Two of you

[GJEC]

Interesting article by Jonny Wilkinson in this months 'Outdoor Fitness' (March 2013)

He describes the feeling of TWO sides to every athlete / player / fighter.

The cool one who works out the skills and demands of the task and works sensibly to acquire and maintain those tools ...

The slightly darker one who turns up to compete and puts his heart and soul into using the above to achieve the desired result ...

This had a particular resonance with me. At times I've just slogged away but couldn't 'raise my game' when it mattered. At others I was 'up for it' but poor preparation left me floundering.

So it's worth considering training in both ways. In any session there should be cool parts and more ferocious parts. Just turning up and 'training' with no real thought to mindsets is only half the story.



Gary

[hokuto12]

Johnny Wilkinson dam you. Its still a sore point.

[GJEC]

LOL Sorry mate!

But who can forget that glorious, perfect moment. You know, the one where the Aussie press realised that we weren't just "White Orcs on steroids" (And in view of recent revelations that sounds even funnier now)

OK I jest. Jonny Wilkinson has certainly had more trials and tribulations - mentally and physically - than most, so I read whatever he writes with interest.



Gary

[MMX]

Those are good points. I plan my sessions but on occasion the beast inside will take it over so it is working out.

[curlbroscience]

I currently feel desensitized to certain levels of training and it requires a great amount of intensity (in the many definitions of that term) to reach that darker place.

My inner beast is in there and he rears his ugly head every once and awhile. But what it takes to get him out of his shell has increased so much over the course of the years that I find it very difficult to rouse him.

[GJEC]

The actual paragraph:

"For me, there are two sides to performance: actually doing it, and preparing to give yourself every opportunity to do it at your very best. It can be helpful to think of your performance as the story of two different people: the first person creates the platform and the second performs on the day"

Makes sense to me. I often talk of good sessions being like putting money in the bank that you can draw on under stress. Too many people want to run up an overdraft.

Worth considering.

Gary

[senshido]

sounds sensible

[tmd]

Grrrr proboards just crashed on my rather lengthy answer....


Short version last few years I have either been in great shape save an injury that my brain stops me trying to fight through and so I perform below par on the day or I'm mentally ready for the challenge but not tournament fit.

I had a consultation with a salt of the earth mind coach who called me a **** for fighting with such an obvious issue last time round as the brain will always try to protect you and I learned how to (try) and properly focus on the day in summary that in the build up it is 80% physical effort 20% mental strength and on the day it flips.

[GJEC]

I think the old boxing adage of "Train with your head, fight with your heart" is on the money.

I also liked Joe Calzaghe's "Train like a challenger, fight like a champion"

All paths up the same (long) hill ...

Gary

[tmd]

I think some people forget what a well researched, tried tested and funded martial art Boxing is - a lot of great methodologies come out of Boxing that it seems get dismissed as 'it's only fighting' not a martial art short sighted, purest, blinkered, bullcrap!