sport adherence
Abr 18 2020
How to maintain exercise adherence during the quarantine?

The quarantine seems to be lasting way longer than we anticipated and, among other things, it’s taken put our sport activities on hold. For many individuals, this may eventually lead to a decrease in exercise adherence. In this article, I’ll be talking about how we can keep our motivation high during the lockdown.

The way we do CrossFit has changed

The majority of individuals who participate in any form of physical activity, do so in an exterior setting: CrossFit boxes, gyms, pools, track, etc. It’s uncommon to come across someone who trains at home; but what was once the exception is now the rule.

The physical consequences of the lockdown are quite obvious in the sense that we lack access to the environmental conditions needed to apply sport-specific stimuli. From a psychological point of view, we’ve gone from training with other athletes and coaches to doing so by our lonesome; so there’s this whole social network that has also been interrupted.

Truth be told, society has adapted to the situation and developed adhoc solutions: HIIT training using bodyweight exercises, online classes on social media, videochat with coaches and support staff… but what if this doesn’t quite cut it?

During the lockdown period, some people have suddenly lost their mojo and just don’t feel like training. If this situation lasts long enough, it may gradually lead to losing their exercise adherence.

Why do we experience a decrease in exercise adherence?

One decides to dropout of sport due to many reasons but for the purpose of this article, I’ll be focusing on those that best apply to the current circumstances: sport dropout due to controllable reasons.

We can find ourselves in one of two situations: dropout due to dissatisfaction when personal needs are not met while participating in sport; and dropout due to lower personal investment (people who get into sport to «try it out» but still haven’t dedicated enough time and effort to feel fully committed).

Sarrazin et. al (2002), based on several commitment studies, developed a theoretical framework to help explain the dropout phenomenon (see figure 1). The model is based on sport commitment being a construct that impedes dropout behavior and how it could enhanced or debilitated by certain antecedents:

Figure 1: Sport dropout explained as a function of debilitated sport commitment (Sarrazin et. al, 2002)
  • Benefits derived from the sport: the more consequences the athlete identifies as beneficial for themselves (learning and perfecting skills, gaining muscle, outperforming others, making friends, etc.), the more they’ll enjoy the activity.
  • Availability of attractive alternatives: the will to be involved in other activities non-related to current sport.
  • Personal investment: this concept represents the personal resources (time, effort and money) we spend on an activity, which would be lost if we were to dropout. This model suggests there’s a direct relationship between involvement in sports and personal investment.
  • Social coercion: expectations and pressure exerted by social convention or immediate support system (family members, close friends, …). If an individual perceives this pressure at a higher level, they’ll be more committed to their sport.

Can the lockdown lead to a dropout?

Literature suggests that anticipated benefits are a variable that best predicts sport dropouts and the most obvious consequence of the lockdown is that we don’t have access to most of these benefits. So, there’s reason to believe there could be a substantial decrease in exercise adherence.

Many athletes may be facing changes in their motivational processes due to various reasons:

  • Repetitiveness of movements during training sessions due to limited equipment
  • We’ve associated our sport with a certain context (you do CrossFit at a box, you run at the track, etc.) and training in a home setting is an environmental modification that may not be as appetitive.
  • The progress we expected to see these months in terms of strength, gymnastics conditioning or cardiovascular endurance may not be up to par.
  • Absence of socialization

Given these inconveniences, you may consider the personal costs higher than the anticipated benefits, and therefore decide to stop exercising. Now, giving our bodies rest during the quarantine could be very positive; however, if you ever struggled to introduce physical activity in your daily routine in the first place, this may bring you one step closer to sedentarism.

Can we fix it?

Pat Vellner training at home with a dumbbell. Source: Pat Vellner on instagram

As we’ve seen, sport dropout is a multifaceted phenomenon, so there’s no universal solution for it. The key aspect relies on implementing personalized solutions based on one’s differences. And to do so, we must go back to the never-ending question: what’s your why?

If you manage to identify the benefits you expect from maintaining exercise adherence, you’ll be able to adapt to the current situation accordingly.

