Learning from Your Failure
Written by Dara Sweatt
Do you ever go into a workout thinking “I’m gonna crush this” and then you do it and… die?
Okay, you don’t literally die, but you... die… you know what I’m saying.
That was me the other day.
If you are a frequent to the BBH blog and follow us on social, you know that I am an avid CrossFit lover and doer and have been for over a year now.
I know that CrossFit isn’t for everyone, but I LOVE it. It’s challenging, testing and effective. Not only to my physical, but to my mental health as well.
MOST of the time, I go into the WOD (for you non-CrossFitters, that’s “Workout of the Day”) thinking “This is gonna suck, but it’s gonna be the good kind of suck and I’m going to crush it.”
And I normally do.
But sometimes--like the other day--I don’t.
I’ll give myself some props here, I’m strong. I can, in simple terms, pick things up and put things down, when it comes to slinging some weight around. But, something that non-CrossFitters don’t always understand is just because you’re strong and can pick up a heavy weight doesn’t necessarily mean you SHOULD (especially when reps and intensity are high).
Another thing I love about CrossFit (if it’s a good gym) is that you can scale the workouts to meet you where you are. That means either lifting lest weight, doing fewer reps, or running a shorter distance, etc.
The other day, the WOD was 50 med-ball cleans, 25 push-jerks, and back to 50 med-ball cleans.
The scale I chose to follow was 50 14 lb Med Ball Cleans, 25-95 lb Push Jerks, back to 50 med-ball cleans. Oh yeah... and all under 12 minutes. Sounds tough, right?
I thought so too. But I thought to myself, I’m doing really good, I’m really strong, I can totally pull that off. So, I started the workout. BUT THEN… about halfway through the first round of med-ball cleans my legs started to show warning signs of muscle failure.
“Keep going, you got this” I told myself over and over again.
I grabbed the bar to pick it up for the push-jerks and my plan was to do about 5 reps at a time. I could only do about 2 or 4 before dropping the bar and having to re-start.
I finally finished the push-jerks and had about :30 left on the clock, so I only got to do about 15 of the 50 med-ball Cleans before the timer went off.
As soon as I heard that beep, I threw myself on the floor and started bawling my eyes out.
While I lay on the floor, crying, my coach came to me and told me to walk it off but then reminded me of a very important lesson: JUST BECAUSE I DIDN’T FINISH, DOESN’T MEAN I DIDN’T GET IN A GREAT WORKOUT
Whether you are a professional Olympic competitor or just starting out with whatever type of workout you’re doing, you’re going to have days when your performance isn’t par to what you want. You have to remember that you are doing your best!
What data did you collect in that type of “bad workout”?
I learned that I can push-jerk 95 lbs for 25 times, but that it’s harder to do that with a time cap and 100 14lb med-ball cleans on top of it.
So, next time I do that type of workout, I’ll scale down a little to make sure that I can finish for next time! Just make sure you’re learning from your failure. How can you do better next time?
What types of workouts are you doing? Have you been putting yourself down because you’re comparing yourself to other people? Are you LEARNING from your failure?
Hear this: YOU ARE MORE THAN YOUR WORKOUT AND YOUR SCORE. A good workout is more than how much you lift or how fast your time is.
Working out is an exercise and a practice, it’s not about getting in the “perfect” workout. It’s about getting stronger for the next time and learning from your failure. There’s no such thing as “perfect”, so don’t compare yourself to the person next to you or beat yourself up. Everyday is different and some workouts will be better than others.
YOU’RE DOING GREAT. KEEP GOING.
