Confidence: Too much or to little you are screwed

Confidence is a psychological factor that can be either a positive if you have the right amount or a negative if you have too much or too little. Confidence has affected me in both ways. 


Too Much:
Last year I went to California to compete in the Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Pan American tournament. I had spent many months preparing and felt ready. Half way through my first and final match of the single elimination tournament the referee stopped the action, as I had accidentally pulled the guys pants loose, and I lost my concentration. The match was lopsided; I was destroying my opponent and could see exasperation in his eyes. In that split second I stopped thinking about what I had to do to win, and started thinking wow this is easier than I thought, I felt invincible, I wondered what my next opponents would be like. I hardly noticed that the match had started again. I lost ground, I didn’t care it would be easy to gain it back. I lost more, I still didn’t care. He started attacking a choke, I thought he actually thinks he is going to win, he is just delaying the inevitable, then I realized he really was choking me and so I did what I thought I needed to do to escape. But I didn’t know what choke he had set up because I wasn’t paying attention; it was really tight now I was getting light headed. I had to make a guess, I exploded to my feet. Wrong guess, I went numb, my eyesight faded, then I opened my eyes and I was twitching looking up at the ref. I had passed out and I felt sick to my stomach because it was my arrogance that gave my opponent the match, not his skill. 


Too Little:
In my very first competition I didn't have enough confidence I was so nervous I didn't sleep all night. I was tired and shaking from adrenaline, I couldn't think straight and felt like vomiting as I walked out on the mat. My only goal was not to embarrass myself which I thought I was about to do. I had never done anything like this before, I suddenly became terrified that I would injure myself, the next thought was of course I would because my opponent was going to try to force me to quit. I started out great, within 5 seconds I had the best position possible but then I relaxed and suddenly the adrenaline disappeared. I was completely exhausted, I felt like if I closed my eyes I would fall asleep, my muscles started cramping. It was everything I could do to barely cling on to my lead until time ran out. After the match my body was reeling I couldn't recover and I am pretty sure I lost the rest of the matches I had that day. 


The right amount:
There are also times when the right about of confidence will help you immensely. I have gone to tournaments where I had enough confidence whereas I was not nervous and did not have to worry about an adrenaline dump, but not so much that I wasn’t focused. My mind was fast, sharp, decisive, and instinctually correct.  The only thoughts going on were how do I improve the situation and win. This state is incredible I don’t feel as if or fear that I will lose, but recognize that it is a possibility. I can visualize things before they happen and execute. This is what I always strive for, the goal is that as I develop I can zero in on what puts me in this zone so that I can recreate it at will.

Saw this today today, thought it was pretty funny...

Back from the Injury... Kind of?

I trained this once this week and did two classes, infinitely more times than I trained or went to class last week or the ten prior to that. It was amazing on one hand and frustrating on the other. I had such a good time moving around, and getting back in the swing of things. I could do almost everything I was doing before except for rolling over to finish the arm bar upside down. I somehow lost that muscle memory, but with a little work I am sure it will be back in no time. Not to worried about that. After training and class my knee got stiff, but I relaxed, waited for it to loosen up, then went back at it. The frustrating part came this morning. I was at the Fargo Body Shop and started a nasty nasty workout called Hidalgo and my knee started hurting. Not the bad one either. The left MCL now had twinges of bad pain through various spots in the range of motion. Steph ruled out overcompensation as the cause of injury saying if it were the case it would be my LCL bothering me. We concluded that since I hadn't run in probably half a year, and I ran 1 mile yesterday and two miles today and while I was running today my hip flexers got extremely tight that this might be causing the problem. I aborted the workout and went home, anxious, upset, and frustrated. Luckily however we were right, I stretched and loosened up and the pain was gone. My mood: back to happy and looking forward to the training adventures ahead of me! Can't wait! No the only question that remains in my mind is, "Can I make the Pan?"

New years resolution...

It seems like everyone makes new years resolutions, historically I haven't made any. This year I am going to break that tradition, albeit a few days late. My resolution is to resume chronicling my journey through BJJ. For those of you who don't know in Oct. I partially tore my MCL and was out for 10 weeks and 1 day. This Monday I tried the instructional portion of the advanced jiu jitsu class. It was terrifying and elating at the same time. Physically I was ok, some things move inside my knee that probably shouldn't be moving; I hope they're just scar tissue that will soon dissolve! But the knee doesn't hurt and a majority of the stability is back. Mentally it was rough, I hesitate when it is time to drive off of my leg or pivot on the foot of the injured leg. Tuesday I did a five minute round with Jin because she is calm and collected while training, light, and good at jiu jitsu. It went well, just one moment of quick fear, I still couldn't get my heal to my butt. This morning I did 30 min of bottom guard and then 30 min of top guard with Darren. I was nervous as he weighs about 50 lbs. more than Jin but it went even better! My heal went to my butt without issue and I feel strong. Plus all the mental training seems to have paid off. There were a couple spots where my body didn't respond instinctively but that will come back fast; technically though I found that I have improved greatly. I was recognizing and executing in positions I was struggling with when I got hurt! Now I just have to keep competing out of my head, take it slow. Maybe I will ban myself from competitiveness until this summer or something like that. All I have to say is, it feels great to be back!!!

