Whats the difference?
I want to shift gears from the last couple posts and talk not about what goes into making great fitness but what is already on the inside. In case you haven’t noticed, the guys that are at the top of the field in Crossfit are pretty consistent. (speal, Manimal, Thiel, OPT…) Sure their training is am important part of how they have developed their fitness but what motivates the consistent performance?
I have a couple ideas but i am hoping ya’ll will contribute to these ideas and let me know what you think. (Spencer, put all that schooling to good use).
I began thinking about this topic during Hells Half Acre qualifier. After the first day there were not many surprises. The guys i was expecting to be at the top were at the top. There were some unexpected competitors that seemed to be worthy but ended up choking on one of the workouts. Neither of the workouts were extremely hard but they were a good test of capacity so a good crossfitter should have done well with both of them. So what caused the top 5 to pull away?
Here are my ideas and they are not proven or scientific they are just my thoughts.
First, I think the top crossfitters are stupid. Not in a sense that they don’t think for themselves or don’t know things but in the fact that they don’t listen to their body. When they get to that point in a workout when most people would take an extra breath (why not??) they push harder and embrace the pain.
Maybe they are more aware of their body and therefore know its limits better. They know that when everyone else takes a breath, they have a little extra. Competition makes it easier to do more than their buddy but its not only the competition with someone else but the internal desire to push themselves past their perceived limits.
Maybe the top guys know precisely what their body is capable of and are able to manage their work to rest so efficiently that they never go to failure and always recover just enough to get through the next exercise. I seriously doubt this one. How many times have you gone into a workout only to have your plans smashed after the first round?
For those of you that routinely finish workouts and feel that you didn’t push as hard as you could, put yourself in Speals shoes and go longer and harder than you did yesterday. Your fitness will benefit.
What do you think makes the top guys stay at the top?
As is often discussed among CrossFitters, the WODs not only produce an increase in physical fitness, but also in mental fitness. I agree with Dutch that the top CrossFitters have a mental fitness (and physical fitness) that is on a different level than the average CrossFitter. I’ve seen a lot of this over the past weeks, just by watching the videos of the CF Games Regional Qualifiers. The top finishers are the one’s who are able to block out everything around them and not let their body convince them that they need to slow down, rest, take an extra breath. Just watch Speal, Dutch, Darren Rosten, and all the other CrossFit Games’ qualifiers and you will see that slight edge they had over the people who finished right behind them. It wasn’t that they were extraordinarily more fit than everyone else, but they had a mental edge that kept them from ever slowing down.
Watch the video of Speal at his qualifier event. That guy never concerns himself with where other competitors are, he never slows down, or breaks his focus for even a second. He knows his task at hand and isn’t going to let up until it is finished. I mean the guy finished the Sunday WOD something like 4 minutes ahead of his nearest competitor. Now, I know Speal is a unique athlete, but is he only physically more impressive than everyone else? I would say “no.” I believe that guy has a mind like iron, and nothing can make him break. The same goes for Dutch. At Hell’s Half Acre (you can watch the video) he goes from his pull-ups to burpees without missing a beat and never once pauses or breaks his rhythm. It really is spectacular to watch some of the top CrossFitters and you can see that point where everyone else starts to put their hands on their hips, or bend over (even if just for a second), but not these guys and girls. They break through.
So, I definitely think there is a key mental component to any challenge you take on. I also think facing those challenges (i.e. Murph, Linda, 5 Round Fight Gone Bad, or whatever your Everest is) head on and with a willing body and mind will help make you stronger mentally and physically. I don’t think you can be truly elite without an elite combination of physical and mental readiness.
http://crossfitzonediet.blogspot.com/2009/05/mental-fitness.html
Maximus!
Its good to see you on here. It has been far too long since we have talked.
I read your post and like the idea of positive self talk. Do you think that is something that guys like Speal and OPT do naturally?
re: the snatch…
Can i please help?
I really enjoyed the post, I had never read your blog, but after competing at Hells Half Acre, and seeing you and learning about your training seminar, I thought it’d be a good place to start. I hope to be doing some coaching this summer, but back to what you wrote.
I think that the guys mentioned in your blog, including yourself do have a mental edge over the competitors. I feel that this comes from each of these athletes awareness of their physical capabilities. I think this plays out in two scenarios. First, like with most other sports, when enough practice is done, athletes become aware of what they are physically capable of. Therefore, someone like Speal knows he can keep going because he has done it so many times. He knows the pain, or is able to block out the pain and can therefore go on. I would compare it to Kobe Bryant knowing he can hit a three pointer and its this confidence that allows him to block everything out.
