Everything that is worth anything, takes time and takes practice. Mental toughness and mental resilience is no different. We can’t hope to show superhuman mental strength in the moments that matter if we haven’t prepared for those moments.
When I think about mental toughness in CrossFit the first moment that always pops into my head is the race between Kara Saunders and Tia-Clair Toomey in the Fibonacci Final of the 2017 CrossFit Games. The culmination of the Games was a 50-odd foot overhead walking lunge for the line. Contextually how both women finished in relation to one another really mattered. They were in the final moments of 5 days of grueling competition; to say that they were fatigued and exhausted would be a vast understatement. It came down to hundredths of seconds between them. In spite of all the pain they would have been in, in spite of all the stress of needing the result to go their way, In spite of the awkward nature of the movement they were currently racing each other at.
Both women remained calm, both women didn't give up or give in and because of that they provided us with one of the most iconic Games moments of all time.
They were only capable of doing this because they’d been there before. Thousands of times. They could only be there and perform under that stress because they had undeniable proof that they were capable of doing exactly that.
Mental toughness in CrossFit is the fundamental key to success. It’s doing 5 more thrusters when it feels like there are hot knives being stabbed into your legs. It’s negative splitting your rowing intervals when you’re alone in the gym. It’s staying calm when you unexplainably miss your third 85% snatch of the day. It’s getting in your car after a long day of training that seemingly went badly and finding the one small thing that did go well. Most of all though, it’s showing up every single day for years on end to fulfill the promises that you made to yourself.
In this article I’ll discuss some methods for building the muscle of resilience. I’ll discuss some of the keyways Crossfitters need mental toughness and offer up some tools for you to use to help you on that path.
One of my favorite quotes of all time comes from Alex Hormozi and goes like this; “You don’t become confident by shouting affirmations in the mirror, but by having a stack of undeniable proof that you are who you say you are”.
Now, granted, this quote is about confidence but to me the same logic applies to mental toughness. Mental toughness at its core is evidence. I know I can because I have already, and survived. You only get mentally tough by choosing to do tough things, not by talking about doing tough things.
This is something that has to be done and undertaken consciously and consistently. Recently I attended a lecture by author Ryan Holiday, in the lecture he spoke about this exact topic. He was talking about how he has a cold shower every morning, Very 2024 I know, but the reasoning he gave for doing this was interesting to me. Ryan said that he doesn't do this because of the rush of endorphins he gets after the shower, or to be able to stand at a barbeque and brag about the fact that he does this. The reason he does it is because every single day he stands in front of the shower and he actively does not want to turn that cold tap on.
Therefore, every single day that he does turn that cold tap on he is training the muscle that over-rides his immediate need for comfort and ease. In life, when Ryan is faced with a similar choice he knows he has the capacity to face the difficult thing because facing the difficult thing is quite literally the first thing he does everyday.
The point I’m making is that in order to become tougher mentally in the midst of a workout, you must first find ways to be tough outside of the gym, in your everyday life. If you actively choose the easy way out you are very unlikely to consistently choose the hard way in your CrossFit journey. Remember, Mental toughness is like a muscle, we have to train.
Small consistent wins are the way to do this. The last thing you want to do when starting to develop mental toughness is overwhelm yourself. In workouts, everytime you are about to put the bar down and rest, just do 2 more reps. Then when that becomes second nature make it 3. The idea is to learn where your threshold really lies, so push that.
Another useful method is to trick your brain.
One of the ways I practice mental toughness is in the sauna which I do about 5 times per week. My goal is always 20 minutes a day. Some days that's easy and some days that feels impossible. I know two things about myself that I've learned through doing this weekly as well as in having competed in sports throughout my life. The first is that I can always sit in the sauna for at least 15 minutes because it’s always the last 5 that are tough. The second is that I can suffer through almost any pain for at least 2-3 minutes. In knowing those two things I can trick my brain to achieve 20. When I’m struggling, I always force myself to push to that 15-minute mark. Once I get to that 15-minute mark I promise myself with all conviction and absolute truth that if I push to 17 minutes I can leave if I really still want to. Once I get to 17, 90% of the time I am close enough to the end that I know I can suffer through those last 3 minutes, despite the discomfort. In that example the only real thing I need to deal with and fight through is the 2 minutes between 15 and 17. The only reason this works is because I understand my brain and because I’ve spent time consciously practicing this for the specific goal of developing mental resilience.
