So there is this face I get while working out... Sometimes it is in the middle of the workout, when I am absolutely dying, and sometimes it comes out before a workout begins. When the "pain face" comes out before a workout begins, that is never good for me.
These past few months, I have really been trying to change my mental attitude in the gym. Instead of having a "I don't know if I can do this" attitude, I am trying to have an "I can do this" attitude. Overall, it has been going well, but I still struggle with it at times. It is hard to always have confidence in yourself (probably a reoccurring theme in my blog), but I definitely know that when I do have confidence in myself, it makes everything much easier.
As a physical therapist, I have learned that confidence is key. When discussing with a patient what I think is wrong with them on the first day, it is huge if I tell them in a confident manner. Even if I am not 100% confident about what's going on, if I give an answer with confidence and a plan on how to meet their goals, it creates a trusting bond with my patient. Trust is something that is hard to create but with confidence in me, their physical therapist, and my plan it helps create that bond. This is something that I have realized plays over into the CrossFit world for me.
If I TRUST in my abilities than I CAN do whatever I put my mind to.
Confidence.
Recently I have been putting more faith in my abilities. I have seen it pay off dividends and really help me excel in workouts. Instead of worrying about where everyone else is during a workout, I worry about what I am doing. How I need to break up the work, not how everyone else is doing it. I put my blinders on and do what I need to do in order to get the job done.
Yesterday, I felt myself take a step backwards. We were doing "Graren," Grace (which is 30 clean and jerks) and Karen (which is 150 wall balls), and I had already told myself I couldn't do it before we started. (Side note: I don't like wall balls, they used to hurt my knee and that many of them is just a daunting number for me). About a minute before the workout started, I felt my pain face come out... Uh O. Not good. I was already worked up and I hadn't even touched the bar yet.
I made myself run to the bathroom and collect my thoughts. I told myself that I can do this and to stop worrying about everything else. I walked out of the bathroom with the resolve that I was going to finish this workout no matter how long it took. Surprisingly, the workout wasn't near as bad as I thought it was going to be... Now don't get me wrong, it still sucked, but I was able to complete it in a timely manner and walk away proud that I mentally pushed through the workout as much as I did physically. I had trust in my abilities and it gave me the confidence to complete the workout.
I am especially going to need this resolve when I travel to Miami for the Wodapalooza competition. I have qualified as a RX individual and I will be competing against some great athletes. I am very excited for this opportunity, but I am also terrified. I know I will be pushed outside of my comfort zone in just about every workout and that I will have to find my inner confidence to do my absolute best. There will be a lot of people there and a lot of great athletes. Talk about overwhelming!
This past fall, I have put myself in multiple situations that I hope have helped prepare me for this bigger stage. I have competed in a few individual CrossFit competitions, a few team competitions, and a few olympic weightlifting competitions. I feel the weightlifting competitions will really help me out because it is only you and the barbell out there, with lots of people in the audience. I have had to find my confidence that I can pick up that barbell and complete my lift. Although they don't incorporate all the other CrossFit elements, they have taught me to trust in my abilities and have confidence.
Confidence is something that is difficult for me. I have definitely begun to have more confidence in my abilities but at times, it's hard to trust in myself. Slowly but surely I am getting there, but it takes time. I just keep telling myself to trust in my abilities and to leave the pain face at the door.
No comments:
Post a Comment