What motivates

Roughly two weeks ago, I had an interesting interaction with my CF coach. During a particularly tough workout, I was behind. I had just toughed out my last exercise, and was spent. He announced 44 seconds to go. I knew that I wouldn't be able to finish the set, so I grabbed my water instead of making a vain attempt at trying to (usually poorly) try to finish a couple of the exercises. He tried the guilt routine. I don't respond well to the guilt routine.

Him -
"You are going to just quit with 40 seconds left?!?"

Me -
"Yep."

Him -
"Wow?!?"

Fast forward to Tuesday, another grueling workout (notice a pattern here?). One of the guys in the gym is a yeller. Screaming and roaring in the gym to "FINISH STRONG!" and "BANG IT OUT!" His screaming actually decreased my speed, because I was annoyed rather then inspired.

Early in my sales career, I realized that not everyone is motivated the same way. Unfortunately, not everyone has figured that out. So how do you broach that subject, especially with someone like a trainer? A quiet word of encouragement is much better for me then screaming. A calm "Come on, give us one more." will often yield more results with me then any attempt at provocation or embarrassment.

It is an interesting problem, and frankly one that I don't have an answer for. So what is the best way to motivate you?

An interesting conversation

Thursday, after torturing me for a bit, my Crossfit Coach and I started talking about Martial Arts. It crossed over into religion a bit, but my general idea was that Martial Arts are more then just tying a belt around my waist and spending time in the Dojo. Running, lifting, sparring, shooting, nutrition, these are all parts of a Martial Life.

I've mentioned it before, but the main reason I work out, is to attempt to achieve a level of fitness that will make me better at Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. It does that, my strength and flexibility is steadily increasing, and my endurance is going up as well. It also helps all of my martial activities. Let's face it, being able to run 1/8th of a mile (or more) without falling over helps breathing control and heart rate, which is important in firearms competition, hunting, and even if the S hits the proverbial fan. How many times have you seen someone at the range who gets winded walking to the 100yard line to change targets? That person might be the best shot in the world, but how good a shot will they be when their heart rate is 180+ and they are desperately trying to suck in Oxygen to keep from passing out?

I'm not saying I'm going to be hitting any Ironman competitions anytime soon, but I will run a 5k this year. Just some food for thought.

I'm a horrible blogger ...

Yep, I'm horrible, and not because of my lack of original topics, my craptastic photography, or my 6th grader on a sugar rush focus. I can't seem to update regularly. So, the excuse d'jour, I have upped my training significantly. I'm doing BJJ 3 days a week, added a Thai boxing class one day a week, and am trying to shoot once a week. I also try and pickup an extra BJJ class when I can. By the time I get home my fingers barely function.

So, to break down my activities:

BJJ - I feel like I busted a plateau recently. I'm not sure when it happened, but the other day I realized I had been wrestling for 20 minutes. I was winded but could still go, and was even doing well. My submission defense has improved dramatically. I still get submitted, but it takes some work. Tonight I passed Phil's guard (a blue belt with a notorious guard), and even subbed him with a foot lock. Pretty cool.

Thai boxing - What a blast! A completely different workout then wrestling. I learned to wrap my hands correctly after a particularly nasty bruise over my right ring finger. I wish I had taken a picture, it was awesome. My right leg kicks are decent, my left leg kicks are pathetic. I'm confident I can overcome it though, I have been shadow boxing every night and initially the elbows were the same. I know I will continue for at least one more month, but it depends on the pricing. $130 for 4 classes is steep. Especially considering a local gym with both BJJ & Muay Thai would cost $80 (plus they are near my office so I could go workout at lunch).

Shooting - I have a confession. I suck at handgun shooting. I can make neat little clovers with a rifle, and have won some money shooting 5 stand (and in the field hunting), but I lack skills with the pistol. To that end, I found a Ruger MKII for cheap, and have been getting better. Hopefully it will translate. Now I just need to send my 1911 back to Colt to get it working 100%.

Weight wise I need to be better. I am always hungry. Always. I jumped up to 235 or so, then settled at around 230. Not a positive move. I hope to get more ink before too long, but can't until I get back down to at least 225.

That covers my training, I need to blog about our trip down to order boots. I have a new pair being made. Should be done by July. Sweet! Work sucks, but that is to be expected, and I at least have a job. Only thing that sucks worse would be unemployment.

I'm a glutton for punishment.

Today I had 6000 pounds of limestone dry stack delivered. At some point last week I had the bright idea of putting stone around the lower part of our backyard shed. Anything left over will go towards a new backyard flower bed.

Some people call it optimism. After looking at the mound of stone (and moving one to see roughly the scale of the stone), I call it lunacy. To top it off, once I get this done I am probably going to order more. Heck at $70 a ton it's cheap and better then Gold's Gym.



Wish me luck.