Weekly Word – 3/1
I read a really good quote this week:….”it’s not the daily increase but the daily decrease. Hack away at the unessential”…. Bruce Lee.
I really think this applies really well to our training. Many of you like to add training time, or insert some extra disciplines (TRX, Core, Pilates, Yoga, etc.) and while it looks good on paper, are we sure this is the best use of your limited time? Smarter training is all about doing the training to the best of your ability, and then allowing your body and mind to recover properly for the next workout. Adding other activities surely limit your recovery, most often sleep, and other stresses come up (workload, family, social life, personal life). So we need to make real smart choices: what is the best use of my limited training time? And – often more importantly: is this extra activity necessary for maintaining a good balance with my training and the rest of my daily life? For me? I know Yoga and more strength training would be helpful – actually beneficial, but given my time and my daily commitments to other things in my life, I can’t make it work. Sure – could I run around constantly trying to fit something in? Yes. But then my stress levels and anxiety increase elsewhere: my time with family, coaching and social life becomes compromised with mediocracy. “Its not the daily increase, but the daily decrease. Hack away at the unessential”.
Why am I bringing up a ‘deep’ topic like this? Because many of you voice your concerns on how to get it all in. Yet I read in your logs and hear in other ways how much other stuff you are adding into your training life. Part of being a serious athlete is knowing how to tune out the noise and distractions and focus on a given task (the workouts) really well. If you do all the training – and only the training, as prescribed – you will be fit and prepared for your best performance. Start adding to the mix – and not only will I not know how to balance your training load effectively, but your training performance will begin to suffer. If you think you are on of those people that CAN fit it ALL in, then it is usually too late: something is being compromised, you just don’t know it yet.
Train smarter – not more. Many of you know the big training weeks still lie ahead, so your additions and extras now burn into valuable family, work, and social goodwill balances. Invest now, in order to ask for the extra time when we need it. It’s coming, don’t burn through that balance in March!
“It’s not the daily increase but the daily decrease. Hack away at the unessential” – the best part I hear at training camps – and I heard again in Tucson a few weeks ago – is that athletes love the training without any distractions and just the single focus of training during the camp. This CAN be replicated at home – mainly because we don’t train those hours at home like at a training camp – but also by planning and thinking through how we want to execute the workouts. Come into the workouts prepared, with a good, positive mindset, and nail ’em. Then – quickly take care of your post training routine and re-integrate into your daily life. Embrace the training/life balance. But then also be fair to yourself to not fill it with too much extra ‘noise’ and ‘stuff’.
If you are just too busy to make it work, then we need to re-position, realign your goals. As you have heard me say before – that is totally fine, let’s have realistic goals and ones that are achievable in your current life scenario. One thing I am looking to avoid with ALL of you: pro, elite, beginner, runner only, swimmers, ultra runners…it is slogging through training to just get to the start line, and then, even worse, finish feeling awful, flat, depleted and unhappy. This is a choice, a lifestyle and it should excite you and keep you motivated. You ALL sacrifice too much to not get the enjoyment from this that you deserve!
Have a great week!
FYI- testing – if its been 3 months since your last test, then it’s time to schedule again.