Tenacity, resolve, mental fortitude. You can call it many things, but what we are all most familiar with is how it feels. You are on round 4 of a very grueling 5 round circuit, and you are halfway through your 400m run. Your mind begins to wander, and you start to think that maybe you can't keep your pace. Maybe you can't keep running at all anymore. Perhaps it's time to slow down to a jog, or even walk, but then I'd be selling myself short... Our bodies are not the only things working while we are working out. Your mind is also being worked very hard. Maintaining you best form, managing your breathing, keeping your balance, it is very busy the whole time. And this isn't even mentioning your actual thoughts! Some of us can turn them off, most of us can't. Well not completely at least. And it is when we are at the edge of exhaustion that those thoughts have a nasty habit of becoming more and more negative and self-doubting. This is where your mind's real strength is tested. Can you push through, or just turn of those unwanted thoughts effectively? Or do they take over and wind up sapping you of what little strength you had left. We are going to cover three important aspects of the preparation, practice, and rewards of mental resolve, and how it affects your workouts. It's time to shake those inhibitions, and to become able to rid ourselves of any mental "leaks" that may be preventing our best performance.
First we will work on our pre-workout mindset. This is very important to how your entire workout goes. Going into something difficult or strenuous already doubting your ability to complete a given task or number of reps is practically the same as chaining a kettlebell to your ankle. Even if a task seems insurmountable looking at it from the starting line, it always looks alot easier from the finish. Don't allow yourself to become inhibited by the fact that something is going to crush you, because that is ok. Getting crushed is good in my book, it let's us know where we need the most work, and it creates the greatest kind of challenge imaginable. If everything was easy then we wouldn't have much of a program would we? One of the best ways to overcome these inhibitions is to remind yourself that, except in rare circumstances, you are capable of pushing through just about anything given enough time. And also remind yourself that taking your time is ok as well. Remind yourself that setting the KB down in the middle of a set of snatches is perfectly acceptable if it means you will finish the set. Build your pre-workout confidence by telling yourself that you will pick a run pace that allows you to recover between movements so you'll feel ready to go when you return to the KB. Don't take this the wrong way, I DO NOT mean that you can slack off! I just mean for you to find an appropriate pace, and stick to it! If you plan to avoid self doubt in the middle of a workout, you must remove the fear and inhibition from your heart right from the start, or you will fail.
Readying yourself for a tough job is a lot easier than actually pushing through it. Here is where that preparation makes it's mark. Never allowing the thought that you CAN continue at your chosen pace to EVER leave your mind is pivotal. Focus is also important, but in most cases focusing on the fact that you are exhausted can be a mistake. Too much thought about how hard something is, or how you must push through it, can make a mountain out of a mole hill. Often, redirecting focus can be a great tactic for perseverance. Focusing on your form, and attempting to replicate the rep prior to the one you are doing can be a great distraction from just how tired you are. Even while running, redirecting your thoughts to just how smooth your ensuing set of swings will be when you get to your KB will completely distract you from how much the running sucks. Imagine your entire round of the circuit in your head, and next thing you know you'll be done running. Cadence, or rhythm, can also aid you in your fight against exhaustion. Actually, it can be one of your most powerful weapons against it. Try keeping close track of your breathing, and how it relates to your movement. For KB swings keep your in, out, in, out breathing cadence right in time with your up, down swinging rhythm. Same for running, time your breathing with your footsteps. This also allows you to have a much better feel for your pace, or speed, while running. Many top athletes are great at turning off their thoughts when working through difficult high intensity workouts, and the way that many of them do that is by getting completely lost in the cadence of their own pace and breathing. Maintain your resolve, your breathing rate, your pace, and autonomously you body will regulate your heart rate to that of your breathing. It's a win win situation. Also consciously avoid any thoughts of interruption being a problem, like having to swallow or cough, and ruin your rythym. You will go right back to your previous cadence unless you allow your mind to create a problem out of nothing. Also avoid hyperventilation, which can be defined as any irregular breathing rate, fast or slow. You breathing should feel natural and smooth, however hard it may be.
Once you have mastered the art of controling and focusing your mind you will discover new realms of performance athletically. Many beginners struggle with the "I Can't" issue for some time, and this is normal. It is all part of the process of getting your mind and body used to the type of abuse you are putting it through. When you finally do make your mind work for you, rather than against you, you will be amazed at what it does. It's like a second wind, that trance-like state a focused athlete descends into deep into a long grueling grinder. It's so much easier to allow ourselves to think that we cannot do something, than to remind ourselves that we can do it, and that it's going to suck. By planning your rests, and your pace, before you ever even start. And by redirecting your focus,and your active thoughts, to other relevant things (Not what you're going to have for dinner that night.) instead of your exhaustion. We can control our doubts and our wandering minds. By losing ourselves in the smoothness of our motions, our form, and our breathing, we can hopefully get rid of any thoughts at all. Become like machine. They have no doubts, no inhibitions, and they never stop till the task is complete. They also have no thoughts, so you will have to master the suppression of those very thoughts that make you human in order to become a better, faster, stronger human.
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