Written by Ted Dreaver
Training The Perishable Skill Set
Common questions:
“Hey Coach – what weight should I use for this workout?’
or
“Front headlock choke – arm in or out?”
or
“What pacing strategy should I be using for today’s WOD?”
or
“Ten finger grip or gable grip?”
or
“Why couldn’t I do the weight / intensity / time I did last time?”
…
All valid questions for a coach – from an athlete that is consistent. As a matter of fact – a good coach can answer these questions with certainty if that athlete is dedicated, consistent and driven.
And – to add to that, a great athlete already knows the answers because they have been tracking their progress. What these types of athletes are asking for is an edge or a suggestion to enhance their performance.
Needless to say these are the ones that are fun to coach.
Newer athletes also get a pass here. They (and the coach) are still developing and gathering data on what they are capable of.
However…
It’s the inconsistent ones. (Insert eye roll here)
The guy who comes every once in a while.
The girl who misses 3 weeks but tries to make it up in two days – then misses another week.
The guy who may appear consistent – but is brain dead as to recording progress and appears confused as to why they even wake up every day.
The dude who shows up occasionally – and consistent about one thing: being late.
…
You know – most of you.
Ya’ll have the same questions, or worse – the blank stare of ignorance. Hiding behind a fake wall made up of your own ego. That “zero fucks given” attitude should NEVER apply to your training.
Believe it or not – your Coach now has to take steps back to get you set up for your occasional workout.
You may not want to hear the next part:
Your coach is not able to progress your training.
Because – you’re not training. You’re working out. Recreationally. Aimlessly.
Your coach will do their best to work through your nervous fumbling around and shifty gazes to set you up with a good stress relieving sweat session – but they will not be able to support or progress your training.
Not until you get your head out of your ass – or the clouds, and start caring about and tracking your progress.
Being dedicated and prioritizing your training has been discussed at length in many blogs before this. For now let’s talk about tracking.
There are so many easy ways to track your progress. A sketch pad, a notebook, a planner – or for you smart phone junkies there are a million apps out there that can help.
Here at Iron Legion you have access to Wodify. Did you know you could do a 5k at home on a sunday and put the results in there? You can log your garage back squat, garage FRAN time – whatever. And we will have it here when you need it.
Successful athletes prioritize their training AND their nutrition. They earn the results they get and it feels great to enter them into a tracking system.
Want successful training and nutrition sessions? It’s actually quite simple – so simple it’s easy to ignore:
Show up – care about AND track – your results.Every. Single Day.
Seasoned athletes know they are training a perishable skill set. Results aren’t guaranteed, and everything is earned by the day. Time away and distracted aimless workouts are disruptive to progression of any kind.
You ain’t unique. I can guarantee I’ve got members in here that have harder schedules and more kids than you and they are crushing it.
Get a notebook – or use the tools you pay for, be consistent and you’ll be surprised how quickly the gains will start stacking up.
Or don’t. The world loves gobbling up mediocre boring weak minded folks.
We want more for you.
Pay attention – it don’t cost nothin’.
I’m here to help
–
Yours in Strength and Confidence,
Coach Ted
#strengthoverfear #forgingbetterhumans