FITNESS: Part II

FOR ATHLETES.

The meat of fitness: The mental of the physical.

This article is for the journeyman, who has achieved progress and opened his mind. Who comprehends the importance of improvement, and has an understanding of the dynamics of progress. Fitness is no longer an arbitrary term to you. You truly grasp its meaning, and truly understand its value. Your reputation has been established, and your curiosity has been unleashed. Perhaps you've run a marathon or even completed your first half-Ironman. But far more important than any physical benchmark is the perceptual transition of your mind. Words like commitment and discipline mean something to you--a lot to you, and your physical prowess commands respect. You are fast becoming an expert in your field, as you train your knowledge along with your body. On command you can provide your lactate threshold and your average sweat rate for a given temperature range. The steady decrease in your resting heart-rate is a source of steady increase in your pride. You've felt it, at times--the empowering sense of mental superiority combined with boundless physical energy. You've relished the grin-inducing compulsion to explode into action, for no apparent reason whatsoever. The novel and stark contrast of walking weightlessly now is fresh and exciting to you. You feel your potential growing inside of you, crying to be fed, to be used, for more. You've broken free from the chains of mediocrity, and transcended above the swamp of stagnation.

You're here because you put the time in. Because you studied the practical definition of the word 'discipline,' and executed in its spirit the commitment to progress with heart and relentless efficiency. You don't need someone to explain to you the importance of a healthy diet. You don't need help getting out of bed in the morning. Your training plan is written and comprehensive. Your progress, by now, even predictable. Your results are your reward and your improvement is your motivation. The fire inside you flared hotter than the sun the first time you realized what this higher level of fitness could provide you. You walk with your head held high and look around with piercingly confident eyes as you ride the rising tide of your accomplishments. You cut your teeth in subsequently tougher challenges as you search for the answers to questions you finally summoned the courage to ask. You've paid your dues and earned your place with gallons of sweat, buckets of blood, and pools of tears. With torrents of pain, of exhaustion and despair. You've come to realize that training your body is the easy part--it's the mind that proves most stubborn. You understand that your greatest victories have been over yourself, and because of this your growth continues and your strength compounds.

But something's missing. You've come this far, and spent your share of time basking in the limits of this glory. You want to feel as if you're on top of the world, but your exposure to the higher tiers of physical fitness and mental capacity make you realize how much farther you can go. You ache for more. You've seen your superiors in action, and been inspired by their example. Their standard is a demanding one, but you are intuitively drawn to it nonetheless. You've heard the call and felt the pull, though subtly at first. Perhaps one Monday morning you stopped rationalizing the weekend's lack of discipline as "recovery" and woke up disgusted with yourself; in part for the opportunity lost but mainly for your lapse in honesty. Excuses are shameful and unacceptable to the committed, and now you're feeling a swelling guilt that shudders and strains until it evolves into unholy motivation. As ugly as it feels, in the back of your mind you subconsciously recognize that it brings you closer to the company of the elite. Because you recognize that at this level it's mindset that separates the good athletes from the great. But there's a chasm of a gap between where you are and where they are. You wonder if you have what it takes to follow in their footsteps.

Your skull reverberates with the nagging doubt of uncertainty: Am I strong enough? Am I mature enough? It this enough? Have I reached my limit? The answers you know, but are suppressed by your subconscious mind. Ultimately this self-trial is necessary, and it may not be skipped or omitted. So the interrogation continues… How committed am I? Is it worth it? Why me? Why not? You long for a catalyst; some inspiring sign to convince you the endeavor is worthwhile. A day passes. And another. You continue training, but begin to feel the sour taste of stagnation contaminating every hard swallow. You've flirted with existence absent limits, and hunger for it again…for good. You've felt the awesome power of invulnerability, for moments, and know how to get there again. You've seen the insurmountable attitudes of those living how you dream, and stood in awe of their unshakable confidence and unlimited leveled ferocity. They operate in a world removed from yours, seeing life through a different lens. You've caught glimpses in your travels--snapshots seared into memory as relative constructs of the existence you desire. Your conviction becomes solidified--your passion beyond reproach. You're done with the crowded middle-ground; you know you want more. You want in.

But you're intimidated by the hours, the miles, the stress, the pain. The time it will take and the effort it will demand. The full scale of what it will take to progress a level further. You're proud of how far you've come, but apprehensive about how far you'll go. By now you've learned that nothing worthwhile comes easy, and that the effort required usually matches the magnitude of the ultimate reward. Well it's time. Time to commit. Time to silence the self-limiting internal debate. There are no limits where you're going, just as there are no limits to what you'll do to get there. Only once the mental fog has cleared will the correct path become apparent. You are doubtless aware that the most important quality of physical strength is a high power-to-weight ratio. Perhaps you just needed someone to reveal that it's also the most important mental one. The power and capability of your mind is limitless--only burdened and restrained by the weight of self-doubt and second-guessing. Belief is freedom, and freedom is untouchable. Believe in your ability and the heavy lifting will be done. Believe the goal is worthwhile, and all obstacles will crumble to dust. With doubt's demise the barriers give way. Now you have options.

You stand at the threshold, looking forward at the step above. The world keeps turning, but you don't feel it move. You feel the back-breaking burden of the weight you have carried thus far. You see the dwarfing mass of the weight you will be forced to carry yet: The ruthless price of admission to the club you long to join. No comforting reassurance awaits you, no outstretched hand to help you up. You have doubtless progressed thus far with the assistance and wisdom of others, but this step you must take alone. The road you've traveled to this point in existence is long, yet somehow the one before you seems longer. The hunger is there, but honest introspection is harsh. The road seems endless, and the weight almost impossible to bear. The precipice is crossed only once you realize that it truly doesn't matter. Once you realize, with clarity beyond doubt, that it never did.

COMING SOON: Fitness: Part 3 - For Advanced Users