romantic genius

http://www.radiolab.org/blogs/radiolab-blog/2010/jul/26/secrets-of-success/

an interesting argument.

i dont remember if it was gladwell or goleman who stated that excellence has an entry fee (of IQ or talent), a minimum level of "gifted-ness" but after that it is social conditioning, it is grit. that to be great, one must have a bit of "natural" ability, but that after a certain tipping point, it is all about putting in the hours, about doing the work.

i never really played sports as a kid. i was a loner. i was out of shape. i read books and looked at athleticism as something for "other people" , "talented" people. i never tried because i had already made a decision, i had no room for growth (at least in that direction) in my self image. moreover, i did not understand it. i did not love it.

i believe that is one of the reasons why the idea of "gifted" and "talented" is so prevalent, its easy to separate yourself, us and them, gifted and not. "i wasn't born with the talent so i can never be good so i don't have to try", its a bit harder to say "i wont be any good because i don't want to try" or simply "i don't care enough to try"

people who excell are obsessed. it is a constant. the hours of work. the attention paid. call it love or madness, but the people who get it done are the ones who show up. day after day. and work. the people who dream of their work. who sit and think of new ways to push themselves. people who sit and probe themselves for weakness, who seek out tests to expose those weaknesses, to highlight what needs to be fixed. people willing to do what is hard, to do what is smart. and to pay the price.

depression led me to self examination. to the methodical measuring and excising of self. to keep what is useful and cut out the rest. this served me well and after a few months i had pieced myself back together into something better. leaner, lighter, and more focused. driven. training, working out, only made sense to me after it was filtered through that experience. only after was it explained to me in those terms that i understood, that i felt passionate about, did i make any meaningful progress. love or obsession, it is about emotional content. it is about driving force. it is about the will. get to know that force, it will be your greatest ally, through it you can supercede yourself. understand it. train it. test it and flex it. and do it often.

flame out.

warm up with wall squats and SOTS presses
work up to heavy KB swings, OHS form and some jumping

then:

5x OHS (light)
5x box jump (high)
15x cals on airdyne
5x KB swings (heavy)

max rounds in 25 minutes.

there were some variations, Nate did front squats (OHS form is still a bit shaky so we don't want to set any bad movement patterns that we will have to correct later)

Chris did step ups and "hard style" push-ups (and i think he would like to thank Rob MacDonald for that one)

i did Slosh Pipe OHS and 20 cals on the airdyne.

chris and i also worked for 30 minutes, good fun was had by all, and everyone hates the airdyne just a little bit more.

improvement.

there has been a conversation going around at the gym - it started when i was in SLC and i brought it back home to see how others interpreted it. its an old problem really, a toxic mix of faith and focus.

converts make the fiercest zealots. when we find something that helps us (physically or mentally) we give it power. we, as in humans, are so quick to give ourselves over to this tool. to allow it to, eventually, use us.

it is the dieter who looks for tweaks in micro-nutrients to get better athletic performance.

the yoga practitioner who looks to increase flexibility to loose weight.

the overly-academic trainer who reads more books to get better.

while there is nothing wrong with tweaking ones diet, with reading and collecting more data, but it has its time and its place.

we love success. we attach ourselves to strategies that work, we develop faith and it becomes our solution to everything. whenever we struggle, it is easy to blame it on an improper micro-nutrient balance, on poor flexibility, on a lack of good training data. on the things we know, that we are good at, that we know how to work with.

the hard thing to do is recognize that the tool that got you from point A to point B may not be able to get you from point B to point C.

that armor that saved your life in battle will kill you in a sinking ship.

to be honest.

to be critical.

to look without faith or romance at your strengths and weaknesses, at your abilities and your shortcomings.

to find the problem, and to fix it.

is my diet what is holding me back? or is it just the easiest thing to adjust?

its fine to honor your victories. to give credit where it is due. remain vigilant, but don't waste tomorrow fighting yesterdays battle. there are many fronts, countless approaches, and chances are there is one or two that are being neglected.

simply put, big picture : find out what you are bad at, and get better.

find out what is holding you back - and correct it.

i heard the goal of the GYM JONES seminar summed up simply as "to teach you how to think" and while that may initially feel like some sort of affront, the growth that comes from listening with an open mind to a variety of driven, talented, curious and intelligent individuals is invaluable and immeasurable. check your assumptions with your ego - or be willing to watch them die in front of you (and others).

in the words of a friend -

struggle well.

