Sport Mental Performance

Don’t Use The Gym As An Escape

October 6, 2014 by Dawn 7 Comments

Let’s talk about the idea of using sport, or fitness as an escape.

Have you ever gone to the box because you are trying to escape another area of your life? Do you ever feel like you’d rather hang out at the gym, so you don’t have to deal with _______? Do you think this is okay, or maybe not so much?

Over my years of coaching I have heard many people make comments about how the gym is their escape. Most of us feel a lot of positive feelings when we are at the gym, pushing ourselves. For some of you, training might be the only time during the day when you have fun, let of some steam and enjoy yourself. It’s a wonderful thing to love your sport, or your gym, and I highly encourage you to find the type of environment that excites you.

But, have you ever found yourself staying longer at the gym to avoid a personal conflict (that you’d rather not deal with)?

Do you go to the gym when you “need to get away” from someone or something?

Are you spending a ton of hours training, simply because you “dislike” your current job, living situation, or because you’re having trouble with a relationship that you’re in?

Today’s post, is just meant to help keep you in check. Although I believe that the gym can be therapeutic, I’m hoping that you understand it’s a fine-line. I want to encourage you to deal with the stress in your life, because it won’t go away otherwise. If there are areas of your life that need more attention, you may need to reduce your time at the gym, in order to give those areas adequate time and energy. When we focus on improving the quality of our life, we are able to enjoy the process and be better at all that we do.

Make sure that you prioritize your health and well-being outside of the box, so that you can continue to do what you love.

What are your thoughts about using the gym as an escape? Comment below!

Should You Get Your CrossFit L1 Certification

October 1, 2014 by Dawn 1 Comment

Should you get your CrossFit L1 Certification or not?

Here are my 2 cents.

Question: “I’ve been doing CrossFit for a while, should I get certified?”

Here are 5 great reasons to go to a Level 1 Course

1. You love CrossFit. It’s simply a passion of yours that you get excited about. It improves the quality of your life and you want to know more about it. Maybe it’s an outlet for you that you really enjoy.

2. You want to (or already do) coach others. You are interested in helping others improve in fitness and sport. You’d like to gain more knowledge about CrossFit so that you can impact the lives of others

3. You want to (or already do) own a box or another CrossFit-related business. You want to be more involved in the community or you’ve always wanted to own a gym or help athletes with a product or service idea that you have.

4. You want to learn more. You might have a bunch of other fitness certs, but you are intrigued by what CrossFit is teaching. Maybe you’ve had some decent coaches, but know that there is a lot more to learn about proper movement, nutrition, programming, and health.

5. You dig the community. You have bonded with other amazing CrossFitters and you just want to be even more involved with the community. You want to build relationships with other like-minded individuals that share your love of CrossFit!

I’ve helped mentor many coaches, if you have any questions, feel free to email me dawn@drivenmindtraining.com

For info about the next courses, you can always check out CrossFit.com

Interview with Margaux Alvarez

September 8, 2014 by Dawn 2 Comments

This interview features Margaux Alvarez who competed in The CrossFit Games 6x! I’ve known Margaux since 2012 and I’ve enjoyed watching her grow, train and compete. Margaux’s mentality absolutely sets her apart, and she is a great role model in this sport because of how she carries herself. She understands what it takes to get to the top, but she truly enjoys the journey as well. Margaux is a special person and I’ve enjoyed getting to know her better.

Check out Margaux’s answers to my interview questions and learn more about the mindset of this incredibly talented athlete.

1. What do you like to think about in the minutes leading up to the start of your event? Say while you’re in the corral or waiting for the “10 second call”?

I close my eyes, visualize the workout or movements and take a big breath and smile. I tell myself that I can do this and that I am prepared and ready.

2. What strategies do you use to mentally recover after a WOD that didn’t go quite how you wanted it to?

Many times I review splits, video, technique, transition and then determine where to improve. This pattern is something I repeat every day in practice in order to execute a well rehearsed plan efficiently when it counts.

3. What is the one mantra, quote, slogan, or piece of advice, that means the most to you?

My mantra is: Focus. Drive. Execute. It has helped me get prepared and focus in training and competition.

4. What makes you keep pushing when the WOD starts to get really shitty?

I think just one more rep, one more rep.

5. What’s your biggest motivation for competing?

My motivation is to help others achieve their goals and I have come to find the better I am in this sport, the bigger platform I have to do that. My motivation to compete is the community.

6. How have you most improved (mentally) from a year ago?

I have given myself credit for the work that I have accomplished, which is something that I wasn’t able to do before. The opinions of others are less of a concern this year as well and the expectations that I place on myself are fair.

7. Do you regularly work on improving your mindset by reading anything, or practicing any skills or strategies?

Yes, I write down my goals and visualize them on a daily basis. I like to blog and share my experiences with others, as it allows me to reflect on certain moments in training. I practice my circle-breathing and visualization exercises daily.