  • If you enjoy competing against others, sign up for any of the trillions of online competitions organized internationally. Also, many boxes have come up with challenges for the lockdown like the Quarantine Classic organized by Training Think Tank or the CrossFit Games Fundraiser. Check out social media cause there’ll be more coming up!
  • If you enjoy making friends and connecting with them through sport, participate in live classes organized at your box or start your own workout posse to throwdown together. FYI, Rich Froning is giving live classes on Mayhem’s YouTube channel, monday thru friday at 8:15 A.M. (central daylight time). Your welcome.
  • If you enjoy learning and perfecting skills, take this time to work on postural control and maximizing strength-to-weight ratio with gymnastic movements: handstand, L-sits, planks, pushups, pistols, etc. Set some goals for the Quarantine and monitor your progress; hold yourself accountable!
  • If your deepest desire is to compete at a higher level in the near future, talk with your coaches and support staff to adapt your program to current resources so you can continue to progress. You’ll most likely run into holes in your fitness you wouldn’t have identified had it not been for the lockdown.

We all get into sports for our own reasons and now that we’re in uncharted territory it’s time to remember them. You’ll find out soon enough that commitment isn’t about equipment or a certain place; it’s about the people and the experiences; luckily for us, we still have access to all that (even if it is through the glass).









- Carlin, M. (2015). El abandono de la práctica deportiva, motivación y estados de ánimo en deportistas. Wanceulen SL.
- Rusbult, C. E. (1980). Commitment and satisfaction in romantic associations: A test of the investment model. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 16, 172-186.
- Rusbult, C. E. (1983). A longitudinal test of the investment model: The development (and deterioration) of satisfaction and commitment in heterosexual involvements. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 45, 101-117.
- Sarrazin, P., Vallerand, R., Guillet, E., Pelletier, L., & Cury, F. (2002). Motivation and dropout in female handballers: A 21‐month prospective study. European journal of social psychology, 32(3), 395-418.
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thinking errors
Abr 14 2020
¿Cómo influye el pensamiento en el rendimiento deportivo?

En este blog hemos hablado largo y tendido acerca de las emociones y la influencia que ejercen sobre el rendimiento deportivo. No obstante, me veo obligada a dar un paso atrás en ese proceso para ver qué papel desempeña el pensamiento. Así pues, hablaremos de las tendencias y errores de pensamiento y de cómo podemos solucionarlos.

Todo empieza con la percepción

Dos personas no verán una situación de un mismo modo (¡sorpresa!). Aunque resulta evidente, solemos obviarlo en nuestra interacción con el entorno. ¿Por qué? Ah, porque nuestro cerebro es sabio – aunque a veces demasiado – y, a fin de ahorrar en tiempo y recursos, organiza el pensamiento formando tendencias.

Cuando percibo una situación, uso mi lenguaje para emitir una valoración; esa valoración incluye un componente emocional y una explicación causal. Tras exposiciones repetidas a situaciones vitales, surgen estas tendencias de pensamiento para agilizarnos el trámite, pero tienen su porcentaje de error. Cada situación tiene sus singularidades y difícilmente podremos depender de una tendencia de pensamiento general para adaptarnos a todas.

Aquí es donde entran en juego los llamados «errores de pensamiento» (Ellis, 1973) y es que la explicación que doy a un evento y el lenguaje que uso para expresar las emociones que me provoca puede dar lugar a consecuencias poco adaptativas: alteraciones emocionales, conflictos interpersonales, estrategias de afrontamiento pasivas y de evitación y, en el ámbito deportivo, un bajón de rendimiento.

¿Cuáles son los errores de pensamiento más comunes?

1. Atender solo a una parte de la situación

Veámoslo en un ejemplo:

Te apuntas a la clase de las 18:00 para poder ir con un amigo que hacía mucho que no podíais coincidir. El WOD es Nancy – 5 rondas de 400 m run y 15 sentadillas overhead – y aunque te gusta correr, no tienes demasiada confianza en tu posicionamiento overhead. Cuando pones el peso a la barra, consigues hacer 5 repeticiones rompiendo el paralelo (algo que no habías conseguido aún). Empieza el WOD y en los 400 m iniciales encuentras un buen ritmo de carrera que logras mantener todo el entreno. La fatiga hace que tengas que hacer las 15 sentadillas en 3 series. Tu ritmo de carrera permite que no quedes muy por detrás pese a romper más que el resto las repeticiones en la sentadilla. En la última ronda llegas entre los primeros a la barra pero tienes que romper hasta 5 veces. La última repetición la fallas dos veces y después de un descanso más largo, consigues acabar.

