Thoughts on mental state

[Plex]

Today, I was running through my workout on auto-pilot.

Today, I realized, half way through being dead, is that its man-maker day.

Today, I cried a little inside.

So i grabbed my 45s and waddled the huge distance to the mats (makes less noise when gently place them on the ground of course).

I was not particularly confident going into them, knowing I had already kind of wrecked myself with other activities, and man-makers are best done fresh.

I did the first 5 and it was almost impossible to lift them above my head.

My first thought was unprintable. The second thought was "Well maybe I will just do those 5. People would understand. Its mid workout. I mean, I did 5 right?" This went on for a while, and as it progressed, my rest period thought process turned to this "I can't even do it in the time now (15m), because I just spent so much time thinking about it, so I won't even try."

About this time, is when my Automated Self Synchronized Kippage Instead of Coddling Kernel (A.S.S.K.I.C.K), started to run (kippage: n : state of anger or displeasure).

I said "Well, lets at least knock out 5 more." And I did, and they were hard, but I did them. I took a look at the clock ("Wait, only half my time has passed, I must have knocked out those really fast.") This is exactly when I started perking up. This is when I started getting competitive ("Spezzy wouldn't stop. Cacaphony never gets tired. Plex will make 'Plex is a little girl' comments.") (Thanks Spezzy for pvp challenge acceptance). I knocked out the third set of five still pretty fast and not looking at the clock, muscled through the 4th set.

All said and done, I looked at the clock. 14m. Not only did I not give in, I SET A NEW PR for me on that weight. Even mid workout, even lolly-gagging the first set.

The importance of willpower has never been underestimated to my mind, but neither has it really been this vastly explored on the positive sides. I had used willpower to abstain from bad foods, willpower to get to the gym, willpower even to get up early. But never quite like this. I had never substituted willpower for muscles. On sheer willpower alone, I pushed harder and faster more tired then I had ever been before, all the way to being better then I was the day before. Not only was this a physical victory for me, but primarily, this was a huge mental victory.

I hadn't really suffered the 'I can't' style of doubts before. Normally, I am constantly in the mindset of "Of course I can. Duh." This was my first 'mental' wall and it sucked. A lot. The amount of influence your mind and your outlook has on your body and what it can perform is profound, but it is NOT the only thing. The determination to finish also counts, and in the end, that determination out-weighed everything else. Clearly, I thought "I can't." Clearly, I could, but most importantly, clearly, I DID.

So for all you fellow NF'ers, (almost like cursing isn't it, about one letter away), remember that the greatest victories don't come from the body size, the new weight, the extra rep. Regardless of WHAT the activity is, from benching 400 pds, to running a sub-6m mile, to getting up off the couch, or putting down that extra order of food, the greatest victories come from turning 'I can't' to 'I did',

Woop woop.

[Flytch]

Epic Story

[Nomad]

I have stucked in that state a few times in the past and failed to lift myself out of it half the times. So I know it takes a lot of willpower and effort. Very motivating. Thanks

[shadowmeldfs]

So, I had no clue what manmakers were. Good ole Youtube shown me the way. Those are beastly, props to you.

[halftruths]

SWEET! I wanna try some of those. Way to push yourself through it! It's incredible how we can wring out that extra bit from our muscles with a bit of rousing head-talk long after we think we can't give any more.

You make me want to go to the gym. NOW. (can't, 'cause I'm at work)

[Gowaduv]

Excellent work on breaking through that mental barrier and recognizing that's what it was. The mind has an amazing amount of control over what we can and can't do (as you just demonstrated for yourself).There's lots of evidence in the medical literature about pain studies and how telling people they're getting a pain med will bring pain levels down considerably (even if the IV is only saline). And I was reading a blog a while back where they had people do things like squats without being able to see the weights, and the lifters were setting effortless PRs.

There is no spoon....

[Brometheus]

Awesome job!

Breaking through that mental barrier is a great achievement...now looking forward to seeing what new pr's you're going to set!

[kahn265]

About this time, is when my Automated Self Synchronized Kippage Instead of Coddling Kernel (A.S.S.K.I.C.K), started to run (kippage: n : state of anger or displeasure).

That is all kinds of awesome.

[Alethea]

Well done indeed, you arsekicker you! That's a great post!

[Lowenna]

Thanks for posting Plex, this is exactly what I needed to get me out of the house and running.

[Plex]

@lowenna: More or less the point, aside from sharing.