Interested in our Masters Competition Workshop?
Link to book is here: https://tr.ee/W88xxxrw8j
Here is a flavour of the sorts of things we will cover in mindset and competing at the workshop – I’ve put it in the context of my own recent experience competing in the Marbella Champs, a 3 day masters RX category event. I hope you find it useful!
In the lead up: what do we know, what don't we know...
I don't know the workouts... BUT using the previous years for reference, and any hints from social media is helpful. It may help direct your training / practice or to help settle the nerves.
I KNOW and believe that my training has covered a range of modalities and time frames and my taper has me feeling good, I encourage myself to be calm and settle any nerves by reminding myself of the many good weeks and months of training - all the daily wins I've logged. Having an evidence base for my training to look back on tells me how I’ve shown up and applied myself – for me that’s my training journal.
I don't know much about other people in my heats - they present a version of themselves and their training on social media, same as everyone else, but that's a limited picture - so I can't really worry about them! Also I remind myself that I can’t affect other people or circumstances at the comp. This is important – social media shows everyone’s best bits, in theory – much of the 'best bits' of training is the sexy skills, when it’s the basic building blocks of being fit and in particular as a masters athlete, healthy, that are so much more important.
I KNOW myself - my body, my health, my prep. A key to being in control of your emotional response to these unknowables – able to respond rationally and not to react overly emotionally – and the potential for that to turn into comp anxiety, is to have a body that is balanced – in good homeostasis. Dialling in consistent and sufficient sleep, good food, reducing inflammation - all these things help your mindset as you are in a better place to make good decisions and respond rationally. If your central nervous system thinks there is a sabre toothed tiger after you constantly, you will react emotionally - and metaphorically be running away screaming!! - and that allows those negative narratives to sneak up on you – Doubting Diane, Imposter Isabelle, Fearful Fran are a few of my old friends I don't see so much these days - you know the ones! Even just being aware of this, can help you create a bit of space from your emotional response to the prospect of competing.
Trust yourself, the work you have done and fundamentally, remember competing is about expressing your fitness, not being better than anyone else but you - your from yesterday, last month, last year. Its the only race worth running - training for a better you, however you define that.
On arrival:
Arriving at a venue always causes a flutter of nerves as the reality of the competition takes shape in your mind – what is it going to be like competing in those spaces, who will be there watching, will there be epic tunes?! Oh my god the dance floor looks enormous! I hope I don't let my team mates down.
A way for me to manage any pre comp jitters is to focus on the ‘must do's’, rather than the ‘what ifs’ when you show up – get the registration done, make sure you’ve got all the information available about the events, athlete briefings, timings etc. Comp Admin being in order will take a lot of anxiety out of competing. Know when and what you are going to eat in your schedule, plan it, don't wing it!!
Each event:
Following on from comp admin, event admin is about knowing all you need to know to compete: where is the warm up area for this event, what is my warm up (chat through with your coach when the events are released), where is the nearest loo (!) how soon will they call us before the event, how long might I have to wait before the start buzzer goes. This is something you can practice – warming up to your ‘bottom number’ for a strength event for example and then waiting 10 – 15 minutes before you get to lift is a very different thing to doing your weightlifting session in the gym. Again, focusing on what you can control, helps to alleviate the butterflies and helps to stay away from the ‘what ifs’. Using your breathing to help you stay calm is a great technique. I try to find my own space before an event - mentally and if possible, physically as well, so I don't get caught up in anyone else's panic - let them deal with their sabre tooth tiger themselves!
I like to soak up what its like to even walk out onto the comp floor, looking around at the bigger picture on the way to my lane, before focusing in on the work at hand. Spot your VIPs, smile for the photographer!
Remember how supportive everyone is in your gym when you train - those same kinds of people are at this competition, willing everyone to do their best. Apart from your judge, no-one is there to judge you. And if anyone is, that’s a ‘them’ issue, not a ‘you’ issue.
When the buzzer goes, for me, I focus on each rep in front of me and do not worry about what anyone else is doing or how fast they are going. People have different strengths and weaknesses – someone going out hot may well be able to hold on to that blistering pace, but often …. not so much – don’t get drawn in, It’s a Trap! Kudos if that’s you! Knowing the anticipated duration of your workout will mean you can draw on your pacing practice. The mindset aspect of this is staying present and not getting caught up in someone else’s race plan. Trust your plan. The adrenaline is pumping, the crowd are cheering, you feel invincible! And you will often outperform your own expectations – but it will be because you’re in tune with your body and responding accordingly – not reacting to the stimulus alone. We always learn something about ourselves when we step out there - how bloody marvellous is that!?
Post event:
Move on!! On comp days or weekends, you may have many events and now is not the time to dwell on whether you did as well or not as well as you hoped. Have fun with each event and to do that, you need to meet each one with a clear mind and full focus. No doubt its good to ride a wave of great event finishes, but this can mean a crash down if one doesn’t go as planned. Save the dissection for afterwards and make the most of being out on the dance floor, doing your thing.
Post comp:
Take the time to be proud of your efforts, whatever the result. You got the chance to express your fitness, maybe as part of a team, or flying solo – whichever, you’ve been the ‘person in the arena’ and that takes guts. Pat on the back for you!
When we get to do this, a great approach is to let the event stand on its own, no single event or competition is a measure of your value as a person or an athlete. In functional fitness, the random factors that are often late announced workouts, random venues (lots of sand in Marbs!) or odd objects – which is why we love it. But this means that unlike the 100m sprint or other known types of athletic expression, we are at the mercy of the programmers. Our sport is so diverse in its movements that there is always something to learn and improve upon. Competitions are a great way to shine a light on those areas, as well as celebrate where we are moving to mastery of aspects of the sport. You may wish you'd done better, so what will you learn and how will you focus your energy into next steps, not regrets.
I take a journal and note what I think I executed well in each event, and what I learned from the event – sometimes it's from noticing other people’s comp craft, whether I hesitated on a lift when I probably need to back myself more, or other points of learning or celebration. I enjoyed a run event in Marbs after last year just focusing on getting round – who even am I!? Whatever the outcome in terms of the leaderboard, you can only affect your performance and only you can know whether you are happy that you were able to express your fitness and capabilities to the level you wanted.
It's your journey, shape it how you want, and become the person you want to be - only you know who that is. A crossfit comp does not define you or your worth, its just PE!
If you want to dive into athlete mindset in detail with me to get you ready to hit the dance floor in 2025, hit me up!
@fern.coaching on Insta.
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