Every year I set up a personal challenge for myself as a way to step up my training and take it to the next level.
Every year it revolves around a different aspect of training and lasts for up to a week.
One year, the concentration was on sparring to improve the timing and execution of my game.
Another year it was cardio, and another the concentration was on set-ups.
This year I've chosen conditioning, specifically explosive power.
I've devised a grueling set of workouts with my goal being to surpass my personal best.
How about you?
What area of your training would you like to improve?
What aspect of your game do you absolutely need to improve to get to the next level?
If you know in your heart that improving this aspect is absolutely necessary, then setting up your own personal challenge can help you get to that level.
I originally heard about this concept in the book, Living the Martial Way by Forrest E. Morgan.
It's origins trace back to ancient Japan where it was called Musha Shugyo.
Basically it was a warrior's personal quest to go off into the woods or deep into the mountains and embark on a personal challenge that would serve to improve his mental, physical and spiritual toughness.
It was meant to put one in touch with a deeper part of himself.
So ask yourself, what will your personal challenge be?
Are you willing to test yourself and take your training to the next level?
Set up the details of where you will train and get training partners together if you need to.
Record the experience or keep a personal log.
Then make the commitment to yourself and get to it.
I know that committing to a personal challenge every year has greatly benefitted both my training and my life.
kosta - how do you do that focus for one year while keeping balance, e.g., not overtraining one aspect of fitness? any advice?
ReplyDeleteI think you might have misunderstood that the duration of the challenge you give yourself shouldn't last an entire year but be done every year.
ReplyDeleteIt usually lasts about a week because of the great demand you are putting on yourself, you might even want to keep it shorter.
There is nothing wrong though with picking 1 thing that you will prioritize for the year so you can see the most improvement in it.
The main thing is to be careful not to burn yourself out or neglect too many other aspects of your training.
If you do pick a main training focus for a year make sure it's something that will make a huge difference in your performance, (you'll need this for motivation) and stay organized in your approach.
In other words keep an exact log of your progress.
One of the limitations of this approach is the ease in which you can lose focus. That's one of the great things about setting an annual short term goal. You can usually push yourself as hard as it takes and because you know it's only going to last a week you can maintain focus and won't fear overtraining.
Hope this helps.
Kosta