The Program

I’ll be the first to put my hand up.

Self-regulation is a skill I am still developing.

Because of this I make poor decisions.

I make the wrong decisions.

I compete when the intent is to practice. I misjudge my abilities. I am far more concerned about the weight on my neighbours bar than I would like to admit.

I have masqueraded as developing my capacity to go unbroken. “Traditionally I would break this up. Therefore today my practice is unbroken”. Conveniently, this helps me finish faster.

I ask myself: am I really practicing? Or am I pretending to do so while ultimately competing to finish in the fastest time possible?

Some months ago, I wrote an article titled: “Practice Does Not Mean Easy”.

I did so through the perspective of intensity – that just because the mindset dictates development, does not mean that the intensity of the workout is reduced.

I want to extend that. Actually, I need to extend that because I know I’m not the only one still grappling with these concepts.

“Hold the Standard” is now physically plastered across the walls of the gym. Most of us understand “The Standard” as staying accountable to the work, not shaving any reps and moving to the best of one’s ability.

But “The Standard” is also: practice on Practice days; compete on Competition days; and understand that grit and tenacity are what is to be sought on a Mental Toughness day.

The hardest standard to hold seems to be the Practice context.

Lately there has been a trend – myself included – of going hard on a Practice day then using Competition and Mental Toughness to go even harder, or not doing them altogether, as I’m physically spent from the previous day’s practice.

Looking at the week, our intensity has jumped immensely. There is no distinction or fluctuation between each of these contexts. And because of this, we are missing the point!

Capacity to reach top end intensity is diminished. This due to going far too hard on days where that is not the intent. And then not going hard enough on days when it is the point!

I take responsibility as a coach to do a better job at communicating the context. I don’t think anyone intentionally goes out and does the opposite of what is asked. If it is the case that what is being communicated is misunderstood, I will do better. We all will, as a coaching group.

But the point remains: it is your choice as to how you orient your training practice. It is up to you to effectively self-regulate. To stay accountable to your practice. To trust in the process. To Hold the Standard.

You need to be autonomous. You need to be self-responsible. Our job is to guide this. To potentially illuminate some appropriate decisions relative to context.

This is a skill I am developing as an athlete. This is me being accountable to that and owning my mistakes. Now it’s your turn.