Como vemos, la clase ha tenido luces y sombras pero si estamos ante una persona que tiene tendencia a atender a lo negativo, te dirá que ha hecho el ridículo en el WOD, que ha hecho las peores sentadillas de toda la clase y que encima ha fallado la última repetición dos veces. ¿Cómo se sentirá? Ni satisfecho con su rendimiento ni contento por la clase. Sin embargo, también ha podido entrenar con un buen amigo suyo después de mucho tiempo, su trabajo de movilidad empieza a dar resultados y su ritmo de carrera ha demostrado ser de los más sólidos.

Pero, ojo, estos errores de pensamiento también considera el exceso de positivismo. La emoción provocada por algo negativo me va a indicar que existe un problema; si no atiendo a esos aspectos, no pongo en marcha recursos para solucionarlo. Es decir, no voy a poderme adaptar a mis circunstancias.

¿Qué hacer?

Un adecuado equilibrio emocional implica necesariamente «tratar de valorar lo bueno y lo malo con el mismo peso» (Huete, 1997). Lo positivo permitirá reforzar mi autoestima y mi percepción de autoeficacia mientras que lo negativo me ayudará a identificar problemas y hallar soluciones adecuadas para afrontarlos mejor.

Una vez te encuentres a ti mismo observando sólo una parte de tu realidad, proponte ser objetivo. Fíjate en todo lo que ha pasado y ponlo todo en una balanza. Si algo exige soluciones, destina recursos a buscarlas; y si algo ha salido bien, atiende a eso también y celebra esa victoria.

2. Magnificación y minimización

En este caso, estamos identificando correctamente los aspectos positivos y negativos de una situación pero el valor que concedemos a cada uno es muy dispar. Lo positivo recibe una valoración mínima mientras que lo negativo se «amplifica». De modo que la emoción final viene motivada principalmente por esa valoración negativa.

Este error de pensamiento es más común en personas perfeccionistas que al conceder mayor relevancia a los errores y apenas rendir cuentas de los aciertos, se hallan en estados de insatisfacción generalizados (Huete, 1997). En el peor de los casos esto puede llevar a abandonar tareas por no llegar al estándar de perfección.

¿Qué hacer?

Debemos hacer como en el caso anterior y considerar aspectos positivos y negativos concediendo a ambas el mismo valor. También sería interesante re-evaluar la naturaleza de ese estándar de perfección. Si ese afán de perfeccionismo me lleva a implementar soluciones eficaces, será funcional; mientras que si me lleva al abandono de mi práctica deportiva, debería reconsiderar la importancia que decido concederle.

3. Tendencia a la exageración

Culturalmente es frecuente que usemos adjetivos para describir el impacto emocional de una situación. Así ocurre que los burpees son «horribles», Murph es «insufrible» y aprender a hacer double-unders es «terrible». Esto pasa a ser otro de los errores de pensamientos cuando se convierte en tendencia y provocamos en nuestro organismo un malestar emocional amplificado de forma innecesaria.

La frustración aprendiendo double-unders es elevada no tanto porque requiere de unos patrones de movimiento muy coordinados sino que los fallos te penalizan. Literalmente. Los latigazos cada vez que fallas un double-under añaden ese malestar físico que nos lleva muchas veces a maldecir ese movimiento.

Si esto se mantiene a largo plazo, sólo leer «double-unders» en el WOD me producirá una emoción negativa. Si es lo suficientemente intensa, escalaré eternamente a single-unders o directamente me borraré del WOD. No parece demasiado adaptativo, ¿no?

¿Qué hacer?

Lo apropiado sería concederle a las situaciones un adjetivo que valore adecuadamente su repercusión a nivel afectivo. Sobre todo con situaciones-problema que se repiten con frecuencia y que pueden generarnos un malestar más significativo (como el abandonar la práctica de double-unders).

