How's Your Head Game?

The state of mind that you take going into a workout (and life) is one of the most important things that will impact your performance.  There are a lot of factors that go into your workout performance, like the workout movements, weather for the day, people in class, time of day, etc.  Most of the factors (like the ones just mentioned) that people take into account when assessing their performance are out of their control.  But, something that is ALWAYS in your control is how you think.  What is your mindset when you go into a workout?  Is it consistent from day to day?  Or does it change once you see what the workout is?  The best athletes will have the same, consistent mindset going into each workout no matter what.  

Take this example I recently experienced.  I had a 2 part workout to perform:

12min AMRAP
5 Power Clean
10 T2B
15 Wall Ball
*Rest until the 20 minute mark, then…
3 Rounds for time
20 DB Shoulder to Overhead
25 Pull-ups
30 KBS

Now, let it be known that the only movement that I would consider a strength in any of that is the power cleans.  I am average at T2B and pull ups.  And wall balls are my mortal enemy.  I had two completely different outcomes after performing this workout.  I did really well on the 12min AMRAP (the one with my mortal enemy).  And then the 3-rounder ate my soul.  So, here is what happened:

I went into the first workout with a plan of attack and a POSITIVE mental attitude.  My goal was to go unbroken on the wall balls, because I knew this was my weakest movement in the triplet.  And guess what??  I did go unbroken on every set of wall balls, with an added bonus of going unbroken on the T2B!  I came out of the workout feeling very happy with my effort.

During the rest period, a comment was made, “This part is going to take forever.  It’s going to suck.”  For some reason, that comment stuck in my head and it kept growing.  I went into the workout with my mental game completely off… I went into it with a negative mindset.  And guess what?  The workout did suck.  During the workout, all I could think about was how much it sucked.  I was thinking of every excuse in the book to drop off the pull up bar or put the KB down.  The workout crushed me when it shouldn’t have and I came out mentally defeated, feeling terrible about my performance.

So, what’s the lesson to be learned here?  No matter what extrinsic factors are surrounding you, DON’T let them mess with your mindset.  You are always in control of your mindset.  Focus on you, and only you.  Get into the habit of practicing positive thoughts going into ANY workout.  Remember, the mind is a muscle that needs to be trained, just like anything else.  And repetitive training will yield muscle memory.  It’s not going to happen overnight; it’s going to take consistent and intentional effort every day.

The next time you’re about to do a workout, stick with positive thoughts!  Take these for example:

THINK: I can do this, stay moving, one rep at a time, get to “blank number”, etc.  

DON’T THINK: This is hard, I’m tired, this is heavy, this sucks, I can’t do it, I’m breathing so hard, I still have “blank number” to go, I can’t breathe, etc.  

Practice makes permanent.  Make the effort every day to keep a positive mindset in everything you do.  Create small goals for yourself to keep a winning mindset.  Small wins turn into big wins, and big wins turn into victories.