Sh*t Training Days and The Rule of Thirds
Ok, favorite places to cry - 3, 2, 1 go:
The car.
The shower.
Lying on the floor and staring at the ceiling so the tears roll down my cheeks.
The bathroom.
Ok. Maybe I'm a litttllleee dramatic. But maybe relatable? Idk y'all be the judge of that:)
But you must know those days. You know - the ones when you just feel like you're constantly biting back tears? Like they're right behind your eyeballs and one wrong move will leave you biting your cheeks so those friggin tears don't start falling down your face?
Welp. That was me yesterday. Nothing went horribly wrong. Actually from an outside perspective everything went fine.
I hit my lifting percentages. My metcon felt pretty good. I failed 1 ring muscle up out of 29 (even though we were intentionally pushing the volume).
I just felt tired. And slow. And it's hard not to let the negative thoughts get to you. Especially when I look around the gym and everyone's hitting PR's.
That voice in my head tells me I suck. I'm weak. I've been working for yeeaarrrsss and I'm still just a mediocre fitness-er.
But b*tch that simply isn't true!
We all have good and bad days. It's part of the process.
And what does feeling sorry for yourself accomplish?
Literally nothing.
ACTUALLY. It does accomplish something. It makes your sessions worse.
Rather than remaining intentional and getting better, that session just got worse. Nothing negatively affects a session more than a bad attitude.
And you know what? Training is meant to be hard. If it was easy everyday there would be literally no point.
Because challenge brings adaptation. And sometimes we just have to get out of our own heads and go through it anyways.
The Rule of Thirds
When I'm having a shit training day I remember the rule of thirds. It helps get me out of my head and bring me back to reality.
What is the rule of thirds?
Alexi Pappas (Olympic runner) shared what one of her running coaches used to tell her:
"Whenever you're chasing a big dream, you're supposed to feel good a third of the time, okay a third of the time, and crappy or not great a third of the time, and if you feel roughly in those ratios, it means you are in fact chasing a dream. If you feel too good all the time, you're not pushing yourself enough, and if you feel too fatigued, you might be burning out or having a mental-health challenge and need to reevaluate."
And I DO have those good days. Like the really good days - where everything feels snappy and the weights feel light.
But this just makes the days that feel shitty feel THAT much shittier in comparison.
And that's just part of chasing dreams.
NOW if you're feeling like shit every single day it's probably time to take a deload and do some reconsideration. You're likely burning yourself into the ground.
Take a day or two and re-assess before diving back in.
Affirmations that Help
I used to think affirmations were so stupid. Like repeating something isn't going to make it true?
But we are our thoughts. Aren't we? Whatever thoughts are living rent-free in our brains become our reality.
So on those hard days there are a couple of mantras you'll hear me repeating out loud (and in my head).
Credit goes to my good pal Richard Wollboldt for both of these:
You GET to do this.
I'm literally SO lucky that I get to live this life I do. I got to move out to Vegas to train everyday as hard as I can. So even on the bad days, isn't that pretty fcking cool and special?
I GET to do muscle ups when they feel hard. I GET to move a barbell everyday. EVEN when they feel hard.
Nobody's making me do this. Just me, myself, and I. Appreciate this. Embrace the struggle.
Nobody feels bad for you when you're on the echo bike *or insert whatever you're feeling sorry for yourself on*
Literally not a soul. I chose to do this. I choose and GET to train hard everyday to the point of discomfort. Nobody feels bad for me.
Reminding myself this is like splashing ice cold water on my face. It wakes me up and shakes me out of my funk. It makes me stop feeling sorry for myself for something I voluntarily put myself through that I KNOW will make me better.
Moral of the Story
You're going to have good days and bad days. This doesn't make you bad at whatever that is. It just means you're out there chasing dreams:)
keep chasin those big dreams
aaannnddd stay Rad🤘🏻
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