A method that I like to encourage my athletes to use is setting a clear intention for development before a workout starts. Making that actionable and achievable.
Identify the moment or movement in the workout that you want to prioritize being in control of, and put all your focus and attention on developing that and only that. You will have to be okay with some other elements in the workout being compromised for this. Remember that in training we are practicing. We are not competing so you don’t have to be your best every day. Only on the day that matters, Competition day.
Visualization is another key to growing the mind. Seeing your success and experiencing your success before it happens is incredibly important. Again, we want to have been there before we have to be there, in order to know that we can be there. In talking about positive visualization I want to again lean on a story. Growing up my main sport was Rowing. I started in 2006 at 12 years old and took my final stroke in 2017. It was a long career.
In those 11 years one of the most technically gifted athletes I ever shared a boat with was a guy named Lloyd. At school Lloyd was always technically superior to all of us, this, in a sport that is incredibly technically demanding. Back then I always thought that Lloyd was just gifted, just had a better understanding of the mechanics than we did. Which may or may not be true but in reflecting on those days as an adult I am clear why Lloyd was so much better than us.
Lloyd spent so much time thinking about the rowing stroke and how to make it better. Lloyd could very often be seen sitting at his desk at school using his arm and hand as an oar to imagine over and over again how the oar turns and the timing at which it should enter the water in relation to his position in space. Lloyd imagined so many great rowing strokes that he only became capable of great rowing strokes.
On the other side of the coin of visualization is that of self talk. Imagining is important but telling yourself that you are capable or willing yourself into those moments is just as important. We all know the quote that goes “ If you think you can or you think you can’t, you are right”. Tell yourself everyday that you can and you most certainly will. Ascends very own coach and games athlete Hattie Kanyo is a prime example of this. Hattie told herself repeatedly that she was capable of competing at the CrossFit games long before she went and I’d wager good money on the fact that she was telling herself she was capable long before she actually believed it herself.
Routine is important in this regard.In the middle of a workout, you will be at your most mentally vulnerable. When it's hard will be when it will be easiest to give in. So building the habit of positive self-talk will carry you through the moments when the easiest thing in the world would be to give in.
The final piece to the puzzle is that of perspective. Success in CrossFit, in all its complexity comes down to stacking wins, stacking days and growing by 0.1% every day. To lean on my point from the beginning of the article that mental toughness comes from having evidence that you can put your hand in the fire and handle the pain that comes with that then reflection becomes an integral part of developing your mental fortitude. Being able to take a global view and look at the journey as a whole will allow you to recognize the growth you’ve made. If you are able to reflect back then you will see that you are capable of things now that you were not at all capable of before. That perspective breeds confidence, and that confidence in yourself, in your training and in your capacity is what will allow you to hold onto the bar to win the workout when all your competitors are resting because ouchie.
Keeping a training journal and writing as much information as you can stomach is a great way of going about this. Most importantly, for me at least, All you need to do is promise yourself that you’ll walk in the door every single day. If you do that then you can afford to trust the process. Stay conscious through this and you will develop mental toughness by virtue of showing up.
In conclusion, You can’t expect to PR your back squat if you never squat. Similarly you can’t expect yourself to win a walking lunge race in the final event of the CrossFit games against the fittest women in the world if you gave yourself an out everytime it got tough in training. Developing your mind should be as much a priority for you as developing your fitness.
If you need additional guidance on this then reach out to any of our fantastic coaches at Ascend. We would love to help you develop into the athlete you want to be.
Please also feel free to reach out to me at any time to discuss any of this in more detail. I absolutely love this topic and can help with actionable tips for specific blocks you may have mentally.
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