The other day sitting in the dentist chair something hit me. I was sitting there getting my teeth cleaned thinking, here is a woman that deals with nothing but teeth the entire day to make money to live. Of course then I realized I firmly plant my butt in a chair all day in order to do that same thing. I realized that this sort of thing has been building since the birth of societies and cultures. But it really amazed me how far we have taken it. Think about it. Do you have the knowledge to take care of the basic needs for yourself on a daily basis? I know that if something were to happen and I was responsible for my daily needs I would certainly struggle (aka die). I've become a specialist that doesn't even know how to grow or kill enough food to survive. Also makes me realize that if variety is the spice of life then I must be failing miserably. The variety I have in a standard day revolves around food. Might explain some things there. I guess I do get a little variety in the gym for 1 hour on 4 days a week. That makes things really exciting!
Mostly I didn't come up with any answers here, just more questions. It did make me realize that I just need to get out more. Out of the office for sure, but even out of the house, out of the gym, get out of the NORM. Do something that is new and different and enjoy the variety that is all around.
Tuesday, June 5, 2012
Friday, May 11, 2012
Monkey mind
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
Thursday, April 26, 2012
Super Sabotage
Why is it when one part of life becomes difficult I try to make things "better" by making other parts worse. Example, lately work has been stressful and difficult to say the least. To combat this I have started eating the worst possible food and allowing myself to let soda creep back in. As a result of both the extra seat time at work and extra crappy meals my workouts have been way off too. This has lead me to not wanting to work, eat nothing but sweets, drink nothing but soda, and sit on my butt, not to mention the fact that everyone around me starts to get brought down into the same quagmire that I'm in due to my now super wonderful attitude.
Interestingly I already know the solution. If I actually take control over the parts that I can, like diet and exercise, the other parts will seem more in order.
Monday, April 16, 2012
Failed attempts
Per my goal I attempted some muscle ups tonight. Felt pretty good with my effort, I'm just entirely too slow. I don't have a solid kip on the rings so that gives me something to focus on. Hands are pretty shredded after 14 attempts. No muscle ups tonight. It was a failure but absolutely nothing else negative. Need to just keep doing them to get the movement down.
Sunday, April 15, 2012
Fear of Failure
I've been thinking about this topic for a while. However after reading an article this morning on the Again Faster site, I realized that I needed to put my fear out there. https://www.againfaster.com/en/blog/2012/04/13/fear-anonymous/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_term=link&utm_content=fear%2Banonymous&utm_campaign=article
Similar to the author of the article, I've realized that I have a fear of Muscle Ups. Before I even start the movement I've already pictured me failing. In my mind I can't get one so in real life I rarely do. I've made excuses, complained, "attempted" to get better, but have never truely tried to tackle the fear. I can see the movement being done with perfect form, but it is almost always someone else. I have taught the muscle up to numerous people and can see flaws that can help them get better. I've worked on getting stronger at pullups, and dips and handstand pushups. I've talked about getting better at muscle ups. It is simply an unrealistic fear that even keeps me from wanting to try.
In order to get past my fear, I need to take that first step. I'm guaranteed to fail at everything that I don't try. In this case it is less about "trying" and more of simply DOING. I know I will not get every muscle up that I attempt, but I will certainly never get any better without an attempt. My goal for this week is to get 1 muscle up each day.
I need to put fear in it's proper place and realize that failure isn't something that I need to be afraid of.
Similar to the author of the article, I've realized that I have a fear of Muscle Ups. Before I even start the movement I've already pictured me failing. In my mind I can't get one so in real life I rarely do. I've made excuses, complained, "attempted" to get better, but have never truely tried to tackle the fear. I can see the movement being done with perfect form, but it is almost always someone else. I have taught the muscle up to numerous people and can see flaws that can help them get better. I've worked on getting stronger at pullups, and dips and handstand pushups. I've talked about getting better at muscle ups. It is simply an unrealistic fear that even keeps me from wanting to try.
In order to get past my fear, I need to take that first step. I'm guaranteed to fail at everything that I don't try. In this case it is less about "trying" and more of simply DOING. I know I will not get every muscle up that I attempt, but I will certainly never get any better without an attempt. My goal for this week is to get 1 muscle up each day.
I need to put fear in it's proper place and realize that failure isn't something that I need to be afraid of.
Wednesday, April 11, 2012
Minimum Effective Dose
Almost everything in life is best if used in a certain dose. Anything from sleep, to food, to medication are best used in the proper amounts. Too little sleep or food leads to feeling tired and rundown while too much can make you fat and sluggish. Medication is even more obvious, too little is completely ineffective, while too much can literally kill you. Excercise most certainly falls under the same guidelines. Too little movement will make your joints seize, and lead to general sluggishness, not to mention the potential for extra fat. Too much excercise can be just as bad. This typically leads to at best little adaptation over time, and in the worst case too much improper movement can lead to injury. The right balance between intensity and rest is key to maximizing adaptations.
Most people when they first start CrossFit don't understand the relationship. They see for the most part short workouts surrounded by "warmup" and skill work. Initially the weights are light and the intensity is specifically low to help teach proper movement patterns. The people who come from a "standard" gym environement initially feel that more is needed. While intensity during CrossFit workouts is low, this is fine. The problem is people rarely see when to stop the "extra" workouts until it is too late and injury or burnout has set in.
The elite athletes can also fall into this trap. They are willing to do almost anything to get to the next level including 2 and 3 WODs a day. On occasion that can be a great way to shock the system, but certainly can easily get out of hand if proper rest days aren't near by.
In the end, good form, consistency, and high intensity seem to be the best perscription for CrossFit. If you feel you need more, spend some time working on a skill. It is amazing how doing a movement better makes it easier in the end.
Most people when they first start CrossFit don't understand the relationship. They see for the most part short workouts surrounded by "warmup" and skill work. Initially the weights are light and the intensity is specifically low to help teach proper movement patterns. The people who come from a "standard" gym environement initially feel that more is needed. While intensity during CrossFit workouts is low, this is fine. The problem is people rarely see when to stop the "extra" workouts until it is too late and injury or burnout has set in.
The elite athletes can also fall into this trap. They are willing to do almost anything to get to the next level including 2 and 3 WODs a day. On occasion that can be a great way to shock the system, but certainly can easily get out of hand if proper rest days aren't near by.
In the end, good form, consistency, and high intensity seem to be the best perscription for CrossFit. If you feel you need more, spend some time working on a skill. It is amazing how doing a movement better makes it easier in the end.
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