Haced la prueba vosotros mismos. Si falláis un double-under varias veces en medio de un WOD y en vuestra cabeza suena la retahíla («esto es una mierda», «vaya porquería»), nuestro organismo responderá con una elevación de la tasa cardíaca porque detecta un problema. Esto no casa bien con esfuerzos de coordinación y los saltos dobles irán peor aún.

Sin embargo, si soy capaz de entender esos fallos como meros «inconvenientes», sin añadirle la carga emocional que dan las palabrotas, mi organismo lo considerará un problema y lo afrontará de una forma más controlada. No se trata de autoengañarnos y pensar que la vida es maravillosa tras 20 latigazos, sino de impedir que la emoción sea tan intensa como para contaminar mi afrontamiento de la situación.

4. Sobregeneralizar

Esto se observa fácilmente en el uso desmedido de palabras como «nunca», «siempre», «imposible», «incapaz»… y, en última instancia, lo que impide es una correcta identificación de la situación-problema. Si considero que no puedo aprender double-unders porque soy incapaz o porque es imposible, enfrentarme a esa situación implicará un «coste emocional exagerado» y, por ende, mis esfuerzos se verán disminuidos (Huete, 1997).

El mensaje que pretende darme esa reacción emocional es que, por mucho que intente alcanzar el objetivo, no podré conseguirlo y, de nuevo, estamos ante una respuesta desadaptativa. Efectivamente, no aprenderé a hacer double-unders y se genera un hueco en mi fitness; hueco que viene de un error de pensamiento que tiene solución.

¿Qué hacer?

Los double-unders, igual que otras habilidades físicas, llevan tiempo y práctica. No son imposibles de alcanzar. Uno no nace con esa capacidad innata sino que dedica tiempo a desarrollar esa habilidad. Discrimina cuáles son los motivos por los que no estás logrando el objetivo.

Cambia el dominio temporal de tu valoración. No es que nunca consigas hacer double-unders; es que por ahora no puedes hacer double-unders. Siéntate con tu coach y que te ayude a identificar tus fallos, que te proponga progresiones para corregirlo y ponte a ello. El que ocurra antes o después, es mera cuestión de tiempo y esfuerzo.

5. Deberías

errores de pensamiento
Tim Paulson en el evento «Two Stroke Pull» en los 2018 CrossFit Games. Source: Tim Paulson

En esta vida todos nos enfrentamos a una serie de «obligaciones» profesionales, sociales y personales. El problema llega cuando, al enfrentarnos a esas actividades, nuestros pensamientos reflejen emociones negativas, como si no disfrutásemos de hacer estas cosas y fuera algo inevitable.

«Tengo que entrenar mis pullups». «Debería ir al WOD de primera hora de la mañana». «Tendría que mejorar mi alimentación para rendir bien». Estas ideas conllevan una obligatoriedad; si no las hago, implica alguna consecuencia negativa (no conseguiré mi primera dominada estricta, no podré entrenar por no tener más tiempo, peor rendimiento, etc.).

¿Qué hacer?

En una entrevista que tuve con Tim Paulson, éste ilustró una maravillosa manera de corregir errores de pensamiento. Hablaba del trabajo de rope climbs sin piernas. Hacerlo 3 veces a la semana puede convertirse en un tedio, considerando que no se le da bien y puede producir grandes dosis de frustración.

No obstante, cuando piensa en por qué lo está haciendo, se da cuenta de que es porque en 2019 fue cortado de los Games porque los rope climbs sin piernas no se le daban bien. Eso le generó un estado emocional tan negativo que ha decidido no volver a sentirse así. Por eso trabaja la cuerda 3 días a la semana y, por eso, ya no lo ve como «trabajo» sino como algo que le dará ventajas como atleta.

Analiza en profundidad el porqué de cada uno de tus «debos y tengos» y descubre cuáles son las ventajas e inconvenientes de seguir adelante con ellos o no. En caso de que te reporten grandes beneficios, cambiará tu forma de verlo; y si realmente no te aportan nada, ¡cámbialos por otros!