-b


warmup:
10 min row

5x clean hi-pull + 5x box jumps - 5 rounds

95# - 24"
115# - 28"
135# - 32"
135# - 34"
135# - 36"

2k row for time - 7:09.3

knee jumps, however, feel like an exercise in faith.

pressure.

space is important.

space is important, but not always for the reasons we think it is.

we apply the pressure to ourselves.

i have been in SLC since saturday night, i have lost 4 pounds, taken a recovery shower every day, as well as 15-30 minutes with a foam roller, plus a walk of at least 2 miles. spare time is usually spent with the lore of running, or re-reading seminar notes/notebooks and today is focused on drawing up 3 month plans for myself and some of my athletes.

the space makes this easy. the knowledge, the dedication of the people i have a chance to work with this week makes it easy to step up my game, to act ideally.

training with people who are better than you has its way of pulling you up, pulling you along on your own path. being surrounded with dedicated individuals makes it easier to pursue your own goals, even without any sort of encouragement. water seeks its own level.

it is true i lack distractions here, but the recovery work, the food, the logs, hydration, these are not difficult or time consuming. this is not something special. i am grateful for the knowledge i have received already - and still have more to do - but more than that i hope i can bring back the feeling of responsibility and focus. the pressure.

we do it to ourselves. we drive ourselves.

the test is if we can hold on, exert that pressure when no one is watching. improve.

time will tell.

there is work to be done.

"I am set out to be exactly the person I mean to, and unapologetically."


this quote has come up more than once in the past week. i am constantly surprised by the amount of grief laid on dedicated people. how near strangers will tell me and others that we work too hard. that we should take a break. have fun. live a little. to stop always behaving like we are at work.

i actually take pride in my work. i take pride in the fact that i plan, execute, evaluate and improve. if that makes my whole life a job than i will take pride in the fact that i am good at it. that i enjoy it. i will not waste my time playing house. pretending to pay attention to pointless conversations in an attempt to be social.

bring something to the table.

speak and act with purpose.

follow through.

because time is valuable. and fleeting.

in 24 hours i land in SLC, i have 5 days. the goal is simply to learn. more than that, to find weakness. to ask people i respect to assess my shortcomings. to help me acquire the information i need in order to improve...

5 days.

fleeting indeed.

slide show.

couldn't resist, 8' pullup bars have a price...

gimme-gimme, weighted rope pull and sprint. ~ 30'. 3x6 rounds gets... interesting.

challenge.

emily displaying 1/2 bodyweight KB swings...

10' - 45# slosh pipe

8' - 35#

205# funky bar, all 3 holds done tag team style vs. 20 heavy swings.

taking the bar for a walk.

wishes...

"your wishes are very small things in this world... you are valuable because of what you can do, not what you want."


this is not sad. this is not negative. this is a reminder that your wants, wishes and intentions are your own, and no help to anyone else unless, until, you act upon them. not only act upon them, but actualize them. i don't want to hear your plans. i don't even want to hear my own at this moment. i want to do. i want to make. implement. become. to grow. and to cut out that which is not useful. talk is cheap, and occasionally self sabotaging. there is not enough time. there is too much to do...

20 calories on the airdyne - directly to front plank for equal time. 5 rounds.

while your wants and intentions guide your actions, in the moment they are meaningless.
it is action. it is ability. currency. it is the will and the means to pay what is required.

the stuff of thought.

watch what you say.

words, for all their ineffectualness, form the framework of how we see the world. we use language to create our expectations, to guide our experiences. something changes in the telling, we can remake memories, we can loose detail or gain favor. we can frame our losses as wins and our bullshit excuses as valid reasons. all we have to do is tell ourselves over and over and over again. "can't" and "won't" are not the same thing, neither are "need" and "want". be honest. what do you need? what "can't" you do? say you won't. say you don't want to. take the responsibility. forget social nicety and be honest. if you look at a task as being impossible you wont be surprised if you fail. its ok to call things hard when they are but realize that the way you think shapes things. we constantly sort and compartmentalize our world. we fit things into boxes that we understand and are all too quick to truncate or mislabel out of fucking laziness or in an attempt to protect our ego. here is a question, what use is an ego that is so easily shattered? what kind of "self" isn't up to that kind of test? our sense of self is a tool. it can be a weapon. it is the root, the why and the how. so make it hard. keep a keen edge. wield it with the confidence that comes from a familiarity with its essence, and its limits. lies stick like rust and too much time in the dark can leave it brittle and ineffectual. test your metal. your temper. flex and grind, break and rebuild. these words are not accidents, and these tools are not for display. if they are beautiful it is because they are functional. useful. crafted deliberately - with a goal in mind. and they are for me as much as anyone who might be reading them.