Friday, November 21, 2008

Training Is WAR!...?

I enjoy training. No, I take that back... I LOVE training. It is an escape for me. Everything is quiet. I've never understood the "training is a war" mindset. I know it works for Captain Kirk, but viewing the weights as the enemy somehow distracts me and my performance suffers. Yes, if the training is heavy, an intense focus is required, but I'd describe my thoughts as "focused and intense to the point of being a little PO'ed". For high-rep work, or more technical lifts, I try to be the squirrel.

There is only one real battle for me when it comes to training and that is making time for training, pulling myself away from the boob-tube, setting aside other responsibilities. As a swimming coach told me once, "The hardest part of the workout is getting in the pool" - the solution for me here is to make training a habit that is so ingrained that it becomes more of an effort to miss a training session than to complete one.

3 comments:

Shaf said...

I see people with this attitude get hurt, burnt out, or just stop training.

I've always felt that most of your workouts should be "enjoyable". Then some of your workout, but a distinct minority, should instill a bit of dread or fear.

It's odd. Competitions roll around and I am calm and collected, ready to go, but if certain workouts come up in my rotation, the get me agitated and disturbed...I know the physical effort of doing them OR the aftermath is going to be hellish.

It's nice when something that was once terrible (for me, the long kettlebell sets with the 16kg were exercises in pain tolerance and boredom) become enjoyable (now it's the heavier long kb sets that mess with me)

Nice bit, Boris.

Boris said...

Yeah, I usually feel the same way about competitions - fun stuff if you prepare well.

I agree with you completely about training.

Thanks Shaf.

Boris said...

Thanks Ahmed. Keep up the training and thanks for dropping by!