Stop before this happens

In General by Adam Friedman

I admire the pride you take in pushing your outer limits during training to reach your goals.

That part of your competitive spirit to exemplify mental toughness contributes to your success.

But I want you to know that it also works against you when fatigue sets in and your form falters as you finish your set.

A break in any of the following 6 indicators shows that you are losing control:

  1. Tempo
  2. Posture
  3. Breathing
  4. Technique
  5. Range of motion
  6. Muscular recruitment 

It’s the last few reps or seconds of a set where I see most people unable to maintain one or more.

Once you reach this point of technical breakdown, two unwanted results happen:

  1. A diminishment of returns on your effort.
  2. An imprinting of faulty patterns in your body.

Both compromise your athletic performance, health and longevity.

Now that you know this, you can choose to put your overzealousness in check during your sets.

You do this by letting go of your attachment to the assigned exercise reps and duration.

I want you to get that those assigned parameters represent targets for progression.

But the end result becomes arbitrary if you’re losing control in the process.

This is why it’s necessary to change your perception of what a successful outcome looks like.

Success IS NOT grinding it out until you are a trembling mess of muscular failure at the end of an exercise.

Success IS setting your intention to be flawless in performance… and being aware enough to stop before you breakdown.

That is how you become an Athlete For Life.

Your coach,

Adam