I say this because in competition, I would try to block everything out, but because I don’t have that mental edge, I found myself looking at the clock as well as other competitors to see how I was faring in relation to them.
Therefore, I do think that beyond physical capacities as well as physical capabilities, there is a mental edge that these top tier Crossfit athletes have either acquired, learned, or naturally have. It relates to all sports in that it is those that are mentally tough that are going to come out on top.
IMHO Sports Psych is one of those things that is always going to be a reasonably unknown quantity because of the difficult nature of quantifying it. I agree that it is definitely another variable associated with elite performance.
I am pretty sure there is a mental toughness checklist that has been validated in journals but I personally don’t rate surveys to tell me anything.
Finally I have been a Military PT instructor here in Oz for a number of years and always questioned the Bastardization type training that is stereotypically represented in GIJane and Full Metal Jacket. The first defence offered for this type of training was that it developed mental toughness.
I reckon the best developer of mental toughness is AMRAP! there really isn’t a reward for going harder it just means there is more work squeezed into the same amount of time. In my opinion someone who can maintain high intensity through Cindy is exhibiting more mental toughness than the soldier who trains himself to zone out and put one foot in front of the other with a heavy arse log on his shoulder.
Dutch,
I don’t know, exactly about their mental state, but they (you) clearly have superior mental focus.
RE – the snatch, I posted that for form suggestions, it is by far my weakest lift: be aware that I am purposely riding it down, I can stick it just fine if I want, but I am trying to learn to drop better.
Dutch, great blog and awesome performance at Hell’s Half acre.
The top guys do seem to have a mental edge. Edward wrote about their ability to focus. In addition to that focus most of these guys seem incredibly calm before and during the workout. It would be great to understand the differences in thought before and during a workout for an average competitor and an elite competitor. Dutch, what’s going on in your head before and during a workout? Do you employ positive self talk like Maximus describes in his post?
Brett,
I have to disagree about the AMRAP. Personally as soon as i see that come up i feel that i can coast through the workout. There is not really any advantage to going out hard or finishing strong. There is reward for being consistent. I see it as decreased intensity.
Roberto,
I have something relating to this coming up soon.
Maximus,
I was referring to your start position. Drop your ass and pick up your chest. Shoulders and hips rise at the same rate until the finish of the first pull then your hips open sharply to finish the second pull. This will keep you in a better position and the bar close to you. I am guessing you miss in front of you..??
I posted here cause it will help alot of people not just you.
Good Luck!
Dutch,
Yep I realized from watching the video my start position is bad. I will try and tighten it up. Isabel is one of only two WODs I have never RXd, it is a real weakness (the other is Mary, no pistol ;<)
This is my first post as I have only recently been following it. In addition to what has already been noted I think that the mental toughness to recognize and train to your weakness is what keeps the best guys at the top.
I have been a garage CrossFiter for the last seven months. My friend and I decided to compete at the Southwest Qualifiers. We went for the challenge and to have fun. I always considered myself a “good” CrossFiter. There was only one problem with that thought, I was training to my strengths and avoiding my weakness. WOD 1 was my wake up call. 2 rows, 25 clean and jerks and a 20 minute time limit later, I was standing there in front of my friends and family and had not even finished the workout. I went on and finished the next two WODs in the middle of the pack, but WOD 1 stuck with me. I had led up to the games following the main site and adding CrossFit Endurance. First, CFE is a great program if you are a triathlete but I had no business doing it. I should have been following MEBB or CFSB or anything but what I was doing. What I am finally getting around to is that the elite identify their weakness and then attack it. i read somewhere that after last years Games, Speal decided that his main focus would be to get stronger. He is great because he is mentally tough enough to keep going during a workout, but he is also great beacuse he is mentally strong enough to recognize what he needs to work on and then, most importantly, he does something about it.
As an aside, since getting back from the qualifier I have started MEBB, cut out CFE and will be going to your seminar in San Diego in June.
Dutch,
It’s funny that you mention that you think the top competitors are possibly that way because they are “stupid”.
