Till It Bleeds

10 min warm up
Stretch
20 min interval training(3 min . moderate run, 30 sec. sprint)
25 negative crunches
10 supermans
10 frog kicks
10 min cooldown
Stretch

One of the hardest things for me to do in life is to keep my mouth shut. Sometimes I have something absolutely brilliant to say, sometimes not so great. My mouth has gotten me into my fair share of trouble and unfortunately, once you say something you can't take it back. How many times each day do we find ourselves in situations where we definitely have an opinion on something but may be better served not to share it? My answer is constantly. More often than not it comes down to the fact that once I get started I find it difficult to stop giving my opinion, even if it is not entirely accurate or simply has malicious intent. I have a friend that is awesome at holding his tongue. The best part about it is that I still always know where he stands, he just refuses to take it the step farther and berate whomever or whatever may be the topic of discussion. I wish that I had the class to follow suit more often than I currently do.

The reason that I am rambling on is because I believe that the same things that cause us problems in life are amplified when we look at them in athletics. Bad behavior, when it comes to criticism, can be absolutely lethal to a team. I remember instances where I would go off on a teammate, rip them to shreds as well as their abilities, and then be shocked that we weren't connecting well on the pitch. What I later realized was that not everyone measures criticism the same way that I do. For me, "Go Fuck Yourself" was practically a term of endearment. This doesn't hold true for the rest of the world and that is probably a good thing. If you are experiencing tension or turmoil within a team and cannot point to a specific reason, consider the way that you address them. One of the best coaches I ever played for gave me this advise. "Praise, and only praise people publicly. Criticism should be handled on a personal level and in private, preferably face to face." This advise has served me well when I put it into practice and I highly recommend it. If you can't do this, I recommend biting your tongue until it bleeds!

Have a great day!

J