Mental Toughness
Replies
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When I was growing up, my parents never let me quit anything. They pretty much let me do whatever extracurricular things I thought I wanted to do, but the deal was, I could not quit until it was finished, and if I didn't want to do it again the next year, then I didn't have to. What they always said to me was "Once you quit something, you become a quitter for life because it gets easier and easier to do."
And in my opinion, doing some lesser version of what you set out to do is the same thing as quitting, so not giving it your best effort? Don't even bother with it then. For instance, I write down my HIIT work on my whiteboard before each lifting session. That's a contract I make with myself. If I wrote that I'm going to do a 10-round front squat ladder, then short of injury or death, it's getting done. I'm not going to move the goalposts. Having said that, failure and quitting are different things. If you give it all you've got and you just can't do it, then you can still rest easy knowing you did everything you could.
My big strategy is compartmentalizing. I know I'm not going to quit, and I am almost certainly not going to die, so what I'm left with is a task that needs to be completed in steps. My training session is 3 sets of deadlifts, followed by 4 assistance lifts? Then I start with the first set of deadlifts. That's all I need to worry about. That one set. I give it all I have. When I'm done with that, I have another set of deadlifts, and that set is the only thing I focus on. And I just keep doing that until, eventually, the training session is complete, and I gave everything my best effort. I think that can be applied to every kind of task. Break it down. Focus on the steps that will get you to the goal.
I think this is good too. Focus on 1 rep at a time etc.0 -
My big strategy is compartmentalizing. I know I'm not going to quit, and I am almost certainly not going to die, so what I'm left with is a task that needs to be completed in steps.
I was going to say something very much like this.
I'm not going to push myself so hard out here on this court, or in this cave, that I drop dead. It will end, eventually. I left my living room to accomplish something, and I'm going to accomplish it before I go back. The end.0 -
My big strategy is compartmentalizing. I know I'm not going to quit, and I am almost certainly not going to die, so what I'm left with is a task that needs to be completed in steps. My training session is 3 sets of deadlifts, followed by 4 assistance lifts? Then I start with the first set of deadlifts. That's all I need to worry about. That one set. I give it all I have. When I'm done with that, I have another set of deadlifts, and that set is the only thing I focus on. And I just keep doing that until, eventually, the training session is complete, and I gave everything my best effort. I think that can be applied to every kind of task. Break it down. Focus on the steps that will get you to the goal.
yup.And in my opinion, doing some lesser version of what you set out to do is the same thing as quitting, so not giving it your best effort? Don't even bother with it then. For instance, I write down my HIIT work on my whiteboard before each lifting session. That's a contract I make with myself. If I wrote that I'm going to do a 10-round front squat ladder, then short of injury or death, it's getting done. I'm not going to move the goalposts. Having said that, failure and quitting are different things. If you give it all you've got and you just can't do it, then you can still rest easy knowing you did everything you could.
and this.
If I wrote it down (this is why writing it down is so important) than barring physical issues/and major time constraint issues... then it get's done.
If it's in the book. We do the thing.
I also had someone ask me one time- "why do you go ham every time you come here"
I honestly don't' understand this question- but I none the less give an answer
"why would you bother showing up if you knew you were only going to half *kitten* it"
this usually explains things well enough. LOL0 -
Thanks for the responses so far. So far my issue is not pushing through the workout, but doing it at closer to my maximum potential for effort. I feel my times could be better but something (discomfort) is holding me back from going hard. I like your ideas; keep them coming!
I hear what you are saying-you'd be surprised at what you can accomplish with just a little more push from within:
Sometimes our WOD's finish with a x00 meter run....on the way in I can hear our coach telling me to sprint the rest of the way in. At first I thought, no way-I don't have anymore to give. The next time that happened, I paced myself a little better and did a full sprint to finish. Knowing I didn't slow down at the very end triggered something inside-now a lot of my WOD's end with a push. The voice inside saying "you can do it!" needs to be louder than the voice trying to say you can't.
