Monthly Archives: May 2012

Mental Toughness – Daily Challenge 5/2

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Mental Toughness

Firsthand athletes are developed through competition when they harness the power of the mind.  Our thoughts affect our feelings and our feelings affect our actions.  Anyone can develop an ability to do work with regards to fitness and rowing, but when work capacity is combined with mental toughness athletes can control their actions and reach their goals.  Mental toughness is an athlete’s ability to commit to competition with a belief in oneself, to have a positive focus on the things they can control, and to embrace challenge as an opportunity for learning and self-improvement.

Daily Challenge 5/2:

Focus on your breathing for 3 minutes.

Sit relaxed with a good posture.  Set a timer or play a quiet song for about 3 minutes.  Focus on your breathing.  Think about your breath as it enters through your nose and mouth.  How does it fill your lungs?  Think about your breath as filling a jug of water from the bottom up.  Breathe through your belly and then up into your chest.  Exhale for a count of 4 and then inhale for a count of 4.  When your mind wanders bring it back to your breath.  In and out.  Really focus.

Focusing on your breath is a great tool to develop mental toughness.  Our breath is something that we can control.  Think about exhaling as a chance to breathe out all your stress and worries.  Then you can inhale energy, confidence, and strength.  Use your diaphragm and fill your belly first.

Share your thoughts on breathing!  

How do you breathe?  Through the chest or belly?  How often did your mind wander?  Were you able to focus on breathing and nothing else?

The Firsthand Athlete – Daily Challenge 5/1

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The Firsthand Athlete

Sarah D's Firsthand Experience with the Air Squat

A firsthand athlete has the competence and confidence to rely on personal experiences to prepare for, execute, and learn from a performance both as an individual and as part of a team.  Rowing is a unique sport in that there is no coach calling plays, talking you through the pre-race warm-up, or cueing you on that one technical or tactical fix during a race.  The same goes for fitness, when an athlete is away on vacation there is no coach to walk them through a workout.  When a rower shoves off the dock on race day or goes home for vacation it’s up to them to know what to do, what to think about, what to fix, and what to focus on.  The firsthand athlete actively communicates with their body, teammates, and coaches to continually learn and work towards their goals.

Daily Challenge 5/1:

Perform a Cook’s Squat for 5 minutes.

Infants do cook's squats all the time!

This challenge is to give you a chance to experience what parts of your body might be tight, limited in range of motion, and need some extra focus in the coming weeks.  To perform a cook’s squat imagine you are out in the woods camping.  There is nothing to sit on but wet, muddy ground.  To rest your body while cooking over a small fire the easiest thing to do is drop into a deep squat and try to relax all the muscles in your legs and back.  Notice where you start to feel a stretch, an impingement, or pain.  That might be an area to work on.  If you can’t hold the Cook’s Squat for 5 minutes just hold it as long as you can and then come out of it.

Share your Firsthand Experience and let us know how it went!