I’ve only been practicing CrossFit for the last 5 months or so but have been following the journal and such for a little over a year now. Prior to this I played professional baseball in the St. Louis Cardinals organization. There has always been a thought that being dumb in baseball has its advantages.
I played college ball and now coach at Trinity University in San Antonio, Tx…a very well respected university academically. Most of my teammates and current players are incredibly smart people, however, I feel that this hinders their performance on the baseball field. There is definitely an element of over-analyzation of situations during the game that doesn’t allow these players to play up to their ability. Now, let’s say if they were a little more “stupid”, this mental aspect would never even cross their mind and they would just go out and execute whatever it is that needs to be done on the field.
I can say that in the few years I spent in professional baseball, if you were to spend some time in the dugouts of minor league and major league teams, there are more than a handful or what you would consider a “stupid” person. Don’t be fooled tho, there are some brilliant minds in these dugouts as well.
I have to agree with your opinion that there is an aspect of stupidity in some of the world’s top athletes. The have an ability to dumb down everything surrounding a situation and get the task at hand done…
Great discussion!
Dutch, I have a question for you….and I’ll get there eventually…
Nick Vera brought up the topic of over-analyzation as a performance obstacle and I recently heard of a very interesting study on the subject. Specifically, the study was on the psychology of “choking”….
Here’s the link (HIGHLY recommended website)
http://scienceblogs.com/cortex/2008/03/how_to_think_under_pressure.php
A quick paraphrase (grossly ignoring details and experimental controls):
Amateur golfers putt better when they concentrate on the various nuances of the game (ex. smooth back swing, firm wrists, etc.) but when professional golfers start to concentrate on incremental details they putt much worse than they normally would. So, according to the study, self-analyzation for the novice and expert produces different results and may begin the choking spiral in professionals.
Now, the crossfit part: What do experts think about when they’re at the peak of their game? The researchers saw improved performance in the experts when they concentrated on “holistic cue words” such as “smooth” or “balance.”
I know putting and crossfit are at the extreme ends of the competitive spectrum, but the idea of mental toughness and focus is a common entity. (Pain management/acceptance and failure thresholds are the obvious differences)
My question for Dutch:
3:13 on that 50 pulls/ 50 burpees workout! Take us into your head on that unbroken set of burpees…. what is your self-talk? Everyone talks of “shutting your brain” off (which I take to mean removing self-doubt and any negativism) but we always have some kind of inner monologue or concept floating around, do you focus on “holistic word cues” like “go” or “again”?
Thanks
Hi Dutch,
I have been training at crossfitconnection.com (Canada) for almost 4 months now. Not a long time but it has been awesome! On a side note, Jason, the owner, won the overall at the Eastern Canadian Qualifiers for the Games!
I have been obsessing about what you are talking about. I started out not that mentally tough and wondered why I was so slow on the WOD’s. Then after I realized I wouldn’t die from a WOD, I made a conscious decision to push through an excercise and if I needed an extra breath I would take it at the end of a round as a sort of reward for pushing through. Then I started limiting the number of breath’s that I take. At first it was 5 to 8 breaths, now I am down to 2-3.
The other part of my problem was, I was too worried about what others were doing and then wonder why they were so far ahead of me. I have this pretty much under control now and can get more into MY zone. For example the other day we did 21-15-9 of burpees/KB swings (53lb). I totally got in my zone, didn’t take one break/breath and finished first in 3:51.
Ah the power of the mind.
So yes, the top Crossfitter’s are mentally tough to get in their zone and push through. But the other thing they have under their respective belts is experience with the workouts and their strategizing (sp?). There is strategy involved with workouts and they know how to better handle it. For example, the workout above. All of us can power through it with the understanding that it is a 3-4 minute workout and we can breathe later.
But for something like the wicked bitch Cindy, us mere mortals can’t gas ourselves in the first 5-10 rds. You have to have experience with Cindy to know how hard you can start. I just did Cindy last week and gassed myself and ended up with 17 rds. A woman beside me did the strategy of one rd./minute and got in 20 rds! I was almost 2 rds ahead of her at rd 5 but then she smoked me.
So bottom line is, I think it is a combination of mental strength and fortitude coupled with their experience to strategize a WOD properly.
Do people have mental toughness naturally? yes I think some do.
Can mental toughness be learned? Yes, definitely! I have come far already.
Great blog, just found it. Thanks,
Lee
Dutch I agree with the being dumb thing. When I count my numbers I have already failed the task. Its when I leave the brain at home that I get more work done.
