All Too Often Overlooked

The timing seems all to appropriate for this one with the new year being in it's infancy but that isn't necessarily the reason why I am writing. Let me be candid with you. I just left a meeting with a friend of mine who is an incredible writer/director/producer of theatrical production. The conversation started off simple enough with a few pleasantries and some small talk but took on a much more serious tone when I began to ask him how he has become a master at his craft. His answer shocked me a bit as he simply put it as "Discipline". Over the years this is a word that I have both embraced and loathed simultaneously. By nature I am not a structured human being. Sure, I have my routines and my idiosyncrasies but on the whole there has been very little method and a large serving of madness. The one area of my life that does not follow this rule is in the gym. There may also be a direct correlation between that and the success that I have found, but I can't be totally certain. I digress. My friend explained to me what discipline meant to him in his work down to the details of always writing with the same pen at the same time of day and for the same amount of time. I remember similar being said by Coach Lou Holtz when he discussed his coaching success. He referred to The details of how his players huddled before a play rather than the play call or execution being the thing that made all of the difference. So maybe it's good advise to pay attention to details but what does that have to do with this blog or working out for roller derby? Quite a bit actually. When it comes to strength and conditioning for a sport, especially in a gym type setting, clearly set expectations and the discipline to meet them is paramount. I had one coach that literally had a soundtrack of music to keep the pace of our workouts, and though to this day I cannot listen to most of the songs on that mix, I received
the best results of my life while working with him. All of this is to say that the discipline to make it in to a gym (or wherever you train) at a set time each day, for a set amount of time each day, and to not get caught up in conversation or distraction while you are there is the fundamentals of achieving the success that you seek. If you can master only this, I promise that you will get the results that you want. Now I am going to try and apply this to the rest of my life...

Jon

5 min warm up
Stretch
3x 8 step up to overhead presses (each leg)
3x 8 Squat jumps for distance
3x 8 Push ups to row
3x 8 med ball soccer throws
2x 60 sec planks
2x 20 floor bridges
2x 25 reg crunches
5 min cool down
Stretch