How to workout

The purpose of this website is to provide users with information on how to workout, achieve their goals, and MOST importantly to maintain what they worked so hard to achieve.

[caption id="attachment_54" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Is this what you signed up for?"][/caption]

This idea came to me while on Christmas vacation at my parents. I went with them to their local "Mega Gym" to get my workout in, and in an ad on a huge white marker board sign they wrote, "Did you know? Only 5% of people keep weight off long term! Set up your nutrition coaching today!" The sign was completely appalling, it says after you pay us a lot to achieve your goals here, we will watch 95% of you fail and do nothing about it unless you pay us a lot more ($75/hour at this gym to be exact and that's just the nutrition coaching double that if you want a trainer too!) will we show you how to do it correctly. Maybe this is the norm but it shouldn't be since a gym or fitness center, such as the one I am talking about, will sell you a gym membership using your expectation of getting a certain result. They should then also show you how to succeed or at least tell you the statistics upfront, shouldn't they? This is what I aim to do.

Have you ever walked into the gym and then asked yourself, "What should I do today?" Goal setting is the key to starting off on the right foot. Before you even get to the gym you really need to ask yourself this question: What are my goals? You need to answer this very specifically if you want to know how to workout correctly. The first mistake people make when entering the gym is going straight to the workout without a goal other than to be there, unfortunately, it instantly pushes you toward the all to common gym cycle of doing all that work for no gain in the end. Your goal can be as simple as I want to look better, I want better general fitness, I want to be healthier, I want to be more athletic, I want to feel better physically or mentally, etc. Though simple sounding, the processes behind these goals are not simple and you will need to understand them to be successful. They can also be very specific such as focusing on a single sport or activity you want to excel at. But in this case you aren't there to do the sport, you are there to make yourself better at it. So keep in mind, bodybuilding and power lifting are sports and are in the sports fitness category, you don't go to the gym and body build or power lift you go there to get better at them. The point is decide why you are working out, then discover how to workout.

If you asking yourself how to workout, you need ask someone or find a credible information source, preferably they are one and the same. This is another common area of misstep for the average gym goer. More than likely you should not be asking your buddy who is a "gym rat" what you should be doing to workout. Only do this if he is educated in the matter and/or proven that he can achieve and sustain the same goal you have. More than likely your friend who works out a lot has different goals than you i.e. your goal is sustained weight loss and your friends is to get stronger, and it is something that needs acknowledging because in this scenario their advice would not help you even if it is correct. Lets say for the sake of the argument though you and your buddy have the same goals, now you need to do a little digging. What is the theory and method behind their workouts; how does it work physiologically. If they can't tell you, its a red flag, look somewhere else. Ask them how they decided what workouts to do, if they say they just make stuff up, don't really have a plan, they just do what they feel like, or they do the same workouts day to day or week to week, its another red flag, go elsewhere. If they get injured frequently, red flag. If you workout with them and they aren't actively helping you to correct form and explain why to you, again red flag. You get the drift.

If you ask someone and they can give you educated answers, different workouts every day, the workouts don't repeat for months, and they can show you the theory behind creating your own workouts then this is the person you want helping you. You need variation in working out to help you stay interested in the beginning but it goes deeper than that. You need variation to work out your muscle groups differently so that you don't develop muscle imbalances. If you decide to hire a trainer, don't just let someone train you because they are certified or a "personal trainer" which can be anything. Look up their certifications as well as question them. ASCM is usually a good sign, as it requires a four year degree to get but does not automatically mean someone is good. How many people graduate college without learning anything? A lot right. Some certifications only take a weekend course to achieve so the don't much weight without some other evidence backing them up. So make sure you are happy with how your trainer represents themselves. That being said, some of the best people to seek advice from are not trainers, as mentioned earlier, if you find or know someone who has achieved and sustained your workout goal then its highly probably that they can help you get there too! Don't be afraid to ask! Knowledgeable people  are generally willing to share their knowledge because someone shared it with them. In my opinion you will get your best advice from someone who is living what you want to achieve, trainer or not, certifications or not. To sum it all up look for someone who has some sort of proof they know how to workout in a way that can help you accomplish your goal and don't forget about nutrition, whatever your goals understanding it will help you achieve them.

How To Workout