6. Pensamientos anticipatorios (emociones sin situaciones)

Este puede verse sobre todo en el contexto de una competición deportiva. Se generan infinidad de expectativas. Esto cumple una función muy necesaria pero en el caso de las anticipaciones negativas podemos encontrarnos ante dos tipos:

  • Los temibles «y si…» , que se formulan como probabilidades
  • Los «seguro que…», que tomamos como verdades absolutas

Peor aún es que estas anticipaciones negativas formen una cadena y éstas culminen en una conclusión catastrofista (Ellis, 1973). Por ejemplo: ¿y si fallo mi primer snatch? Seguro que los demás levantan más que yo. ¿Y si no consigo un solo levantamiento? No voy a poder terminar la competición. Seguro que me echan antes de tiempo y habré venido para nada.

Si, efectivamente, por no haber subido una puntuación al evento del snatch te echan de la competición, dirás «si es que lo sabía» y se dará la famosa profecía auto-cumplida. Muchas veces, esas situaciones vienen provocada por esa inadecuada gestión emocional. Por ello, es importante controlar nuestro pensamiento.

¿Qué hacer?

No censurar las expectativas del todo porque son muy útiles para prever posibles contratiempos y preparar acciones para prevenir su aparición o solucionarlo una vez se dé. Identifiquemos esos problemas y respondamos a dos preguntas (siguiendo el ejemplo previo):

  • ¿Existe alguna posibilidad de que consiga completar los 3 levantamientos de snatch? Pues teniendo en cuenta el trabajo que seguramente le hayas dedicado a los levantamientos olímpicos y a planificar tu estrategia, sí que existe la posibilidad.
  • Si hay posibilidades de que no consiga un solo snatch y me echen de la competición, ¿qué puedo hacer para evitarlo o solucionarlo? Puedo empezar con un peso conservador para garantizar una puntuación y así evitar que me echen.

PRACTICAR A DIARIO

Pillarte a ti mismo cometiendo errores de pensamiento cuando no toca es como aprender a hacer double-unders, ¡lleva tiempo! Cada uno tiene las suyas y están tan automatizadas que requiere mucho esfuerzo sacarlas de su cueva. Una vez las detectes, ármate con tus argumentos alternativos e intenta buscar soluciones eficaces.


«El estado de ánimo depende de las situaciones que lo desencadenan pero fundamentalmente de las percepciones que tenemos sobre ellas.»

Extracto del libro «Aprender a pensar bien» (Huete, 1997)




















- Ellis, A. (1973). Rational-emotive therapy (pp. 32-44). Big Sur Recordings. 
- Huete, E. G., (1997). Aprender a pensar bien, España, Madrid: Aguilar.
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thinking errors
Abr 14 2020
How do my thoughts influence my performance?

In this blog, we’ve talked a whole lot about emotions and their influence on athletic performance. However, I feel the need to take a step back and look at the role that our thought patterns might be playing in all this. In this article, I’ll talk about thought patterns, thinking errors and we can fix those.

It all begins with perception

Two individuals won’t perceive a certain situation the same way (newsflash!). Although this may seem obvious, the truth is we usually overlook this fact when interacting with out environment. Why? Ah, because our brain is wise – maybe too wise – and, in efforts of saving us time and resources, it organizes our thoughts into patterns.

When I perceive a situation, I use language to provide appraisal; this appraisal includes an emotional component and a causal explanation. After prolonged exposure to certain situations, these thought patterns come into play to speed things up but they have their own percent error. Every situation has its own singularities and we can’t really depend on a general thought pattern to adapt to all of them.

This is where thinking errors (Ellis, 1973) crash the party. The thing is that sometimes the way I explain an event and the language I use to express the emotions derived from said event can cause unfavorable consequences: emotional disorders, interpersonal conflict, avoidance and passive coping strategies, and in relation to sports, a decrease in performance.

What are the most common thinking errors?

1. Focusing on a portion of the situation

Example:

You sign up for 6 p.m. class to join a friend you haven’t seen in a while. Today’s WOD is Nancy (5 rounds of 400 m & 15 overhead squats) and, although you love running, you’re not too confident in your overhead positioning. When you load the barbell, you manage 5 reps with excellent mechanics, breaking parallel (something you’ve never done before). 3,2,1, go… and on the initial run you settle into a great running pace you manage to hold for the entire workout. When fatigue kicks in, you’re having to break the squats into sets of 5. Your pace on the fun allows you to keep up with the leading pack even though you’re breaking up your squats. On the last round you’re on of the first to get to the barbell but you break 5 times. You miss the final rep two times in a row but you finally manage to complete the workout.

