THE CALLING...:part 2

Tuesday. Today I woke up after dreaming about muscle ups...

Muscle ups are a gymnastic move whereby you hold onto olympic rings and must proceed to swing yourself up from a complete hang, into a tricep dip position and then push down and thereby pushing yourself up into the top position of a tricep dip. That is one rep. One of the events coming up this weekend, namely event three, will require me to complete 30 burpee muscle ups, which means i need to execute a burpee, jump up onto the rings and complete a muscle up before dropping off and repeating that, as quickly as possible, thirty times.
For anyone who has tried this before, you can appreciate what a task this will be. This event can be summed up in two words: Eat Concrete. The reason why is because it will be tough, so accept it and just do it.

So yesterdays session as I mentioned would be a relatively low intensity workout and went something like this:

Double under practice - 5 minutes

5 x 3 Overhead squats working up to 70% of my 3 rep max weight

5 x 5 chest-to-bar pull ups

2 x 500m row

stretch and foam roll

I did do some double under practice (skipping where the rope must pass twice under your feet with each jump) and it was one of those days where it just wasn't smooth. This can be frustrating because its not something I usually struggle with but for whatever reason, it was yesterday. Kind of like a bowler in cricket just not hitting the right areas which he usually hits with ease. Days like those you just have to push through it and trust that when the time comes you will nail it. Visualisation is also an important tool for any athlete and when I am driving or just relaxing I try visualise how it will go and how I want to it to go more importantly. For me, every time I do visualise my heart rate goes up and my palms get sweaty as I said yesterday, but I believe it will help when it comes down to it.

Today I have been focusing on relaxing and just making sure I have everything in order in terms of kit and gear, I watched videos from the regionals which took place this last weekend and in event six there is a walking lunge to finish. It is 90 feet and your knee must touch the ground with each step and I saw some of the athletes using simple neoprene knee guards to protect their knees during this section. I liked that idea so I am going to go and pick some up today, Little things like this can help you feel more comfortable during an event and just that little bit of help can mean the difference between 1st and 2nd, and as we say in Crossfit... every second counts. So why not use everything you have at your disposal.

One thing I also find very motivating during workouts is music. I am sure most of you can agree that when you are struggling during a workout and an awesome song comes on through your earphones, it gives you a little boost. I do not know why that happens and its something that I have wondered about in that why cant we harness that when there isn't music, and that brings me to the reference point. A reference point is something that you have done or been through that was hard, really hard, and that you can compare to what you are going through now. For example, Lance Armstrong (disgraced athlete I know) used his experience with cancer as a reference point when he was struggling on the bike and thought, cancer was the hardest thing I have ever been through and was a lot harder than this climb I am doing right now, so I know I can do this. For me, my reference point is a personal one but equally motivating and something I will use when it gets rough at the regionals. But for yourself, if you haven't used this tool before, give it a try and see what happens. It often happens in competition and in life, that we aren't competing with someone else, but with ourselves. That little voice that says you are too tired or its too hard, its in those moments that we choose to either listen to that voice or ignore it because we know we are capable of more. So your muscles are burning, so what, don't think about what will happen if you stop, think about what will happen if you don't... see what lies on the other side of the burn... I think you may find a special place that only few have been, a place called success.

Right, its lunch time and protein and veggies are calling my name. Until tomorrow folks, stay classy, keep pushing and keep believing :)

Peace n Love.

Al-Zilla