Working Hard

The majority of our sessions just hammer the shit out of people regardless of their sport / athletic ability.  Certain sessions such as the longer work capacity efforts and stamina efforts are more steady state and endurance based.  These sessions are based on time as opposed to rounds or reps.    


I've noticed that the sessions based on time have a dramatic effect on the athlete's level of effort.  They go from a "work hard and finish first" mindset to a "just survive" mentality.  Everyone finishes at the same time so why kill it?  


Yesterday our athletes did a 20 minute work capacity effort with a super metabolic barbell complex into a simple 200m run.  This was the only hard circuit of the session and they were aware of it prior to starting.  As the session progressed I noticed the athlete's mental stamina just failing, they went from working hard to surviving.


Would the athletes mental stamina have failed if the session had been 10rds for time? I doubt it.  There would have been an immediate reward for working hard, even if it ended up lasting the same duration.  It's interesting seeing how the more elite athletes will slow down when there is no reward for hard work.

If you gauge your progress or ability to those around you then you are not getting the most from your training.  Make it a point to work hard every session, train mental toughness, train mental stamina, and savor the suck.