Tuesday, November 25, 2008

Do I work hard in training?

In the Precision Nutrition program that started yesterday, today's "lesson" was about exercise, with a focus on not only volume, but intensity. I tend to train alone, even in the weight room. I know how hard I believe I work, but maybe that's an illusion. Here was part of our assignment today:

"Find someone locally who you know works hard and to ask them to evaluate you.
It might be a trainer. It might be a coach. It might be a really fit friend. Etc. But find someone.

Ask them to be honest. Ask them to tell you if you're really working at your limits or not. If so - kudos to you. If not - we need you to step it up and start working hard, really hard, in the gym."

I know that of the few people that come here, most aren't lifters, but all are athletes. Most are runners, since I'm primarily a runner as well. So, if you've been reading my blog at all in the last year, and you see this post, what do you think? Do I work hard in training? Or, am I fooling myself to some extent?

3 comments:

Olga said...

Hi, Damon. So, I browsed your posts, and here I go: yay to your wife! I've been there...and may be I am where she is now too:) And so are you. What motivates me to train instead of just float through runs is to sign up for races. Somehow, some time ago, I was not bad, and now feel like I have expectations to live up to - for myself and for others. I am not planning to be anywhere where I was, but just kind of hang in there is nice enough. Mostly, I love traveling and doing long mountain runs (a.k.a. races) - so for that I need to do at least a little or the food will be gone when I finish:)
OK, on a more serious side - for me, no matter how hard I work out at the gym or elsewhere, I work out much harder when I have a trainer (or a coach on the track). Accountability to others always kicked my butt. Good luck!

David Ray said...

It *sounds* like you work hard but no way to really tell without being there. Check your workout times. That might give you a good indicator. Faster workouts with less rest are definitely more intenxe.

And I agree with Olga about the trainer thing. Workouts are harder with somebody else calling the shots.

Tania said...

Interesting question. I believe that you are working as hard as you can on your own. You are very disciplined. I ask myself the same question: Do I work hard enough? I think just by nature we work harder when someone else is there and it is hard to do the same on your own. Kind of like racing...the beauty in racing is that you are there with others that you are competing against which pushes you even more. I think that coaches and peers do the same. I know if I do speedwork with friends, I push myself harder naturally.