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Thursday, July 7, 2011

200!

     Happy 200th ramble everyone! Can you believe it? I know I can't. That means I've talked about whatever pops into my little (operative word) head 200 times... and you folks have actaully decided to read and follow that nonsense! Well, I hope it hasn't been nonsense, and you have gotten something out of it. So let's see what we have in store for you today.


     I have been watching videos about the CrossFit Games (yes I am a junkie), and I see a lot of similaties is these athletes. I'm not talking about the fact they all of them are monsters and are destroying WODs that could injure a medium-sized bear. What they have a tendency to talk about it mental game, which is something I've rambled about a lot, and feel there is a great importance in CrossFit (unoficially, the 11th General Skill of CrossFit).

     Louie Simmons said it best, "If you have a million dollar body, but a ten cent mind, your finished." These athletes have all the strength and drive in the world, but everyone hits the wall at some point. Some people get crushed by said wall, but others... they just climb over it.

     We've all battled some feroscious WODs in the past, and I believe at one time or another we've ALL hit this wall. We've dropped the bar cause we're dying, we've put the kettlebell down cause our arms are jello, and we've put our hands on our knees because just the thought of another burpee makes us want to vomit... that's the wall. This is where our mental toughness really kicks in. It's where your mind is tell you to stop, but you just stop listening and LIFT THE &%$@ WEIGHT.

     Our minds will give out before I body does, and you do have to be strong enough to stop listening and move. It is a very difficult thing to do, but possible. Look at an elite athlete like CrossFit super stud Jason Khalipa. Jason won the CF Games in 2008. During the first WOD in '09, which was a 7k hill run, he wound up in 73rd place (or something near that). He literally collapsed in the last mile. Everyone thought he was completely out of contention to even make it to day 3, let alone anywhere near the podium. It took a lot of strength between the ears for Jason to rally and climb back up. 20 minutes after finishing his painful run he Deadlifted 505 lbs, for first place! He kept on going and had another first place in a brutal wallball and snatch couplet! He ended the weekend in 5th place.

     Now Jason is a prime example of forgetting about the rough finishes and being mentally strong to compete. Now, maybe many of us will never make it to the game (myself included), but we can all work on being mentally strong. So hold on to that bar as long as humanly possible, limit your rest to two breaths, and know that the pain only lasts so long. So what do you have folks? What was one time you were mentally strong? When did you hit that wall? And what did you do? Leave comments below, keep training hard... and do burpees!

3,2,1 GO!
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Yesterday's Training:

1RM Split Clean - 200lbs!!!
Uber excited to be in the 200... quite honestly, felt like I could do more, but decided to leave that for another day

Conditioning WOD (no lime)
6 Deadlifts
6 Bent Over Rows
6 Hang Squat Cleans
6 Front Squats
6 Back Squats
75lbs - 85 lbs - 95lbs - 105lbs
I cherry picked this conditioning WOD from SEALFIT. Everything went well untill I was at 105lbs, that's when my lower back really started to fry. All of the squats we're ass-to-ankle

Day 83 Burpee Challenge / 3486 Burpees Total


*3511*

2 comments:

  1. Nice wod, Frosh! Hey, on the mental thing, this isn't exactly what you're talking about, but a mental situation nonetheless. Tonight I was at the box lifting and had a bit of a frustrating time. Music was club music, and I made the poor choice of going in to set a pr while class was going on. Bad idea. Here's why: I've found that my concentration is easily broken when others are around and when I'm listening to Lady Blah Blah. I just can't hit that mental psycho switch that has been my best friend. I pr'd deadlift and bench, but only in a relative sense. I hit 375 on deads and failed 295 on bench. On both lifts I'm climbing back up to previous pr's of 465 and 305. Tonight I just couldn't yell and stomp and do all the circus crap I do to flip that switch on this type of lifting. All mental. All mental. Just couldn't get into it.

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  2. I hear you man, environment can be a HUGE factor on your lifts and WODs. Hell, optimal for me a some loud loud music and the lights dimmed. But have you ever tried to WOD with bright lights and no music at all. Oddly enough it can make a difference. But some of thos guys that are mental monsters can be successful anywhere... and that's what we're all hoping for

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