After watching the CrossFit South West Regionals last weekend I couldn't help but ask myself why these people? How can they achieve so much more using the same blueprint that I'm using? The answer is obvious but came to me while watching a documentary on Miyamoto Musashi. Musashi spent 4 years in the wilderness perfecting his swordsmanship, During those 4 years the documentary talked about the level of discipline that Musashi maintained the entire time we was in seclusion. In his book he revealed that every movement, everything he did was to become a better samurai warrior. That same discipline is what makes the games competitors stand out. More of their time is spent moving towards their goal. They don't have the constant mental lapses that I seem to have, which brings me to the title of the post.
Mark Devine addressed this in his CrossFit Journal Article "Staying in the Fight". He talks about how the thinking mind is our "Monkey Mind" because it is always grasping for the next thought or stimulus. I see this in myself all the time. When the morning comes around I'm perfectly clear on my goals and intentions for the day: eat clean, workout hard, drink enough water, and stretch/mobilize throughout the day. When I look at the day from the other side I realize that I might have had 1 clean meal, multiple sodas, struggled through my workout, and sat in meetings all day at work. Obviously there are many upsides to the day, but also many lapses in reaching my goal of not only good health but true fitness.
Devine uses goal setting as one of his tools to get through this monkey mindedness and in fact utilizes what he calls, micro goals. Often times the task of something like losing 20 pounds is completely overwhelming at the beginning of the journey. Instead using microgoals you can simply plan for the immediate task. Example: get through lunch without drinking a Diet Pepsi. It is a very easy to understand goal with a very real and immediate outcome. Each of the microgoals that are accomplished also leads to momentum which helps create the real movement needed to achieve the larger goal.
I'm sure that Musashi used simlar techniques to become the most revered Samurai warrior in history. I can imagine in the wilderness all alone thinking "I've got to complete ______ before eating lunch then lunch itself being a different goal". Add the fact that Musashi as well as the SEALS like Mark Devine lived under succeed or die situations and the option to waiver from the smaller goals seems much less rewarding.
Tying this all back to the Regional event, the guys who are in the top spots, setting records for speed on some of the most difficult workouts have obviously done their homework before getting there. This has to include insane dedication to the goal of becoming the Fittest Human. None of that can happen over night. Each man and woman has had to prepare for multiple years learning the movements and skills involved, but also learning the type of didication and discipline needed to achieve their goal.
For more information read "Staying in the Fight"
http://journal.crossfit.com/2011/09/staying-in-the-fight.tpl#_login
also read the "Hard Routine" by Jason Dougherty
http://journal.crossfit.com/2008/05/the-hard-routine-by-jason-doug.tpl
Mark Devine addressed this in his CrossFit Journal Article "Staying in the Fight". He talks about how the thinking mind is our "Monkey Mind" because it is always grasping for the next thought or stimulus. I see this in myself all the time. When the morning comes around I'm perfectly clear on my goals and intentions for the day: eat clean, workout hard, drink enough water, and stretch/mobilize throughout the day. When I look at the day from the other side I realize that I might have had 1 clean meal, multiple sodas, struggled through my workout, and sat in meetings all day at work. Obviously there are many upsides to the day, but also many lapses in reaching my goal of not only good health but true fitness.
Devine uses goal setting as one of his tools to get through this monkey mindedness and in fact utilizes what he calls, micro goals. Often times the task of something like losing 20 pounds is completely overwhelming at the beginning of the journey. Instead using microgoals you can simply plan for the immediate task. Example: get through lunch without drinking a Diet Pepsi. It is a very easy to understand goal with a very real and immediate outcome. Each of the microgoals that are accomplished also leads to momentum which helps create the real movement needed to achieve the larger goal.
I'm sure that Musashi used simlar techniques to become the most revered Samurai warrior in history. I can imagine in the wilderness all alone thinking "I've got to complete ______ before eating lunch then lunch itself being a different goal". Add the fact that Musashi as well as the SEALS like Mark Devine lived under succeed or die situations and the option to waiver from the smaller goals seems much less rewarding.
Tying this all back to the Regional event, the guys who are in the top spots, setting records for speed on some of the most difficult workouts have obviously done their homework before getting there. This has to include insane dedication to the goal of becoming the Fittest Human. None of that can happen over night. Each man and woman has had to prepare for multiple years learning the movements and skills involved, but also learning the type of didication and discipline needed to achieve their goal.
For more information read "Staying in the Fight"
http://journal.crossfit.com/2011/09/staying-in-the-fight.tpl#_login
also read the "Hard Routine" by Jason Dougherty
http://journal.crossfit.com/2008/05/the-hard-routine-by-jason-doug.tpl