8. Do you think you do a good job of staying balanced as a competitive athlete?

Yes. I have an amazing boyfriend that helps me day in and day out to achieve my goals. I have learned to think outside the box which has given me an ample amount of time to pursue my goals while allowing me time to enjoy life in the process. Everyone is different and has their own ways of coping with the amount of time this sports requires, but yes, I would say my life is very balanced.

9. What do you believe you have to be really good at mentally, in order to be the best at CrossFit?

The belief and confidence in yourself, the ability to endure through the tough times and stay level-headed through the great times and the ability to remove yourself from toxic environments.

Connect with Margaux on Twitter – Check out her Blog and Check out her Instagram

If you’re a Games or Regionals Athlete and you’re interested in doing an interview on Skype or sharing your answers in text – email dawn@drivenmindtraining.com

5 Tips To Getting Started in CrossFit

April 30, 2014 by Dawn Leave a Comment

If you’ve never tried CrossFit, and I don’t know where to start, this is for you! I am a CrossFit Level 3 Coach, who’s been coaching since before 2010. I’ve spent almost a decade using the fitness program to help others excel

If you have already watched people do CrossFit, looked at tons of videos online of CrossFit, and still haven’t tried an official class…you gotta just go for it. I would always suggest going at least a few times so that you can get a feel for the environment, the programming, and the different instructors. Do not make a judgement after 1 class. If you don’t enjoy your experience at one box, make sure you try out another.

Tips for First-Timers

1. Call ahead or shoot an email to the gym owners. Let them know that you are new and interested, but would like to come in at a time when it is ‘least busy’ or when you could stop by just to see the place.

2. Go with a friend. Beg someone to go with you or ask someone who has mentioned it before if you can go with them.

3. Go to a beginner’s or free class (most locations have this at some point during the week). If it doesn’t say so online, refer to #1.

4. When you get there, approach another member and introduce yourself. Try saying something like, “it’s my first time, I’m a little nervous” or “I’m new, how did you get started here?”

5. Ask a ton of questions. Ask the coaches, owners and members about anything that you don’t understand. Make sure that when you leave you feel like you have a clear understanding of what happens, when, how, etc.

Remember, we all start somewhere. Every CrossFitter was a beginner at some point, who was nervous, timid, scared and hesitant, just like you.

How To Help An Athlete Who Is Struggling

April 7, 2014 by Dawn 1 Comment

Coaching Tip: Occasionally, I will post tips specifically for the coaches out there. If you’re not a coach, you will still be able to use them to improve as an athlete, teammate or training partner.

If you see athletes trip up or begin to struggle in a WOD, the best thing you can do is give them something simple to focus on. Encourage athletes by giving them a single task to think about. You want to make sure the task is something that can be easily attained by the athlete, so that he or she can gain confidence and get back on track as soon as possible. It’s important to help your athletes get back to thinking about the present and about what they need to do to be successful. Also, make sure to speak in a positive language.

If you see an athlete start to struggle or lose focus, give specific coaching that helps the athlete focus on the task

– Instead of yelling “focus”, try “focus on opening your hips” or “focus your eyes on the box”

– Instead of yelling “don’t round your back”, try “chest up, tight back” or “eyes up and pull your shoulders back”

Keep your coaching cues short and sweet.
Make sure you’re telling them what to do and how to do it.
Encourage your athletes by giving them specific coaching about the task that they are on.

Interview with Lindy Barber

January 6, 2014 by Dawn 2 Comments

This interview features Lindy Barber! She contacted me because she is also passionate about the mental aspect of this sport (and she loves mentality WOD). Lindy has shown over and over again just how determined she is to compete at a high level. Her mentality absolutely sets her apart because she is willing to do what others are not. Her outlook is positive and she continues to see incredible improvements in her training because of it.

Check out Lindy’s answer to my interview questions and learn more about the mindset of this great athlete.

1. Why do you do CrossFit?

I do Crossfit because I love everything about it. I love that it keeps me fit, I love that it keeps me competitive, I love that it keeps me humble, I love that it is always changing, I love that I am constantly getting better, and I love the community and family that I have developed because of it.

2. What is the one mantra, quote, slogan, or piece of advice, that means the most to you?

Don’t let success go to your head and don’t let failure go to your heart.

3. What do you focus on thinking about in the minutes leading up to a WOD or event?

I always try to remember the plan that I have for it and to remember to stay calm and have fun. I think about how lucky I am to be able to CrossFit at all and do my best to remind myself to just focus on my own workout and not get caught up in everyone else around me.

4. What strategies do you use to mentally recover after a WOD that didn’t go quite how you wanted it to?

This is the toughest part for me. I am so hard on myself that sometimes I really have a hard time getting myself away from negative thinking after missing a lift I thought I had, or taking way longer on a workout than I had planned. If there is another event of WOD after, I try to regain focus on that next event. I think about how I can make up for it with the next event and prove to myself that I am where I want to be.

