This morning as I was “crawling” up the mountain behind my house on my mountain bike (right tool for the job) I had this thought… well, not exactly a thought. It’s more like an insight – complete with images.
When I’m on my bike early like this and I take to climbing there’s a point where the resistance of the hill, the effort to push the pedals over rises to a level where my body would like not to respond. It’s the moment of engagement, a test of willpower challenging my intention. My body’s not warm yet, it’s still in a place of "efforting" - not yet in the engaged, higher intensity state of flow.
In the big-picture I’m no where yet...barely 10 minutes into my ride and just moving into an effective training zone. And yet I watch my mind looking for all sorts of outs…there’s always a time crunch. Maybe I could really do better later today? You know, I’m just not feeling “strong” today. And then, dare I look up and see the top of the hill – way, high up there! That’s enough to stop a person in their tracks.
So here I am, my mind racing my heart pounding as I continue to pump out the pedal strokes and capture enough oxygen to keep moving. Right then, in an instant I just pulled myself in and took a piece of my own advice, borrowing from my “Focus Intensity Training” (F.I.T.) practice I got fully present in the moment.
Rather than trying to fight my mind, ignore the racing thoughts...rather than trying to psyche myself up to keep moving... I pulled everything in, placing 100% of my attention on the one simple act of pushing the pedal down. Not on moving the bike ten feet, not on a full rotation of the pedals but on the single stroke – left...then right...then left.
I didn’t forget my goal of reaching the top in 35 minutes but I let it float out there, not investing mental energy into it at the moment. I simply focused all my mental and physical effort on the one single act; one small stroke and only then, another. I can’t emphasize this enough – I completely isolated each down stroke of the pedal. At that moment there was no last stroke nor a next stroke – there was only this one, now.
And then a funny thing happened... I started moving, faster and faster. I felt stronger... my energy lifted and yet I remained very centered. The feeling of effort which had been overcoming me had been replaced by a sense of power...a feeling of strength.
"As a reached the top and took a few moments to reflect I could see the direct correlation between how I was climbing before focusing the energy of my mind and body and how most people strength train."
For many people each workout is a necessary means to the end – be that “a 12-week” or what have you. Each workout is for the most part a single “effort” – a start to finish expression of effort. It’s sort of a “have workout - get‘er done,” approach.
Then there are some people, usually those who’ve been training for some time, who see a little deeper. In addition to getting the workout done (the goal), they may focus on the specific exercises. For example they may focus on a strong bench press before they move on to the next exercise.
What I teach (and preach) in my F.I.T. practice (Focus Intensity Training) is the type of absolute, in the moment, focus that I experienced with each stroke of the pedal as I climbed the mountain. I’m talking about the type of concentrating presence that can instantly put you in a deep flow state – where you’re mind is silent and time seems to stop.
As I experienced on my bike ride, when you engage each moment with your full body and mind you discover reserves of strength you rarely tap into. Fully engaging your mind and body in the present moment awareness like this is truly transformative – taking your intensity to a level you’ve never before imagined and releasing a sense of joy where once there was pain.
In the weeks ahead I’ll be sharing more on F.I.T. in my blogs and will also share a brief How To Train with Absolute Focus and Intensity guide. In the meantime you can begin a moment to moment strength practice by breaking your strength training workouts down to the smallest single element – and placing yourself 100% in the moment.
Like I said, we want to break it down beyond the workout, beyond the exercise and even beyond the set. That leaves you at the rep level – you know, where you’re counting, “1…2…3…” Are you with me? Now, let’s take it one level further… to the contraction and the eccentric phase of the rep. On the curl that’s the “up” and the “down.”
Breaking it down, seeing inside, seeing and being in the moment.
A) The workout
B) The Exercise
C) The Set
D) The Rep
1. The contraction < -- focus here
2. The negative, eccentric < -- then here
E) The Rest between the sets (as important as the set)
For the next few workouts, practice to see how single mindedly focused you can become on each, individual (and totally separate) contraction and eccentric – the lifting and lowering of the weight. You can maintain your count, but do each lift and each lowering as the one and only single thing you are doing – and give it your fullest attention and absolute peak of focused energy or intensity.
With a little coaching, time and intention you can learn to engage your training with this kind of full presence. Only when you’ve been there, to the furthest edge of your intensity, will you truly know how different it is.
Be strong now!
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