Don’t Be Afraid To Fail

Saturday, May 17, 2014

Bring a Friend Day!

Prehab: 

Prone Snow Angels x20 (2.5#)
Monster walks x20′
Band Assisted squats x10

Warm up:

Jog 400m
Junk Yard Dog x5
Hip DROM

Strength:

EMOM for 5 minutes:

7 Man Makers (Lightweight Dumbbells)

Notes: A man-maker is holding two dumbbells and doing a push up, a left handed row, a right handed row, and a hang squat clean thruster.

 Conditioning:

Teams of 2 complete

4 Rounds for reps:

1:00 on/ 1:00 off – alternating with your partner
First interval – Wall Balls (20/14#)
Second interval – Burpees
Third interval – Shuttle Run (1 rep = 10 yards)

Notes: Clock continues to run the entire piece.  Partner 1 starts with 1 minute of wall balls and then partner 2 performs 1 minute of wall balls while partner 1 rests.

    Continue working until both partners have done 4 rounds.

Cool Down: 

Row 1k with partner
(Partner 1 rows 250m while partner 2 performs sit ups, then switch. Moderate pace, emphasis on cool down)
Calf stretch x45″
Cobra Stretch x45″
Foam Roll Qauds/ITB/HS x2′

The Champ

One week to go and its showtime down in Del Mar. And the main event on all of our minds is the max handstand walking event. Now, we have all made significant progress, but it remains such daunting movement. Why is that? Hand stand push ups aren’t a concern, we can all put alot of weight overhead Olympic lifting. We clearly have the shoulder/upper body strength, so why is walking on our upper extremities so difficult? One of the most clear answers is confidence. Having the confidence to kick up and throw your feet over your head and somehow not fall and break your neck is quite intimidating. So much so that it can be mentally debilitating. Just thinking about kicking up on to your hands in free space is terrifying. But, when you look at it, the greatest challenge has the simplest solution: don’t be afraid to fall.
A few months ago, when we had Venice vs MDR showdown, Tommy Pitt, the champ, destroyed the max handstand hold. When we asked Tommy how he got so good at handstands, we assumed he had a gymnast background of some sort. But that simply wasn’t the case. Tommy played hockey and was always finding himself getting knocked down on the ice, so he became very familiar and comfortable falling.

As a result, when he first started attempting handstands, he got really good, really fast.

The big underlying message here is: don’t be afraid to fall, don’t be afraid to fail. In fact, the more you fall, you become better at falling, and your chance of falling actually decreases. Just like life, the more you fail, as long as you are learning from your mistakes along the way, you will fail less and less and you will be able to achieve and accomplish things that your previously found impossible. You must fall a few times before you can walk on your hands, and you must fail a few times in order to be successful in this little game called life.