When we're doing high reps or when I'm feeling exhausted (12 minute EMOM of burpees) I count forward halfway, and the rest is counted backwards....It's a mental thing....so instead of 21, 22, 23,......it's more like 6 more left, 5 more left.....it's silly, but it's worked for me.
I'm in a race against myself and I'll be damned if I'm going to lose :bigsmile:
You got this!0 -
The short answer, for me, it to simply learn to accept and play through discomfort. Like muscles, mental toughness generally grows over time. Each day you push farther than you thought you could increases your toughness.
The biggest element, above all, is to simply refuse to quit. Sometimes, I find it helps to verbalize it. I will literally tell myself, out loud, things like "don't quit", "keep moving", or "get UP and GO"- the same things my instructors would yell while I was going through military training.
There are some other techniques I tend to use, too. For one, when I go running, I prefer to completely avoid the standard high-school style running track because it's easy to decide you're done, stop, and you're practically already at your start point. I prefer to do out-and-back trails so that, even if I stop early, I've still got to cover that same distance to get back to my car. It makes it easier to say "gee... I've already covered 3/4 of a mile, and I'll still have to cover another 3/4-mile distance to get back, so I might as well go the last 1/4 mile all the way out to the 1-mile marker." Even if you want to quit, there's still a bit of a workout left to go and distance to cover before you can really stop.
One caveat, though: You need to be careful and learn to tell the difference between discomfort that comes from pushing yourself further and harder and pain that comes from doing damage to your body.0 -
This story always gets me a little more motivated to lift heavy objects. Hope its okay to post a link:
http://doyouevenlift.tumblr.com/post/31050932469/craigs-story0 -
Bump, will read later for reference.0
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I would also add, positive thinking and self confidence. The building of self confidence is a mental practice. Listen to what you are telling yourself...if you're telling yourself that you'll never be able to do x, y, or z, it is likely that you won't. If what you are hearing yourself say to yourself is negative, you need to correct that. Basically, fake it until you make it.
Getting into and through the suck really helps build that self confidence, it shows that you're ultimately a wrecking machine which even internal challenges can't stop. So it becomes this positive feedback loop. As you fight through it more you become more confident and eventually it becomes a "normal" aspect of your training and competition.
Definitely fake it til you make it. Good career advice too.0 -
stop sucking.
work harder.
This is what I believe.
Just got to pony up and perform. No one's going to do it for you.
Well, where i am at is that I don't suck. If I sucked, I pretty much wouldn't care if I got better. I would find something I didn't suck at.
In fact, I am showing promise. But, I know I can go along and be "good" to infinity or I can find a way to get better to take it to elite. I truly believe that there are techniques that we can use in almost any discipline to help us wit the mental part of the challenge. I do yoga a lot. I work with a hole customers a lot. I have learned in both of those situations that there are specific strategies I can use to change up the challenges in my mind and make them workable. So, I appreciate those who have given specific strategies.
I have never quit a CrossFit WOD. I have completed them all. I even competed them all on my own if I didn't finish in the kill clock time. But, I feel like I can push harder and get faster and that's where I really need to "EMBRACE THE SUCK!"
I like the idea of "embracing the suck" though and the "fake it til you make it." True in most settings, athletic or not.0 -
The short answer, for me, it to simply learn to accept and play through discomfort. Like muscles, mental toughness generally grows over time. Each day you push farther than you thought you could increases your toughness.
The biggest element, above all, is to simply refuse to quit. Sometimes, I find it helps to verbalize it. I will literally tell myself, out loud, things like "don't quit", "keep moving", or "get UP and GO"- the same things my instructors would yell while I was going through military training.
There are some other techniques I tend to use, too. For one, when I go running, I prefer to completely avoid the standard high-school style running track because it's easy to decide you're done, stop, and you're practically already at your start point. I prefer to do out-and-back trails so that, even if I stop early, I've still got to cover that same distance to get back to my car. It makes it easier to say "gee... I've already covered 3/4 of a mile, and I'll still have to cover another 3/4-mile distance to get back, so I might as well go the last 1/4 mile all the way out to the 1-mile marker." Even if you want to quit, there's still a bit of a workout left to go and distance to cover before you can really stop.
