Using the Past to Your Advantage

By: Bri Siegert 

“The past is a place of reference, not a place of residence; the past is a place of learning, not a place of living.”–Roy T. Bennett

We’ve all been there. You’re prepping for a competition and there it is. The one movement you’ve been dreading all along. It’s one that seems to haunt you every time you see it because you think back to the last time you were tested on it and you failed. It might have been an unbroken barbell complex, a handstand walk obstacle, or even as simple as a burpee. You got tested, you didn’t pass, and now it shows up week after week and you can’t escape it. 

There are two trains of thought that usually happen when someone thinks back to their past events or past training experiences and that’s:

1) They think back to a past event or experience and remember failing at that movement in that moment and that’s all they can think of when it comes up again.

Or…

2) They think back to when they were “fitter” or “stronger” or whatever it is they don’t feel right now and think it’s too far out of reach to attain again. 

Both of those trains of thought are unproductive. We SHOULD be looking to past experiences sometimes, but not in a way that holds us back. Instead, we should look at those as experiences that shaped us and taught us something. That’s how we use the past as reference and not residence. 

Past competitions help you and your coach make decisions that did and didn’t work. From there, you identify what was missing and you train it so that you can go into your next competition feeling prepared.

It’s very normal for these thoughts to present themselves if you’re a competitive athlete. What’s important is that you don’t let these thoughts steer the wheel. YOU ARE IN CONTROL. I don’t believe in “just think positive thoughts” because that works on mostly no one. So, here are some ways you can start to turn your negative thoughts into productive ones. 

Ask Questions

When you start to think of an event that you “bombed”, ask yourself “WHY”? This reframes our emotional thinking into logical thinking. 

Maybe it was a max clean and jerk and you found yourself failing your opener. It’s a weight you hit comfortably in training and all of a sudden, you were failing it over and over again. 

Initial thought: I’m weak. I lost strength. I’m not as strong as these guys/girls. 

Question: Why was I failing? 

Answer:  My pull felt really weak and my legs felt smoked after having a long run to start the competition. 

This brings you from emotional thinking to logical thinking. It’s likely not that the athlete in question is weaker, but that they didn’t train leg fatigue going into heavy lifts. Maybe they had been training cleans after a rest day, and it was the first thing of the day instead of after a long day one in competition. 

The thought that makes us feel defeated is when we see a problem with no solution and there’s always a way to improve which should make you feel more in control.

There are so many ways an athlete can find improvement in CrossFit competitions because the variables are ever changing and sometimes you find that it’s something you’ve trained a lot of and sometimes you find what you need to highlight more of. Either way, there’s always a way you can improve. Being able to identify these things is a skill. 

Reflect and Journal

After training and competitions, write down the workout and ask yourself what you did very well. Then, write down what you would change if you had the opportunity to do it again. 

Maybe you did well holding the row paces you set out to, but your transitions were just a tad slow. Or maybe you thought your wall balls were good, but you got a lot of no reps. These are things that happen in competition and this is an opportunity for you to learn and grow as an athlete. 

Writing things down has so much power because….

• It helps you identify patterns. You start noticing that your best sessions happen when you sleep better or when you have a better warm up. You also start noticing little habits that are holding you back like walking your transitions or staring at the clock too much. 

• Separate facts from feelings. A workout or event can feel terrible and still be productive. Looking back at your notes helps you see what actually happened instead of what your emotions are telling you. 

• Build confidence. It’s easy to let the hard days when, but when we have hundreds of days of evidence of how far you’ve come and how many good days you’ve had, it’s hard to argue with that. 

• Improve self-awareness. You learn how your body responds to different training volumes, food, recovery strategies, travel, etc. 

• Creates accountability. When you write down your intentions and goals, it makes it easier to follow through and easier to recognize when you’re getting in your own way. 

• Develop a growth mindset. Instead of labeling a workout as “good” or “bad”, you begin asking, “What can I learn from this?”

Review Your BEST Performances 

Let’s say you have a poor placement in a competition after coming off of a really good season prior to that. It’s easy to obsess over numbers and placements, but elite athletes spend just as much time studying successes. 

Ask yourself:

• How did I warm up?

• What was my mindset? 

• What was I feeling?

• How did I talk to myself?

• What was my preparation?

• Did it favor more of my strengths? 

• What did I do in my spare time away from the competition?

Success also leaves patterns. Identify those recurring themes and try to replicate them. 

Lastly, remember that if you did it before, you can do it again.