As we can see, there’s been ups and downs during class but when faced with an individual whose thought pattern usually focuses on the negative, they’ll probably say they did terrible, that they performed the worst overhead squats known to man and that they even failed the last rep twice. How’s that gonna feel? Neither satisfied with performance nor happy about the class. However, this athlete got to throwdown with a friend after a long while; their mobility work is starting to show on those squatting mechanics; and their running pace was one of the best in the class.

Careful now… these thinking errors also take into consideration an excess in positive thinking. The emotions derived from addressing negative events will notify me of a problem; if I disregard these emotions and leave these events unaddressed, I won’t work on finding solutions for them. Meaning, I won’t adapt to my circumstances.

How do I fix it?

Proper emotional balance necessarily implies trying to value both the good and the bad using the same measuring (Huete, 1997). Positive aspects will reinforce my self-esteem and perceived self-efficacy while the negative will help identify problems and find solutions to cope with them.

If you ever catch yourself looking at just a portion of your reality, focus on being as objective as possible. Look at everything that happened and put it on a scale. If somethings calls for action, implement problem-solving strategies; if something went well, focus on that too and celebrate that victory.

2. Magnification and minimization

In this case, we’re able to identify both the positive and the negative in a situation but we don’t value them with the same measure. Positive aspects receive minimal worth while the negative is «amplified». Therefore, the resulting emotional state is mainly influenced by this negative evaluation.

This is one of thinking errors is mostly seen in perfectionists who concede more relevance to their mistakes and rarely value their success. That’s why they usually find themselves in a generalized state of dissatisfaction (Huete, 1997). In the most extreme cases, these individuals tend to abandon tasks if they feel they won’t reach their standard.

How do I fix it?

Again, we’ll have to consider both the positive and the negative using the same measure. It’d also be interesting to re-evaluate the nature of our perfection standard. If our perfectionism leads us to implementing effective solutions for my faults and weaknesses, it’ll be functional; meanwhile, if it brings frustration upon me to the point I feel like giving up, then I should reconsider the importance I’m giving to this standard.

3. Overexageration

We normally use adjectives to describe the emotional impact of a situation. Burpees are «horrible», Murph is «insufferable», and learning double-unders is «terrible». This can become an issue if this thinking error becomes a habit and we cause an amplified emotional distress on our bodies for no good reason.

Frustration when learning double-unders comes in high doses not only because it requires highly-coordinated moving patterns but also because missing is painful. Literally. That whiplash that comes with every failed double-under adds a physical discomfort that leads to dreading the movement altogether.

If this is sustained for a long period of time, only reading «double-unders» in the WOD will elicit a negative emotional response. If its too intense, I might forever scale to single unders or I’ll just quit that class. Doesn’t seem too functional, right?

How do I fix it?

We should try to describe situations using a well-adjusted adjective that actually represents its emotional consequences. Yeah, double-unders are inconvenient but are they really «terrible» or «horrible»? Probably not.

Next time you’re trying to learn a new fancy movement, try it. When you miss the double-under several times and you hear that negative loophole in your (this sucks, I hate double unders), your body will respond with a heart rate increase because it senses a problem. This does not go well with coordination efforts and double-unders will only get worse.

However, if I’m able to consider these mistakes mere «inconveniences» or «mishaps», without the added emotional load provided by curse words, my body will also sense a problem but it’ll manage it in a more controlled way. It’s not about tricking myself into thinking life’s amazing after getting smacked by the rope 20 times, but trying to keep emotions at a manageable intensity so they don’t interfere with coping tasks.

4. Overgeneralization

This is can easily be identified as the excessive use of words like «never», «always», «impossible»… and, ultimately, this impedes a correct identification of problematic situations. If I think I can’t learn double-unders because it’s impossible, facing that situation will be at an exaggerated emotional cost and, as a consequence, my efforts will be diminshed (Huete, 1997).

