Training Camp
Eddiesmethod athletes are used to arriving at training camps for the practical session without prior knowledge of what they will expect.
Usually, I request that they arrive early to warm up on their own. I then write the workout on the board, press play, and observe their reactions. I like to see whether they embrace the challenge and get things done or begin to moan and complain that it’s too long.
However, this Saturday was different. They were paired up, and after a challenging workout, their objective was to max out their clean, with their partners tasked and made responsible for them to hit that heavy load.
Partners could provide technical corrections or motivational cues, but ultimately, the responsibility for reaching the target number rested with the partners. It was truly inspiring to witness a room filled with motivated individuals who gave their best efforts after a 30-minute workout to encourage and guide their partners through a heavy lift. The atmosphere was truly unique.
In the afternoon, we began by discussing the concepts of “training vs. testing,” ensuring we provided our athletes with enough tools and information to distinguish between the two. Athletes should spend much more time in a training zone than in a testing mode. With functional fitness, individuals must have the correct information or knowledge readily available to avoid falling into the wrong category.
We followed with an explanation of how they can embrace their workouts when the goal is to develop aerobic capacity. We discussed how to approach continuous and interval training using mixed modalities. Our main topic was achieving sustainable and repeatable efforts during their accumulation or base training phases.
Whenever we took breaks from all the theory, we engaged in some games to develop their mindset in training. We started by having the athletes commit to eliminating negative self-talk during their training sessions. They openly shared the negative phrases they typically use and sincerely committed to replacing them with a positive approach. This was a powerful moment shared among all.
For the final game, we instructed them to blindfold themselves and navigate from point A to point B without sight. They all moved in the right direction with intense focus and effort, although it proved to be an extremely challenging task. Afterwards, we paired them up, with one partner guiding the blindfolded one through a longer path filled with obstacles such as chairs, pallets, tables, and narrow corridors. All of them completed the task with relative ease and felt a sense of pride in the end.
I explained that the game served as an analogy for their individual journeys. It highlighted how far they can progress independently and how much further they can go on a more challenging path when they trust the process and have faith in their coach. Additionally, since everyone was blindfolded and couldn’t see each other’s progress, they couldn’t compare themselves. That caused some to choose different paths, adopt different strategies, finish early, and finish later, but the main point is that all did it and were proud of themselves.
Nonetheless, the key takeaway was that they all succeeded and felt proud of their accomplishments. This was my favourite moment of training camp because it underscores that comparing ourselves with others is pointless, and we should focus on our own journey with our resources, trusting the process, and overcoming obstacles in our unique way and time.
To finish, the athletes wrote their 12-month goals. I always keep those papers, and I often share with them that most of them have already been achieved when I revisit their past goals from previous training camps. I also remind them that they only stop reaching their goals when they give up. It’s consistently a great way to finish and a powerful reminder of the impact of consistent training.
Eddie
