Sport Psychology Lesson for the CrossFitter: Regaining Composer during a WOD By Coach Sean Chamberlain Making routines is important to your success in sport and life. Oftentimes we get wrapped up in what we need to do and what we want to do. At other times, we get distracted by things that are not related to the specific task that we should be focused. Because of these, we often forget small details. Forgetting then leads to undue stress that leads to mistakes and poor performance. You can avoid missing small details, the extra stress, and unnecessary mistakes by making a routine, more specifically a rest routine during a WOD to allow for proper breathing techniques. Rest Routine A rest routine is creating a routine that will allow you to rest for an appropriate amount of time, gain composure, and allow for self-talk (by using cue words or phrases like, “pick up the bar”). Before getting started it is important to explain about the WOD that is programmed to the class as a group. If it is a WOD like Fran, extremely high intensity for a short duration, it is important for each individual to know if they do rest to only allow a 3 second rest before starting again. The goal is to keep your heart rate to stay elevated, allow you to focus on that task at hand, and control your breathing. If you examine a class you can see some of the athletes stopping and counting to three. This helps them become aware of their breathing, allow them to re-focus, and allow enough time for them to say their cue in their head before they start again. Drill -Write down things that would make you calm in a WOD...physically what are you doing -Write positive terms or motivational terms that would help you boost your performance when you are tired...cue words -Test your rest routine in your WODs -Reflect, what worked? What would you change? Example: For myself, when I am taking a rest I turn away from the barbell, KB, etc. and I take 3 steps back. Once I have taken my third step, I have controlled my breathing, then I turn and look at my next move (i.e., thrusters, box jumps), say a cue word and get right back to work. This is just one example, and each athlete will have to discover what works for them.
Posted on: Wed, 16 Apr 2014 03:10:06 +0000
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