My Joyful PRs (Personal Records)
Joy isn’t going to send adrenalin through our veins and give us super strength, like rage does. But any kind of personal meaning can help you train!
(PR or PB stands for Personal Record or Personal Best when discussing athletic performance).
My last newsletter was about how I get angry sometimes and ideally manage it by exercising maximally (not just hard, but 100%).
Last week I set a PR in my home gym while raging about a contractor who messed up a job at our place. I should not be stronger than I was 10 years ago, but at that time, I was.
Rage, despite its training benefits, is not sustainable. It will usually injure us, and over time, kill us.
What about Joy? Seems kinda weak.
It’s true. Joy isn’t going to send adrenalin through our veins and give us super strength, like rage does. And joy is much harder to access than anger.
(Human brains focus more on the negative. It’s called “positive-negative asymmetry”. It’s a survival trait to remember where the tigers and snakes are. (I just wrote “snacks” lol)).
Luckily there is a lot of research on training that doesn’t go to failure. We call it “Submaximal Training”. It’s enough to elicit gainz! Moderate-effort sets will still make you stronger!
The most successful clients love themselves, forgive their past, have a positive outlook, embrace change, train hard but not too hard, have a lot of self-compassion and as a result, are resilient.
How to Access Joy - The Easy Way
Have you ever played tag? Gone waterskiing? Climbed a mountain? Played paintball? Achieved a PR? Done a group class? Had vigorous sex?
I’ve done all of these things (some of them well).
Fun will make you train hard. So will friendly competition. Group training is popular because of the Joy.
That’s a real smile despite me collapsing a few seconds after this photo was taken. It’s 2015 and I am 38, wearing the birthday weight vest at Fuel Training Club. A few friends and my favourite trainer cheering me on. That’s easy joy.
And for some, they get this simply by doing an online workout with their friends.
But let’s say you can’t waterski every day or you don’t like online rah-rah workouts.
Fine.
Any kind of personal meaning can help you train hard! You have to connect to it.
Joy will be there if you are open to it.
What works for me….
Being present. A deep breath. A quick glance into my eyes in the mirror. I grab the weights in my hands and push out all the pain and worry in my mind.
I trust that this moment, this set, every rep, is making me better….a better person. A better husband. A better dad. Happier. More successful.
My mind wanders. I notice. I bring it back. I focus on the form. The muscles. I fatigue. I stop. I’m proud. I visualize something better.
You choose the meaning. SOMETHING. ANYTHING.
If you can connect your training to something meaningful, I promise you will train harder and more often, out of Joy.
And after training? WAHOOO! Man it feels great! Notice that shit!!!!!
Manufacturing Joy in Training.
Summary:
Know why you train. What are you trying to improve?
Connect the effort you’re making in the gym to the thing you’re trying to improve. Keep it top of mind. Visualize. Stay with it.
Block out the negative shit while you’re training
Notice your mental health make positive shifts during training
Notice how great you feel after training
Notice you’re better at the thing you’re working on (b/c you probably will be)
If you/re having a hard time with this, let’s have a chat about it.
As for PR’s, I’ve set many of them in the Joy state.
Thanks for reading The Antidote.
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Stay strong, stay curious, and don’t buy into the toxic noise.
— Kb