5. Why do you think the mental aspect of this sport is so important?

The mental aspect of CrossFit is HUGE. Your body is capable of so much more than you can ever imagine and as soon as you start to doubt yourself or think about how heavy something is or how hard a workout is gonna be, it immediately makes it even heavier and makes the workout even worse. Whatever emotions I bring into my workout totally dictate how my workout goes. One of my weightlifting coaches once told me, ” The bar is not heavy. The emotional weight that you bring to the bar is what makes it feel heavy.” I have never approached a barbell the same after that.

6. If you had to use 5 words to describe yourself as an athlete, what would you use?

Passionate – Dedicated – Determined – Competitive – Resilient

Video of The Day

Lindy Barber | A Crossfit Story from Shaughn Tillman Films on Vimeo.

Improve Your Mindset During Injury

December 17, 2013 by Dawn 1 Comment

Aches, pain, discomfort, and soreness, are not that fun. Do you find it hard to stay positive when you don’t feel 100%?

There are some effective strategies you can use when you’re injured or struggling with pain.

1. First, it’s helpful to understand that every single person can identify something that doesn’t feel “right” in his or her body. It may be some light soreness. It could be a headache or a stomach ache. It could be a sprained knee, or something way more damaging. If you’re training hard, or competing, it’s likely that you’re working through some discomfort on a regular basis. We all struggle at times.

2. Connect with other people who have gone through similar predicaments and overcome, or find the silver lining. You better search like hell for success stories, not horror stories.

3. Always take time to think through all that IS feeling well. You may need to think of every little thing that you are capable of doing with your body. Even consider your senses and the small parts of your body that are well. These might be very simple things, but they are still very powerful.

4. Focus on doing what you can, with what physical ability and blessings you have on THAT day (which may be different from yesterday or tomorrow). Remember, you’re not guaranteed anything, so it’s very important to do the best you can at any given moment.

How To Encourage a Frustrated Beginner

October 3, 2013 by Dawn Leave a Comment

Coaching Tip: Occasionally, I will post tips specifically for the coaches out there. If you’re not a coach you will still be able to use them to improve as an athlete, teammate or training partner.

CrossFit can be frustrating, especially to beginners who haven’t tried any of the movements before. Beginners may become even more frustrated and down on themselves if they are in class with a bunch of studs.

After the WOD is over, if you hear a beginner saying something similar to one of the statements below…make sure you approach that individual

“I was really struggling.”

“I could barely even get that movement.”

“I didn’t know what I was even doing, that sucked.”

“I am horrible at those, damn that was frustrating.”

“I suck at the barbell movements”

Sometimes, I simply ask the athlete something like

“When was the last time you did rope climbs? Give yourself some credit.” – The answer is usually “like 20 years ago”

“How often do you practice Cleans? It’s awesome that you were even doing them!” – The answer is usually “never”

Then, you may want to give the athlete an analogy and some encouragement. Here’s something that I have used before

“It’s like learning a new language. It will take repetition and persistence. I am sure if it was my first French Class, I’d stumble a little bit and feel a bit awkward. Stick with it, it only gets better if you keep trying!”

Delay Gratification To Build Mental Strength

August 14, 2013 by Dawn 1 Comment

A study on delaying extra good food was conducted by psychologist Walter Mischel in the 1970s, referred to as The Stanford Marshmallow Experiment. It involved four-year-olds who were told by a researcher that they could either eat one marshmallow immediately or two if they waited while the researcher stepped out for a few minutes.

How often do you delay gratification in order to get a bigger prize…later?

Are you good at creating habits that will make you successful, even when the situation becomes challenging?

Do you exert your willpower or do you struggle to follow through?

You may give up tv for a week in order to read more or finish a project. You ma give up sugar, alcohol or dairy in order to focus better and clean our your system. You may put off a reward in order to receive an even bigger prize. This takes practice. You start by identifying a goal, determining what would be challenging for you, and then making a commitment.

This practice of delaying gratification, will help you improve your focus, confidence and mental strength. You will begin to trust yourself more and more as you become successful with the challenges you face.

Try this drill

Write down a recent moment when you did not follow through with what you wanted – when you gave into a more immediate reward instead of doing what you committed to.
- Write down how you felt after you made that decision. Were you proud of yourself? Did you get closer to your goals or did you become more of who you want to be?

Now, write down a recent moment when you DID follow through and you created healthy habits and used your willpower to overcome.
- Jot down how you felt about yourself because you did not give in even though it may have been more fun or easy. Did you feel good about yourself and proud of yourself? Did you get closer to your goals?

Recognize that willpower is just like a muscle. It can be strengthened with practice and it can always improve.

One of the first steps to improving, is becoming more aware of your thoughts, behaviors and actions.