FRI: 3 Macro Training Mistakes

Yesterday, I talked to you guys about three common mistakes in the micro, the daily efforts you put forth in the gym. Today, I’m going to review three common mistakes in the macro, the long-term, zoomed out picture of your fitness.

Lacking Macro Vision
This is ground zero for abandonment of a healthy routine. Think about it like this. If you started a job on day one, you probably wouldn’t have your long-term career mapped out in front of you. However, once you got the lay of the land, saw some higher ups around you and got a feel for the job demands, you’d start to map out where you wanted to go and how you wanted to get there. You’d talk to people, ask questions, and envision what your next step is going to be.

How is the gym and your fitness any different?

Not Taking Scheduled Focus Breaks
If you want to be a better runner you need to run. If you want to be stronger, you need to lift heavier objects. Specificity principle 101. However, as we see everyday in the gym, your main focus needs to recover and re-calibrate. If you’re always hammering it into the floor, you’ll beat it into submission rather than improving it. I always think back to member Abby with this example. Abby, a previous runner, de-focused her attention on running and made strength training her primary focus. She ended up hitting race PRs and achieving speeds she’d never before reached.  Give yourself two to four week breaks in your goal and apply your focus in the opposite direction. I am willing to be that you’ll move forward again.

Warped Sense of Adaptation Timeline
The process of adaptation takes time. Likely a lot longer than your ideal wait time, however it’s important to understand that all of your hard-fought micro efforts need time to build off of one another. It’s easy to get frustrated with a few months of effort and minimal physical change, but the uncomfortable reality is that those you see in the gym looking and moving the way they do have years under their belt. Not weeks or months. This is where the beauty and pleasure of skill development comes into play. Focus on acquiring and bettering skill, not outcome, and the results will appear right in front of you one day.

Your progress moves through different generations. Each one chips away at a little bit of its former self. Don’t punt when you’re in your first or second generation.

-Dave

Friday, 6.15.18

3×8′ Density Circuits
A. 5 Hang Power Snatch
5 Hollow Rocks
5 Max Height Lunge Jumps
80m Row Sprint

B. 8 UH Grip BB Row
3/s 1/2 Rack Reverse Lunge
5 Push-Ups
5 Calorie Bike

C. 3 DB Complex
5 Burpees