One caveat, though: You need to be careful and learn to tell the difference between discomfort that comes from pushing yourself further and harder and pain that comes from doing damage to your body.
Good post. Thanks so much!0 -
I'm finding that my greatest challenges aren't physical but rather mental/emotional.
Yup. Yup.
Even in high school for cross country running I needed to start developing ways to get just a little bit more speed or distance out of myself. The one thing I did learn is it takes time with whatever technique you find works for you.
My number one mental trick is to set a short goal then play double or nothing with myself. I've found that over time I can tell myself to push for another minute, then challenge myself for another minute after. Or look up and tell myself to just run to the furthest hill, and find a double or nothing point even further. The idea of double of "nothing" gets me every time. For some reason telling myself I get to count nothing if I don't double up makes me want it more.
During the hardest parts of exertion for lifting or whatever I repeat phrases or words in my head. In tennis when I need to focus or play harder I'll keep saying "play your game, play your game" in my head. For lifting I keep saying "one more, on more...". That works well.
And I know a lot of people use anger or some type of aggressiveness to push themselves, I have too in some cases, but I am finding more often than not that makes me tighten up more, so I try to even out my emotional state and "just work".
All the best.0 -
I'm pathetic... I always think of others happiness to push through... my multiple black belt gradings (couldn't stop since I didn't want to disappoint my martial arts instructor)... my one and only 50k race, had to finish since I didn't want to disappoint my husband. And now a half marathon that all my friends are planning to run with, I have to finish since I don't want to disappoint them :-(.... Training does help the pushing through process though. If you want some inspiration, read up on Meb Keflezighi and his recent NYC marathon finish.0
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I thought of you this morning when I came across this article...
http://www.milliondollarbabyfitness.com/blog/the-minds-role-in-training/0 -
...effective strategies for increasing mental toughness during a workout
Progression over time, and giving myself short term objectives. As I'm improving my running my ability to go for longer distances builds. Then it's a question of telling myself that I'll keep going until "that lamp-post", "pass that runner", "until it's time to have a gel". I also remind myself of the last successes, or when I eased off; "stopped to tie laces 2 km ago which gave me 15 seconds of rest", "slowed down on that uphill" or even "wasn't that downhill quite relaxing".
There is also a proportion of measuring my successes on the move; "reached that lamp-post 10 seconds earlier than last week", "made it 100m further in that interval" etc
I also find that the beats per minute on my music helps a lot to keep me going.0 -
I developed Mantras I would repeat to myself when it got tough in marathon training. Also, like a lot of people here said, playing mind tricks. I would break the race into little blocks of time in my head, like 5 more miles, etc. Good luck, you can do it!0
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I have no advice, but I think your attitude is a great place to start! Congratulations!0
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stop sucking.
work harder.
This is what I believe.
Just got to pony up and perform. No one's going to do it for you.
Well, where i am at is that I don't suck. If I sucked, I pretty much wouldn't care if I got better. I would find something I didn't suck at. In fact, I am showing promise. But, I know I can go along and be "good" to infinity or I can find a way to get better to take it to elite. I truly believe that there are techniques that we can use in almost any discipline to help us wit the mental part of the challenge. I do yoga a lot. I work with a hole customers a lot. I have learned in both of those situations that there are specific strategies I can use to change up the challenges in my mind and make them workable. So, I appreciate those who have given specific strategies.
I have never quit a CrossFit WOD. I have completed them all. I even competed them all on my own if I didn't finish in the kill clock time. But, I feel like I can push harder and get faster and that's where I really need to "EMBRACE THE SUCK!"
I like the idea of "embracing the suck" though and the "fake it til you make it." True in most settings, athletic or not.
you absolutely 110% missed the point.0 -
stop sucking.
work harder.
This is what I believe.
