Ladies and gentlemen, there’s no fluff in this article.
It’s for those of you that love competing with yourself and want a few reminders on how to approach it.
It’s also for those of you that are trying to figure out how to compete with yourself.
It’s quick. It’s dirty. It’s actionable.
Read it before you head to the gym.
Here goes.
Start with Honesty
There’s an old, country maxim that I think we’d all be wise to live by.
It goes like this:
Don’t bullshit yourself.
Be honest with yourself about your current capabilities.
Look at your current weights, your current times, your current effort.
Are they appropriate?
Are they too light or too easy?
Are you overshooting and using too much weight?
Only you know.
Be honest about it.
If you’re not, there’s no way that you can truly compete with yourself because you’ll continue to lie to yourself.
“That weight wasn’t too heavy, I was just having an off day.”
“I couldn’t go any harder.”
And so on. And so forth.
The only way that you can truly measure progress is by being honest with yourself. That means following the program as it’s written so you can make a true assessment of where you’re at. Then you can plan where you’d like to go.
Look for Inspiration
A lot of people will tell you that you shouldn’t compare yourself to others at all.
I don’t think that’s true.
Sometimes you should compare yourself to others. It doesn’t mean you should judge yourself because you’re not like other people. It means you should take a look around the room and search for positive examples.
I’ve chatted with several Beyond Strength members over the past few days that have said they take inspiration from their classmates.
They’ve said things like:
“I see so-and-so push themselves, and it inspires me to push myself a little harder.”
“I see so-and-so using a certain weight and it makes me think that I could probably use that much weight, too.”
That’s comparing yourself to others. Not in self-judgment. But in self-realization.
Sometimes it helps to take a look around the room and draw on the energy and accomplishments of your teammates.
Use Objective Measures
One of the big reasons we plan testing weeks is so that Beyond Strength members can take an honest assessment of their current capabilities.
The tests are objective.
You can either jump farther, or you can’t.
Your deadlift went up, or it didn’t.
You passed the 2,000m row test, or you didn’t.
Objective measures give us our baseline and monitor our progress. Competing with yourself is about noting improvements.
You have to know your current level of performance if you hope to beat it.
Track your weights.
Write down your times.
Focus on Performance, But Don’t Get Frustrated
Progress is not a linear path.
It undulates and oftentimes comes in swells.
Sometimes the weight doesn’t go up from week to week. Sometimes extraneous stress wears you down a bit, and you have to drop the weight.
Sometimes your times don’t get faster.
Sometimes the workout just feels harder than it should.
That’s part of the deal.
Competing with yourself means staying the course in those situations.
It doesn’t mean beating yourself into the ground because of misappropriated expectations.
It means showing up, checking the box, and getting better in the ways that you’re currently capable.
Embrace Discomfort
Sometimes discomfort feels like burning muscles and even spicier lungs.
Sometimes it feels like the desire to go at a pace faster than the one programmed.
Embrace discomfort and do the right thing–the thing that allows you to compete against yourself and get better.
Use a mantra to keep your head on straight when your legs and lungs burn.
Remind yourself that the slow pace of endurance training is building resources you’ll need in the future.
Embrace discomfort and use strategies for dealing with it.
Stay the F#cking Course
There’s a characteristic that growth-oriented people share:
Consistency.
They show up and do what they can with what they have.
They’re honest with themselves.
They use inspiration from others as fuel.
They want to know what they’re currently capable of and they write it down.
They understand that there are peaks and valleys to progress.
They deal with the discomfort of growth.
And they use all of those characteristics to stay the course.
Because you can’t compete with yourself if you quit.
You might also like:
- WHY WE TEST AR BEYOND STRENGTH
- HOW TO SET GOALS FOR 2023
- HOW MANY REPS SHOULD YOU DO? (Spoiler alert, it matters in more ways than you think)
- HOW TO KEEP EXERCISING WHILE TRAVELING
- LET’S SEE HOW GREAT I CAN DO THIS
- HOW TO PROGRESS YOUR WEIGHTS DURING A STRENGTH PROGRAM
- HOW TO RECOVER FROM YOUR WORKOUTS
- WHICH TYPE OF CONDITIONING IS BEST FOR FAT LOSS
- FITNESS: THE INFINITE GAME
- HOW TO BUILD STRENGTH AND ENDURANCE AT THE SAME TIME
