How well do you Rest?
There is a story in the Bible about Gideon, who was charged with finding an army of men capable of fighting a foreign invading force.
One of the criteria was how the men took a drink of water from the local river. Gideon took 10,000 men down to the river to quench their thirst. Those who lapped water like a dog were asked to leave, and those who used their hands, and remained ready and aware of themselves and their current surroundings were allowed to stay.
This is merely my opinion, because is not noted in the story, but those men who used their hands to drink water(and were allowed to stay), and remained on the ready while quenching their thirst in the middle of a hot middle eastern day.—–“rested well”
During the Regional Training Camp at Hyperfit a few weeks ago, I either overhead a conversation, or briefly talked about how well the regional athletes were “resting” mid workout.
Those who appeared to be suffering during their rest inevitably did not finish as fast as those who didn’t allow their inner struggle to be seen in their body language. Even at CrossFit Legacy, there are those at the gym, who are told, “I can never tell that you are suffering so much in a workout!” Yet, there are also those who would like to entire gym to know that the workout is hard whether others are looking or not.
The take away here is that how you maintain your composure during a workout will affect how you progress through a workout and how you finish.
—-Keep your head up
—Control your breathing(belly breathe)
—Have a plan before the workout begins
—be willing to adjust your plan(after you get hit in the face)
—Positive self talk
—being dramatic won’t make you go faster
—always keep moving
—keep your hands off your knees
These are just a few things to keep in mind, but the next time a workout makes you feel like your soul is being ripped out of you, don’t show it. Rather, say to yourself, “this is tough, but I am tougher!”
The better you rest, the faster you will go and the fitter you will become.
By the way, only 300 men remained after Gideon took them to the river, so it is a rare thing to rest well.