Crossfit Norwest, Raw strength and conditioning and Barefoot Evolution Discussion Forum

[Bec]

I'm sure anyone who has trained with me has noticed my breaking point - it rears it's head fairly regularly @ CFNW and I've had some awesome support from people in the gym to help me get through to the end of some of the most mental workouts I've ever experienced. (I love crossfit, but I'd have to say it is probably the hardest physical and mental challenge I've ever faced.)

It normally takes a lot to make me cry like a small child, but at CFNW I seem to crumble fairly regularly. So my question is - what can I do to make myself more resilient to CF workouts? I work in a sales environment and take hard knocks fairly regularly and seem to get up ok - but it doesn't seem to be translating that well to my sessions @ CF, and I often find myself wanting to get in my car mid-workout and go home. I don't want to be "that whingey girl" so if anyone has any tips or things I can try that don't involve "Just man up." I'd love to hear them. =)

[Mattyb]

Been there a few time Bec...

First ever CFNW workout 100 burpee pullups, 50 burpees, 50 pull ups for time..

I thought to myself why am i doing this to myself and im never coming back here again, this shit is ridiculous.
Everyone has a place they go to when there in a WOD. Corinne has her ipod, i look at the clock running up or down to tell me to hurry the fuck up, Robs got his hard music which we listen to etc.. the thing its it become an individual thing, my thing might not work for u but corinnes might?!? u have to try and find your special place in your head when u can zone out and just do it, if you stand there thinking about the workload ahead for too long, u can talk yourself out of it.. less thinking and more doing... trick is not to think about it but let your body mechanics just take over your brain function of pain, suffering and thought (why do u think people always lose rep counts?) there are in the 'just do it zone', yes it may result in 30 burpees at the end of the session but that mentality of 'dreaming / training focus' can come handy in the toughest of WODs.

Try a good mix of music with an ipod to start with, i like Linkin Park or Blink 182 which are both high tempo and have good lyrics to motivate u during a WOD.

[Bec]

Awesome tip Matty, thank you - I don't know why I didn't think of it myself, I used to run quite a lot and would completely ignore the pain that set in around 9km by losing myself in...well, I'm not going to say what song because it's daggy, but it's good running music!!

Will let you know how I go with it. Also good to know it's not only me who has experienced the going-to-pieces phenomenon that currently mars my workouts. =)

[GillianS25]

I know how you feel Bec, I had that same feeling during last nights WOD- that WOD was an absolute killer-I'm not sure if you heard me, but I was swearing at myself and yelling at myself to just push through and finish strong, and for me that works. Matt's right what works for me, may not work for you. But you will find something that will work for you its just trial and error - just maybe start off with some music and then try some other alternates.

[Sion Cousins]

Hi Guys,

This is my first post. I am not currently apart of Crossfit Norwest but have been following it for a little while now and in the near future will be in the box.

This is from a book, i have changed a few things to suit Crossfit but you will get the drift, i think its very fitting and hope it helps:-

A Crossfit WOD leaves you exhausted and glad to be done with it. Some days you dread even starting. But the overall experience just feels right, like an expression of who you really are. A world renowned psychologist named Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi talked about the theory of flow, which he had developed. Flow, he said, is a state of total absorption in a challenging activity – an enjoyable but serious state of absolute immersion in some goal-directed task. It's usually experienced when you're testing your limits in a favorite skill, which could be anything-delivering a speech, making a sales pitch, playing a video game, cooking, you name it. Flow is what athletes are referring to when they speak about being ''in the zone''. It's somewhat different from fun, in most cases, because it entails hard work. In lots of ways, it's better than fun.
The concept of flow can resonate through any experience or activity. When you are half way through a WOD you experience flow at a whole new level. Crossfit sometimes is not fun, yet on my best days, it felt perfect. Crossfit teaches you that there's a difference between working hard and feeling bad. Consumer culture tries to teach us otherwise. How many television commercials talk about ''making life easier''? If everything you knew about life came from TV, your goal would be to live the easiest, most comfortable and unchallenging life you possibly could. You would believe that the only good feelings are sensual pleasures such as the taste of a good soft drink and the fun of driving an expensive car and lying on the beach. But it's just not true. Challenging and testing your mind and body, even to the point of exhaustion, failure, and breakdown can feel as wonderful as anything else life has to offer. I suppose the enjoyment of hard work is more of a acquired taste than the taste of pleasure and fun, but once you've acquired it, you're blessed with more ways to feel good, and life is better. Harder and better.

[Rob]

I hate training. I get nervous, anxious and nausea before some sessions. I visualize what I am about to do. Have a strategy or plan how I am going to perform each exercise with the precision needed. I am fearful of not meeting my own expectations. But once I start, that is it. I couldn't give a f$&k about anything but sticking to my plan and doing my best. No natter how much it hurts my mind doesn't connect. I push through until it is over. No matter what music is on, who is around or what else is happening. I hear nothing but my thoughts. Sometimes I don't hear them. I just go!

[Lawrence.McDonell]

It normally takes a lot to make me cry like a small child, but at CFNW I seem to crumble fairly regularly. So my question is - what can I do to make myself more resilient to CF workouts? I work in a sales environment and take hard knocks fairly regularly and seem to get up ok - but it doesn't seem to be translating that well to my sessions @ CF, and I often find myself wanting to get in my car mid-workout and go home.

Don't discount the fact that the body/minds response to a CF workout mimics a lot of the bodies responses to fear. Elevated heart rate, elevated breathing, butterflies in the stomach, shakiness, adrenaline pumping. Sometimes you don't know whether you are working out or whether you have just been in a car accident. Watch the early episodes of Biggest Loser and the first response is always crying. I see it in kids that i teach at school the first time i get them to run. Its fear and doubt in the mind coupled with the body positively reinforcing these emotions with physiological feedback.

The answer lies in the heading of this post resilience. That word kind of implies that you build it over time. You know in your mind that yes it is going to hurt, yes it is going to suck but you embrace that and still know without a shadow of a doubt that you will finish no matter what. The beauty of this is when you can teach your mind to overcome the fear associated with elevated heart rate, breathing nausea etc you can begin to function with more clarity when these signs arise in real life situations as well.

in the words of that Eminem feat Rihanna song thats about at the moment.... You got to "like the way it hurts"

[Christiep]

I get extremely nervous before every session but once I start, I then try not to think about the whole wod, but break it down into manageable chunks in my head.

For example, If it's a 5 round workout, I will break it down and focus on each round, then once that round is completed, I think/say to myself, Ok just one more round, at round 3, I'm thinking, I am at the halfway point and there is no way I am going to have a DNF on that board so I somehow push through. At the last round, then I think this is it, give it 100% this is the last round.

I have also recently set some new goals for myself which have really motivated me again and make me want to push through that pain because I know that the pain will get me a step closer to my goals.

Hope this helps and you find something that will work for you!

[kez]

If it gives any comfort know that wods are designed to challege even the very fit, the fact that you are coming to tears means your doing right. so you don't feel so alone watch the "nasty girls" demo from the exercises and demos page at crossfit.com and see if that helps.

[Dan]

Good to see you on the forum Kez!

Bec,
The only thing I can offer you is you wont die during a wod. Well I am pretty sure you wont die.