Some Days…
I’ve had a lot of questions thrown my way about motivation…How do you keep yourself wanting to train, day in and day out??…
I’ll be the first to admit, I have plenty of days that I really do not want to catch a face full of punches or get out on the mat…It’s a lot easier to decide to lay on the bed after a long day of work and have my famous “little minute” of sleep, which turns into more like hours upon hours…
Those are the days that I have to be honest w/myself…Am I lazy or am I fully mashed from whatever the day has handed me??…
If it’s laziness causing that mood, I have to remind myself that “if you want what other ppl don’t have, you have to do what those ppl won’t do” (paraphrased)…Some days you need to really push yourself and get in there…
On the other hand, I know full well that if I am legitimately bushed, I’m going to have to give my body and more importantly, my mind, a day of rest…
If you’re not there mentally, you aren’t going to have any kind of worthwhile workout, I’d say…
Provided I drag myself in there the next day and don’t make it a habit of missing tons of workouts, there’s NADA wrong w/having that time away…You have to achieve a balance point b/n training and resting, I’d say…
I’ve used that analogy of a callous before for lifting, but it applies to ANY type of training, be it MMA, marathon running, etc….You can rub your hand hard for hours straight and all you’ll get is a bloody palm…You can rub your hand lightly for hours and you’ll get nothing…
But, rub that hand hard for a short period of time, then allow it to “recover”…What happens??…You develop a nice, fat callous, which is preciously analgous to what I want from my training; a thick, durable layer of protection from attack…
For some reason, motivation ebbs and flows in most of us…We seem to be focused and driven for some period of time and then off kilter after a while…
As a result, I’ve always taken at least a week off after fights to keep my mind ready to get back into training…
The amount of mental prep you need for a fight is MUCH greater than what anyone outside of the game would think…Even if your body is in decent repair after the fight, your mind sure won’t be…
Is there an explanation for this mental “hi-lo” cycle?…If I knew, I would be sure to crush that low motivation bit like a Coke can in Magnus Samuelsson’s palms (as you can gather, I’m a fan of World’s Strongest Man competition as well)…
The mental drive behind fighting and the psychological profile that fighters have is the most interesting aspect of the game, IMO…
My coach, Scott Trowbridge, tells me constantly that the greatest gains in the fight game will come from that mental component…
I believe him 110%…
That being said, it’s 9:55PM here and I need to get a workout accomplished!…