There’s a thread on the “Emotional Response to Training and Recovery” on the Performance Menu that relates to the topic of Mental Toughness.
http://www.performancemenu.com/forum/showthread.php?t=4196
Jeff,
I’m not sure that you want to be inside my head but ill do my best to let you know what its like in here. I think it is important to understand that I have a lot of experience with burpees so this was a feeling I have had in the past. I was more worried about the pullups and was honestly amazed I made it through them so quickly.
With a burpee all you have to do is get down and you will naturally get up. The hard part is forcing yourself to get back down for the next one. The hardest part was right around 25 where I realized I was only half way done and already half way done at the same time. Make sense? Once I got to 35 it was easy to finish. I admit I glanced at the clock towards the end and knew I needed to be in under 345 so I just tried to go fast and not stop.
Thanks for stopping by everyone!
I’m travelling for the next couple days so posts may be erratic but when I get home I am sure to have somE great stuff.
Crossfit football cert is this weekend so ill fill you in on that as well.
I’m looking forward to your thoughts on the CF Football cert. I plan to attend the Jul 25th – 26th cert in Allen, TX.
Nice surprise to check my friends’ blog and see a topic of interest and so many responses. I’m an average athlete and mildly educated on the topic at best, but I would love to add.
Let’s demystify the subject for a moment (and I apologize ahead that my thoughts don’t agree with some of the previous comments). OPT, Dutch, Thiel, Cantuu, Speal, Everett are not ‘Gods’. They bleed, poop, and sleep just like everyone else. So since we are all reading this blog to get better and to pinpoint what it is that establishes superior performance, it doesn’t help us (and it’s not true) to say “he never slows down”. Everybody slows down, everybody is human. I can show you videos of all the guys listed above crashing and burning (not often but its there). I mention that again, because I don’t think it’s healthy and I don’t think it helps anyone to say “oh they’re just good because they’re born that way” – Bullshit.
Now that we got that out of the way, lets try to analyze what these guys have in common and try to define what it is that they are doing, so we can do it to:
-THE MAJORITY SPEND A SIGNIFICANT AMOUNT OF PRACTICE ON THEIR MENTAL GAME. How important do you think mental preparation is for competition? 50%? 90%?? Do you spend that amount of time in comparison to your physical training? There is a radio interview of OPT where is talks about taking about 2 hours the night before and a good hour and a half thinking about it before he gets into a workout like ‘Jackie’. Jeremy I hear goes through a similar prep.
-THESE GUYS ARE FOCUSED ON THE PROCESS NOT THE OUTCOME. How many of you guys out there are ‘stop-watch whores’? You put out a sub 3 minute fran but half of your thrusters you didn’t push your head all the way through, and 10 of your butterfly pullups were technically over the bar but not really? These guys aren’t like that. I get to workout with dutch pretty regularly and ALL his reps count. He is focused on the execution of the rep and not really the stopwatch. OPT – same way; look at all his videos and read the ROM requirements on the blog (borderline obsessed with the process). These guys focus FIRST on doing the movement flawlessly and SECOND on the clock. If your goal is to be the stud of your garage or gym, then this might not pertain to you BUT if your goal is to compete, then this has to be your mindset.
-EXPERIENCE. How did Dutch know he could do 50 burpees in a row? It’s not because he told himself before “you can do it buddy” it’s because he had done 50 burpees in a row before!!! He knew what it felt like! Everyone of those guys he mentioned in the original post workout and workout ALOT. Guess what? All the guys listed do this for a LIVING. Every one started crossfitting before there were 1000 affiliates, before there were 500 affiliates. They have all competed on some level in the past. That’s thousands of hours of practice. It’s not just “well, I’m going to tell myself not to stop and that means I won’t stop”. Its primarily that they’ve all been in a similar situation. Everyone has had their ass handed to them multiple times. Everyone has crashed and burned;they are used to pushing passed that limit, so that feeling or response isn’t new either (sorry dutch).
So what is the point of a post that has gone on and on?
*Train your mental game more. That might be visualizing the movements before you do them it might be going through the whole workout before it happens. Do what you do consistently.
*Think about doing everything perfect and stop worrying so much about the clock. Shut your brain off and enjoy the process.
*If your goal is to compete, then you better put yourself in some situations that are similar.
