This has come up a few times over the last three weeks, so it is worth reviewing. Here’s the scenario…
An athlete skips a workout one day – often because they felt too tired to do it on the day they were supposed to. They essentially talked themselves out of the workout.
Self: You look tired today self.
Me: Yes…I FEEL tired today.
Self: Maybe you should skip that workout today – you are so tired that probably you won’t give it your best effort any way.
Me: That’s a good point Self – – you know what, I will rest up today and then I can add it to tomorrow’s workout. I am sure I will feel much stronger tomorrow so I can double up.
Self: Yes, that is what you should do. Now, let’s go find a sofa and a Playstation somewhere.
Me: I know just the place – follow me.
Sound familiar?
Now, there are times when you must miss a workout – you get the flu, there is a family emergency, you get called in to work, etc. These are legit and it is okay if it happens from time-to-time.
The strategy to deal with it is the same.
Give It 200% Effort Tomorrow…
Get ready for me to burst your bubble in 3…2…1…
I hope you know by now that you cannot give 200% – you cannot give 110% – – in fact, you cannot even give 101%.
The most you can possibly give is 100% (even I know that and I flunked math in first year university – – what the heck is Matrix Algebra for anyhow??).
I am a huge fan of the late John Wooden. If you have not read The Essential Wooden by John Wooden and Steve Jamison >>> here is the link to amazon – do yourself a favour and order it today. It is a small book, easy to read with outstanding advice from one of the most successful coaches to step on a basketball court. Not only was Wooden on of the most successful coaches (winning 10 NCAA titles in 12 seasons), but, he was one of the most successful human beings to ever walk the earth. Read the book and you will see what I mean.
Anyway…If Wooden saw a player who was struggling in practice, not giving his full attention or effort, he acknowledged that maybe there was something going on away from the court that was affecting the players effort; lots of homework, a fight with his girlfriend, worries about money – – whatever.
But he would also remind the player that it is impossible to give 110% tomorrow. You cannot “make up” for missed workouts or if you just go through the motions. If you chose to skip today’s workout – that opportunity to become #OneDayBetter is gone.
Not to say that there won’t be other opportunities, there will, but THIS opportunity is gone forever. Even if you choose to give 80% effort (because it is a choice), that 20% is gone forever.
Do you understand?
Now, I am not saying that you have to go to the point of barfing every single workout, that is not what I mean by “effort” – I mean doing each exercise or drill required of you to the best of your ability with 100% focus each and every workout. That is your goal.
Double Up On Workouts
Each and every workout should have a goal – improving speed, stamina, strength, mobility, take your pick.
When you try to double up, not only is your volume getting out of whack, but you might be trying to train two very different elements in the same session – are you going to get the same quality for each element if you do your speed training and then right away do your missed stamina session from the day before? Nope.
So, I don’t really like the idea of doubling up on a workout. If you HAVE to, then I would do one workout first thing in the morning and the other workout later in the day to give your body some recovery.
I would prefer if you re-scheduled your workout. So if you have to miss your Tuesday workout, but you typically take Sunday off, can you do your Tuesday workout on Sunday?
Treat It Like A Job
If you were the boss and you had an employee who was constantly calling in the day or or the day before to see if they could change their schedule.
“Um…is it okay if I come in to work tomorrow instead of today – I will work a double shift. Something came up today”
If they did it once every 3-years, you would probably feel inconvenienced, but okay with it. If they did it every single week or every other week, you would start to question their commitment to the job right?
Same goes for your training. We all need to adjust our schedule from time to time. But if you are juggling things on a weekly basis then either, your workout schedule is not set up correctly for your life or you have other things that you are making a priority and training is coming in a distant second. This is okay, unless you go around telling everyone how bad you want to make team XYZ or get a scholarship or get drafted.
If you are saying those words, then you better be taking the required action. Otherwise (and I hate to be the one to tell you)…you are a wannabe (sorry, someone had to do it).
That’s it – now go give it 100% today and take that next step on the climb #OneDayBetter
Cheers,
M
PS – if you are a forward or d-man looking to muscle guys 25lbs heavier off the puck this season, then you will want to check THIS out.