I was thinking about something that happened to me some time ago on the running machine.
I was set a specific program on the treadmill that speeds up and slows down over the 25 minute workout. It also automatically changed the hill setting. I had been running on the same program for about 3 weeks, and feeling fitter every day. I decided to ask my trainer to change the program, and make it a little more difficult.
We discussed what I wanted, and I had an idea of what was near the maximum I could achieve without falling off the machine and embarrassing myself in the gym! The program started with a warm up, and then got more difficult towards the middle with a cool down set for the last 5 minutes. On the old program I had to sprint for 60 seconds on speed 14.5 at the hardest part, and I asked my trainer to put this up to speed 16, and increase the difficulty of all the other variables by 10%.
Anyway - I came to do the program for the first time, and I was absolutely out of it by the time I got to the hard sprint in the middle. The warm up had been harder, and I was really pushing myself.
I cranked my iPod up to full volume and hit my favourite song for the nasty bit and dug in. I was ready do drop by the time 55 seconds came up, and was yearning for the next 60 seconds when I could go to a jogging pace. My legs felt like lead weights and I was blowing really hard.
What happened next is where I learned my lesson. The 60 seconds came and went. To my surprise and abject horror, the settings remained the same and I continued with the fast sprint! My instructor had programmed the machine for 120 seconds not 60; I had a decision to make. Push through it and see how long I could manage, or quit.
Now - I really did think about hitting the stop button, I really REALLY did, but I went for it. That 60 seconds was painful - I am not recommending it! The thing is though - that I managed it, and managed to finish the whole program. I really surprised myself. The limit that I had set was not easy, and I was forced to go harder than I thought I could through sheer surprise.
I put this down to a couple of things. I was emotionally blindfolded to the additional minutes sprint - it was a surprise. By breaking down a seemingly 2 minute impossible sprint (for me) into 60 seconds, then 30 seconds, then a final 2 sets of 15 seconds (this is how I mentally got through each section), I had broken the challenge into smaller parts, and fooled my brain.
I then found a really cool video on YouTube the other day which reminded me a little bit about how we set our own limits. I will share this with you at the end of this post, but want to impress upon you that to a large extent your limits are your own.
Suspend your disbelief occasionally, and see what you are capable of. You might surprise yourself!
By the way - don't go to the gym and set the running machine to full tilt without asking someone first. I don't want to be responsible for any heart attacks, but I think you get my point :-)
Happy days to you all, and here is the link I mentioned from YouTube. It's 6 minutes long, but I promise if you stick with it, you will love it. It made the hairs stand up on the back of my neck, but then hey - I am easily pleased.
Rich
No comments:
Post a Comment