Just got to pony up and perform. No one's going to do it for you.
Well, where i am at is that I don't suck. If I sucked, I pretty much wouldn't care if I got better. I would find something I didn't suck at. In fact, I am showing promise. But, I know I can go along and be "good" to infinity or I can find a way to get better to take it to elite. I truly believe that there are techniques that we can use in almost any discipline to help us wit the mental part of the challenge. I do yoga a lot. I work with a hole customers a lot. I have learned in both of those situations that there are specific strategies I can use to change up the challenges in my mind and make them workable. So, I appreciate those who have given specific strategies.
I have never quit a CrossFit WOD. I have completed them all. I even competed them all on my own if I didn't finish in the kill clock time. But, I feel like I can push harder and get faster and that's where I really need to "EMBRACE THE SUCK!"
I like the idea of "embracing the suck" though and the "fake it til you make it." True in most settings, athletic or not.
you absolutely 110% missed the point.
Maybe, but IMO the point was a bad one. I don't start anything with the mindset of "I suck" or "I am sucking so I need to get better."
I start awesome and continue to be awesome through the culmination of the activity. I suppose sometimes I let up and suck, but it's rare that I actually think that. If that's what motivates you, that's great, but "stop sucking" is not something that's going to get me to keep pushing hard.0 -
Embrace the suck.
During the training for my triathlon my efforts got me into some mentally dark places. There's a point where you're fully depleted, you're hurting, and you think you can't make it anymore, you might cry a little, and all you want to do is quit. You just embrace the suck. Realize that you can't move forward without pain, and that if you embrace it, make it a friend, you'll know when it's coming and use that as a training or competitive tool in the future.
It also helps for when true physical pain happens during a race. For me, I took a good kidney punch during the swim in my last tri. It hurt, a lot. I had gotten used to pain, so I kept going.
So I guess essentially:
1. Realize that it's going to hurt at some point, and that hurt may be emotional.
2. Be ready for it, and know that it isn't going to kill you or hurt you permanently.
3. Embrace it and realize it's a part of what's going to happen whenever you push yourself so far beyond your comfort zone.
4. Remind yourself that it's only fleeting, you'll get through it, and it's going to make your harder, stronger, more capable.
Then go drink it off.
yup0 -
I would love some feedback from serious athletes who have developed effective strategies for increasing mental toughness during a workout. Specifically, I am thinking along the lines of strategies to push through a long or particularly challenging workout where continuing with significant discomfort is necessary. I've come to participate in serious fitness challenges later in life than most, having never played sports while growing up. I never had that football coach helping me visualize success. I need to be my own cheerleader.
So, for any of you endurance athletes, serious Crossfitters, etc.: What are some of your techniques? Visualization? Mantras? Pain processing methods?
Now that I'm starting to get serious about CrossFit and endurance swimming, I'm finding that my greatest challenges aren't physical but rather mental/emotional.
Thanks in advance.:flowerforyou:
You develop a vision of what you want to be or look like and just know that everything you do will effect your goal. This kind of applies to everything in life, in all honesty I put the mindset I put into working out into my career ... since I made that transition I've more then doubled my income (not kidding) bought a brand new car and am looking at buying a home by next year.
It's having a vision of what you want and being willing to do whatever it takes to get there. Sacrifice what you are today for what you could be tomorrow!0 -
I've been told to "get comfortable being uncomfortable" and I also think about the end results and the reason why I'm doing the WOD or running. I try to keep track of everything so that I always have something to beat.0
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stop sucking.
work harder.
This is what I believe.
Just got to pony up and perform. No one's going to do it for you.
Well, where i am at is that I don't suck. If I sucked, I pretty much wouldn't care if I got better. I would find something I didn't suck at. In fact, I am showing promise. But, I know I can go along and be "good" to infinity or I can find a way to get better to take it to elite. I truly believe that there are techniques that we can use in almost any discipline to help us wit the mental part of the challenge. I do yoga a lot. I work with a hole customers a lot. I have learned in both of those situations that there are specific strategies I can use to change up the challenges in my mind and make them workable. So, I appreciate those who have given specific strategies.
