Time as a Training Variable

As a coach, I get a lot of questions around the best ways to improve “metrics,” whether it’s a 1RM Snatch, their Unbroken Set of Ring Muscle-Ups, or their 2k Row Time Trial.

And I get it: Metrics Matter.

You can’t layer on The Art of Competing without first having strength & capacity that is competitive with the field you are up against.

In the Now

I often focus my answers on items that are actionable “in the now.” 

If you do these positional drills in your warm-up this morning, you can snatch heavier in your session today.

If you get off your phone earlier tonight, you can sleep better and wake up feeling better tomorrow morning.

If you focus on holding your tempo squat perfectly to your count this set, you will build your positional strength this cycle.

And truthfully, all we have is now.  

Play the Long Game

However -on occasion- it’s important to look to the horizon: the furthest point in your foreseeable future.

It’s important to know your vision, your long-term goal, so you can have greater confidence that your next step is moving you in the right direction.

But too often, I see athletes looking to the future -their goals- and getting frustrated because they “aren’t making progress fast enough.”

The gap between where they are and where they want to be seems too great, so they become frustrated.

It’s the place you should have your focus most of the time.

The Journey Ahead

There are no shortcuts to your goals.

The time it takes is the time it takes.

Sometimes you have to keep putting one foot in front of the other, and trust that putting your best effort out day after day after day will add up.

The most important training variable is time.

You need to allow the accumulation of work to compound. This process can’t be accelerated.  

Learning of the intricacies of a sport (aka. Athletic Development) can’t be rushed.

Put in your reps.

Stay the Course.