Training mentality, part 1 - Train for your own sake

First and foremost I'd like to explain why some of my posts aren't specifically aimed at floorball goalie traning but also touches other aspects of training or sports as I feel like this and other posts to come will be of a non-floorball specific nature. I also want to say that I strive for the posts on this blog cover the exact same material as on my swedish blog .

This post will be of a more personal nature while still covering a very important aspect of training.

When I started blogging I did so because I enjoyed it and because I could write about whatever I felt likt at the time, but last year I started writing less and less until I eventually stopped writing because I felt pressure. I felt like what I wanted to write wasn't specific enough towards floorball goaltending which isn't really a bad thing, but it took away the spontaneity and the creativity in the writing which in turn gave me some degree of writers block.

This year I'm more or less just going to "go for it" and write for my own sake and write more about what I feel like writing about which in turn hopefully (and very likely) will make for better reading as well. This also falls very well into the subject I will be writing about in this post which will become more obvious further down in the text.

As mentioned above I will be trying to touch on the subject of the mentality of training on- and off the court and to stop this from becoming the longest post in history I will do it in two shorter posts.

*For those who are interested I will end the post with a personal anecdote on the subject "learning by doing". I'm writing it last so those who just want to read the main point of the post won't have to do a lot of extra reading.*

Train for your own sake

Fun picture from a goalie session two years ago with Adam Gustafsson, Pixbo Wallenstam.

So, straight to the point. It can not just be me who thinks that other peoples' opinions are extremely boring? It's very often your hear or see how people nowadays care too much about others opinion, almost more so in the gym than anywhere else. (Yes, this part will be fairly focused on the gym but the principle is applicable in almost any other area of training.)

It's common for people to put a few extra kilos on the bar and execute the excercise with poor quality and higher risk of injury because the average person in the gym won't see the lack of quality but will surely notice the amount of weights being lifted which makes it look impressive to most who are watching. We like to avoid exercises that we haven't fully mastered and we are scared that it might not look good in the eyes of others, or we are scared of not looking "strong enough" because we might not lift as many kilos as other people. 

I have met many who say that they don't want people looking or judging them when the work out during my time as a personal trainer I had customers who said the exact same thing. Now, I could be giving words of encouragement like "nobody is looking" or "nobody is juding you" (which I probably did as a PT) but I won't say that in this case, because what do I know? Either they're looking or they aren't and either they're juding, or they aren't. My point is - what difference does it make, really? 

You are there for your own sake and people can think whatever they want. You are as strong and as experienced in the excercises as you are and that's good enough! You are supposed to lift the amount of weights that are right for you, do the excercises as deep as you can and if you want to do excercises that you haven't fully mastered yet you should do them, because the only way to progress and get better at the exercises and get stronger is by doing them. Last but not least you have to dare to make mistakes to be able to develop and get better. 

This is applicable in other areas than just the gym, for example the floorball court. If you have a movement that you're not as good at as the other ones, then practice that movement even though it might not feel or look as good as when you use the ones you're good at, because it will pay off in the end when you've improved and you can put another tool in your toolbox. Do the mobility excercises in the ares where you struggle the most even though you might not be able to do them as well as other people, because it is most likely those exercises you need the most and they are very likely the ones that will help you improve the most. Never midn what anyone else might night and do it for yourself!

This is the exact mistake I made last year - I cared too much about what people might think about what I wanted to write (this is still partly true and I admit I'm still working on it) and like I said that made me stop writing. However somewhere along the line I realised that the ones who don't like what I'm writing simply don't have to read it while the ones who want to read it will most likely still read it. That's why I will be writing for my own sake and that is also why I'm encouraging you to train for you own sake. 

As promised - a short anecdote...

Earlier this year I decided to, as a 26 year old man learn skateboarding completely without previous experience. I went to an enourmous indoor skatepark fully aware that all the skaters in there from the age of twelve and up would be a lot better than me since I couldn't even stand on the board at that time, but I had decided to learn. When all the maniacs flying across the place stood still for a moment I got on the board and slowly rolled across the floor trying to not fall off while avoiding all moving and non-moving objects. When I reached the end of the hall I got off, turned the board around with my hands and rolled back. I went at it like this for two hours, increasing the difficulty step by step and moving from flat floor to bigger and bigger ramps while fiften year olds absolutely flew past me left and right.

Eventually I decided to try a drop from an average sized half pipe. I stood there for a good while before I actually dared to push myself off the edge and not entirely unexpectedly I came to a sudden stop and fell face first to the floor with a crash. It must have looked hysterical.

After that I switched to a smaller drop where I felt more confident and I stayed there failing time and time again for about 25 tries (without crashing though), fully aware that everyone in the park had seen my struggling for the longest time with this ramp that youngsters managed with ease. I was encouraged after about fifteen times by a passing skater who had seen me at work and before I reached try number 30, I actually made it and I was encouraged and congratulated by a another couple of older random skaters who had also watched the whole show while skating about. 

That was really unexpected, but also really cool to be a part of! 

The point of this is that I didn't care in the least about what the other skaters might think about the 26 year old rookie and I just skated for my own sake, I had so much fun and I improved so much. When I left the skate park almost three hours later I wasn't just happy but proud. It was a powerful experience and I hope more people get to experience something similiar. 

Thanks for now and a special thank you to anyone who read all the way here! 

//Pontus