The message provided by that heightened emotional response is that, no matter how hard I try to reach the goal, I won’t make it. So, again, we’re faced with a non-functional response to an environmental task; if I never learn double-unders there’s a hole in my fitness. Luckily, this hole was generated by thinking errors that can be fixed.

How do I fix it?

Double-unders, just like any other physical task, takes time and practice. They’re not impossible. It’s not like some of us are gifted at birth and others just don’t have that gift. Find the actual reasons you’re not managing to learn the movement.

Change the time domain for your assessment of the situation. Trade the «I’m never going to do this» for «I can’t do it for now«. Sit down with your coach so they can help identifying mistakes and providing the right progression drills to correct them. It’ll happen sooner or later, it’s a matter of time and effort.

5. Musts and shoulds

thinking errors
Tim Paulson during the Two-Stroke pull event at the 2018 CrossFit Games. Source: Tim Paulson

In life we’re faced a series of professional, social and personal «obligations». Problem is, that sometimes we look at those obligations as undesirable, unwarranted and unavoidable. It’s like we don’t enjoy any of these things.

«I should work on my pullups». «I should sign up for the 6 AM class». «I should stop binging on junk food». The way these thoughts are phrased, suggest there will be a negative consequence if I don’t do these things (I won’t get my first strict pullup; I won’t be able to train because I have work later on; my performance will take a hit, etc.)

How do I fix it?

In a recent interview I did with Tim Paulson, he illustrated a perfect example of correcting thinking errors. He talked about weakness work on his legless rope climbs. He was doing them 3x a week and this could become frustrating since he’s not very good at them. So, it’s not the most enjoyable thing to be doing so often.

Nonetheless, when he thinks about why he’s doing it, he realizes it’s because in 2019 he was cut from the Games because he was bad at legless rope climbs. That generated such a negative emotional state that he decided he never wanted to feel like that again. That’s why he works on them 3 times a week and he does’t think of it as something dreadful but something that’ll help him improve as a professional athlete.

Analyze the why behind each and every one of your «musts» and «shoulds» and discover the pros and cons. If they actually provide you with benefits, then change the way you look at it by focusing on those; and if they’re not advantageous for you in any way, then just stop doing them.

6. Anticipatory thinking (emotions without situations)

The best example of this can be seen in competitive settings. Before going into a competition, we generate expectations. These are very useful because they provide us with valuable information but in the case of negative anticipation, we can run into a problem. There’s two kinds:

  • The «what ifs», which express probability
  • The «gonnas», which is considered an absolute truth

It can get even worse if these negative anticipations form a chain and it ends with a catastrophic conclusion (Ellis, 1973). For example: what if I miss my first snatch? They’re all gonna outlift me. What if I miss all my lifts? I’m gonna get cut from the competition. They’re gonna kick me out and this will all be a waste of time.

If it ends up happening (that you miss all your lifts and are cut from the competition) you’ll say «I knew it» and you’ll fall into the self-fulfilling prophecy. Many times, these situations are brought upon us precisely because of inadequate emotional management. There’s another reason to learn how to control our thought patterns.

How do I fix it?

We can’t censor expectations altogether because, as I’ve said, they’re useful when it comes to foreseeing possible setbacks and preparing to either prevent them from happening or fix it once it shows up. Identify those possible problems and answer two questions (following the previous example):

  • Is there any chance you might complete all 3 snatches and remain in the competition? Well, if we take into consideration the work you’ve probably put into the olympic lifts and strategizing, there’s a good chance.
  • If there’s a chance that I miss every snatch and get cut, how can I prevent it from happening? I could start off with a conservative lift to get something on the board and avoid getting cut.

PRACTICE EVERY DAY

Catching yourself making one of these thinking errors is just like learning double-unders… it takes time! Everyone has their own due to individual differences and they’re so ingrained in our thought processes that it takes a lot of effort to bring them into the light. Once you detect them, brace yourself with alternative arguments and try finding effective coping strategies.







«Mood depends on the situations that trigger them but more importantly on the perceptions we have about them.»

From the book «Aprender a pensar bien» (Huete, 1997)




- Ellis, A. (1973). Rational-emotive therapy (pp. 32-44). Big Sur Recordings.
- Huete, E. G., (1997). Aprender a pensar bien, España, Madrid: Aguilar.
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