If any of you have a rain dance or some ritual that you know of that that will make it cool, now is a good time to sing those prayers. I've been praying to every god of weather there is.. Including Storm and Thor.
No, I don't know how to combine images..
After the last couple posts about doing pull ups and dips, many of you have responded about how good it is to be reminded about what you NEED to do and what they NEED to work on.
Here's my advice:
WORK ON THE SKILLS YOU SUCK AT.
It's basically that simple. If your pull ups are non existent and you want to do them, avoiding that is not going to magically hatch into a pull up one fine morning. You have to hammer away at it for long periods of time. You have to turn your weaknesses into less of a weakness. They may never become strengths, especially if you look at it from Tom Rath's point of view, but at least you'll make progress if not mastery.
The key is consistency and persistence.
- Persistence is simple. It is the metaphysical force you apply to an effort. As long is it's there, you'll "go for it" repeatedly. Failure might frustrate and demoralize you here and there but hopefully it's not enough to kick the bucket. So the easiest advice is: keep trying. Push on. Try again. Eventually, something will come of the effort.
- Consistency is a bit trickier. This part takes character. It takes discipline. It involves relentlessly doing the things that you don't really want to do because you know you SHOULD. But here's the kicker. You have to repeat. Again and again and again. Just when you think you're over it, remind yourself that you've only just begun and then move on to the next repetition. Day in day out. Week in, week out. Month after year after decade. You'll get it. Stay consistent and "it" becomes you. "It" becomes your character. You are what you do consistently.
So find something that you are struggling with and get after it. Make it the reason for exercising today. It doesn't even have to be a big thing. It might just be a component of something else. Like spreading the ground in squatting or punching through during a snatch. I always tell people that MAYBE by the 1,000th clean, it will start to make sense and then it will all simultaneously fall apart again. Continue in this fashion. How long is up to you, but progress can take years or longer. So be patient and dedicated.
Dennis, this article is for you, buddy. But everyone will benefit from reading it.
Eat your yogurt! Unless you don't want "luxuriantly silky fur" or that "certain mouse swagger".
It's on the topic of the on-going gastro-intestinal bacterial biome discussion.
Enjoy!
Thanks for this post, Rus! I can't tell you how much it helped to read it. I am STILL working on trying to do one real push up and one real pull up. It feels like it's been forever with the push up, but it's good to know it's all about the practice and consistency.
ReplyDeleteDouble unders are my Holy Grail. I don't practice them nearly enough. I think something like 50/day no matter how long it takes is a start.
ReplyDeleteI'm baffled when I see people do them so smoothly and their feet barley leave the ground. I end up bending my knees or bouncing much higher which results in a harder landing. That wastes energy and tires you out faster. That fast wrist action ain't working either.