*Consistently train what you would hate to have come out of a hopper. Dutch says he only “trains what he likes to do” but I’ll share a little secret with you guys: HE LIKES PRETTY MUCH EVERYTHING! (except running)
Spencer,
Nice post. You touched on a couple of things that made me say “YEAH”!
First is THE AMOUNT OF PRACTICE ON THE MENTAL GAME. At my box, the workout is not posted until part way through the warm-up. This gives VERY LITTLE time to mentally prepare. On a couple of occasions I have seen the workout posted on the web early morning and by the time I do the WOD at noon, I feel much more prepared and mentally ready and not surprisingly, I do better.
Your second point of EXPERIENCE is what I was doing a poor job of explaining above by talking about strategy.
How did Dutch know he could do 50 burpees? He has done them before. That is a huge advantage knowing what it feels like and how to regulate your breathing to get through it.
When I did the 21-15-9 burpee/KB the other day I thought I could only do 12-15 burpees in a row. By 15 I was killing it and plowed through and I was a little scared but thought, hey, I can get through this without stopping. Now I know what it feels like and I bet I can plow through it faster next time because I have that confidence.
By the way, I JUST got back from doing my first Fran as Rx’d and did it in 7:43. Next time I will know what it feels like and can push through more.
Enjoy the day. We are having a beauty up north here.
Lee
“How did Dutch know he could do 50 burpees in a row? It’s not because he told himself before “you can do it buddy” it’s because he had done 50 burpees in a row before!!! He knew what it felt like!”– Spencer
Of course he knew what it felt like! That was my point! Your playful little compression of my question into “you can do it, buddy” misses that point. I realize Dutch is experienced. That’s why I asked him what goes through the head of an EXPERT. There were plenty of other crossfitters out there that day who had done 50-60-75 burpees in a row before, but many of them stopped at some point. And I’m not so naive to believe that if I just THINK what Dutch, khalipa, or Speal think, well then i’m gonna just smoke this next workout…of course not!
The whole topic of mental toughness is just interesting stuff. At the affiliate where I train, there’s a new guy who came into the gym about a month ago, completely deconditioned. At this point he does all the workouts, not yet rx’d, but man oh man can this kid battle. His heart must make up 80% of his bodyweight! He goes as hard as he possibly can and he’s never discouraged when he finishes minutes behind the pack, he just grinds and grinds and grinds. It’s like when Cool Hand Luke “wins” a fight by never staying down. No matter how many times his massive opponent pummels him, he gets right back up….and I think that may be the most admirable skill I can take away from crossfit.
Dutch, thanks for the little snippet of thought you gave us. Your little emotional paradox of simultaneously seeing the workout as glass half empty/glass half full is something I immediately understood. It’s funny how sometimes I arrive at the halfway point of a workout and feel completely overwhelmed with the task of doing everything again, except this round, I’m barely able to move my legs/arms/lungs/heart. But then 5 seconds later I’m 3 wall balls in or 20 yards out on my run and I suddenly have a sort of “light at the end of the tunnel” epiphany…. all the oh no’s turn into almost’s and things seem suddenly manageable. (of course this is precisely the point where I put down the wall ball and breath for 10 seconds, but oh well…I’ll get it next time!)
Once again, great topic and great blog!
An observation and thought about the consistent top atheletes. I totally agree on mental fitness being the difference between good and great. Russell and I have discussed many times while watching WODS being performed that certain athletes appear to have trouble finding their “high gear” and it seems to be an innate quality, one that is very difficult to teach or learn. It is a quality that HAS to come from within.
Since “most” of the elite CrossFitters are in the mid-thirties I wonder what life experiences drove them to find their inner “high gear”. For me it was definitely my back ground in wresting. In that sport is is mono-y-mono. Their is no one else to blame if you lose. When the match is tied in the third round and you are DEAD on your feet but have to do something…..that is where the “high gear” decisions were made. We called it “Mad Dog”. Russell Berger who is our CFHSV trainer was a platoon leader in Ranger Battalion which should require no explaination for mental toughness. You are tough or you die.
So I guess the point that I’m interested in would be what background or life-experiences lead to the “elite” being able to embrace the discomfort and find the high gear?
Strictly out of curiosity I wonder how many top CrossFitters have a background in wrestling or one on one sports?
Thanks for the post Dutch. Hopefully I can see a seminar soon.
Kevin Lowe,
CrossFit Huntsville