I have never quit a CrossFit WOD. I have completed them all. I even competed them all on my own if I didn't finish in the kill clock time. But, I feel like I can push harder and get faster and that's where I really need to "EMBRACE THE SUCK!"
I like the idea of "embracing the suck" though and the "fake it til you make it." True in most settings, athletic or not.
you absolutely 110% missed the point.
Maybe, but IMO the point was a bad one. I don't start anything with the mindset of "I suck" or "I am sucking so I need to get better."
I start awesome and continue to be awesome through the culmination of the activity. I suppose sometimes I let up and suck, but it's rare that I actually think that. If that's what motivates you, that's great, but "stop sucking" is not something that's going to get me to keep pushing hard.
A :flowerforyou: for Johnnythan.0 -
Maybe, but IMO the point was a bad one. I don't start anything with the mindset of "I suck" or "I am sucking so I need to get better."
I start awesome and continue to be awesome through the culmination of the activity. I suppose sometimes I let up and suck, but it's rare that I actually think that. If that's what motivates you, that's great, but "stop sucking" is not something that's going to get me to keep pushing hard.
maybe for you.
but there is no way I'm going to work hard if I walk in thinking I'm awesome. I'm already awesome- why am I going to work hard. I don't walk in saying "I suck" I walk in going- "you are a fat slob- like everyone else- now prove to me you aren't."
The first part of a work out is easy. But the mental toughness to step under the bar AGAIN after you are beat (or feeling beat) is where this comes in.
But after you step up again and get set and you have that feeling of just doing it- rather than pushing for all you have- that's about the time the "stop sucking you pansy a&& piece of *kitten* type commentary comes through my head. Usually also 'you fu*king piece of *kitten* pick up the god damn weight- no one will do it for you" You can be awesome when you are done- but you aren't awesome till you do this thing.
It's not a bad point- it's just not for everyone- but that works for me- and lots of other people.0 -
Well, yes, for me. That was the OP's question.0
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I know exactly what you mean. I had a moment last week when we had to do 150 burpees for time. By the time 100 are done, there is nothing but determination that's going to get you through it.
I just think back to a little over a year ago when I would have laughed at the thought of doing 150 burpees. For some reason, when I realize how far I've come, it inspires me to keep going...0 -
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But after you step up again and get set and you have that feeling of just doing it- rather than pushing for all you have- that's about the time the "stop sucking you pansy a&& piece of *kitten* type commentary comes through my head. Usually also 'you fu*king piece of *kitten* pick up the god damn weight- no one will do it for you" You can be awesome when you are done- but you aren't awesome till you do this thing.
Wow. I would just never talk to myself like that. There are enough mean people in the world - I don't need to be mean to myself.
Thankfully, I can push myself in healthier ways.0 -
yes but you said it was a bad point.Well, yes, for me. That was the OP's question.
it's not a bad point- it's just 'a' point.
I wasn't SPECIFICALLY telling her to stop sucking- that's the whole technique LOL I dn't know if she sucks or not. I have never seen her work out. I am pretty sure after the last post she wrote I have a good idea of where she is- and that explains a lot to me- but again- lots of people don't respond well to it. Shrug- iz okay. whatever works for you is what works.
it works for me- and it doesn't work for you but it doesn't make a not valid way to work out- thousands of people work out like that. A lot. it's not uncommon.Wow. I would just never talk to myself like that. There are enough mean people in the world - I don't need to be mean to myself.
Thankfully, I can push myself in healthier ways.
nothing unhealthy about it. It's pretty normal. And no I don't think I'm a piece of *kitten*. I think I'm fabulous and extremely awesome- but when I step to the gym- that means nothing- telling me I'm awesome gets me no where. it's self defeating. Harder stronger faster doesn't come from a place of being already good- it comes from a place of not being good enough.0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RahvWjoU9Xc
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