mind

ATTENTION: I am underwhelmed by the class names "6am" and "6pm". You should be too. In the comments post your nominations for class names. Once nominations are in, I will post a poll and we'll decide on the future names, shirts, tattoos, and such for the classes.


As I said a week ago, I have been wanting to do a post on focus/state of mind during WODs. Well, here we go. In light of the Winter Open, I thought I would post a couple strategies that have worked for me and others to achieve better WOD times. The first one we'll talk about is composure.

You know that feeling when, if you're like me, you get 3 reps into a workout and go "oh fuck no. no no no no no!" It's this voice that creeps into your head and starts reminding you how many MORE reps you have, how much it already hurts, how impossible the task is. This voice is a bitch. You have to ignore it. Put it under your heel and grind it. Every workout, no matter how simple looking, is going to hurt. You might do better or worse at workout, but they all hurt. So accept it, and get going with those reps! It is important to remain calm, or at least look like you're calm. When you're in a lot of pain and you start scrunching your face up and yelling and whatever else you do, it sends a signal to your brain to settle the fuck down. You don't want this to happen! Don't let your reactions freak your brain out. Stay as calm as you can, clear your head, and only think one rep at a time. Liz was kind enough to demonstrate the two extremes of composure during the Winter Open (courtesy of Aimee's rocking photography):

(my name is Liz, and I will eat your children)

(my name is Liz, and I'm crushing you in this WOD)

If you can remain calm and (relatively) relaxed during a WOD, your body will reward you for it.

The mental part of WODs that I struggle with is clearing my mind. I'm the guy who gets 3 reps in, panics, and starts calculating how many more reps I have, how long it will take, how I'm off my goal speed, if I paid my electric bill, am I retarded for doing this, etc. My friend and coach, Dutch, has more than once got on me about getting out of my head. One of the things he said that stuck with me was to not worry about breathing and just do the work, the breathing will happen. One of my continuing goals is working on my ability to "suffer". Easier said than done.

Finally, along the same lines as clearing your head, don't waste time between exercises! When you come in from a run and start thinking about how many power cleans (or whatever other exercise) you have to do, time passes FAST as you sit there and stare at the bar. Just grab the bar and start doing a few reps. Catching your breath is a waste of time, I promise you won't feel better until 15 minutes after the workout is finished. I find that starting on the next exercise actually calms me down and helps to regulate my breathing. Try it out. Start the next exercise before you're ready. Then don't stop.