Pre-exhaustion and loss of concentration

Two questions:

1. Is there deliberate pre-exhaustion in the order of the elements within a workout?

2. Is loss of concentration an underrated factor in difficulty with workouts? Is learning a new and increasinglt complex movement mentally challenging enough that the mind is faltering before the body?

For me F7 used to be very daunting because, "Oh man, I can't even IMAGINE doing all 7 of these exercises in one session". Then I couldn't imagine doing it three times per week. Then I couldn't imagine doing handstands on the same day, etc.

I think as you become aware of how doable it actually is, you remove a lot of the mental barriers that get in the way. I'm sure there are some physical/neurological adaptations that increase your work capacity and make it easier, but in my experience the biggest gains come from shutting up the internal dialogue and just doing it.

Coach Sommer's advice regarding focusing on the task at hand (Foundation vs. Rings for most of us) also applies to individual exercises in a particular workout, and even individual reps within a set. This is the essence of keeping focus, and as you get better at it the workout is more efficient and more enjoyable.

Good to hear, I really feel the same right now. I even started enjoying ABHs when I started to keep my mind quiet.

That's great and consistent with my experience. You still have to work hard, but focusing on the task of the moment makes working hard easier and more fun.

I think there's a big mental component to GST. It sometimes gets overlooked/not taken too seriously, probably because it's such common currency among successful athletes that it's pretty much taken for granted and just what one does.

Proper focus (narrow in scope and directed at the task at hand) is the internal process that precedes external behaviors we think of as reflections of discipline.

Sven Ravnstag said:

For me F7 used to be very daunting because, "Oh man, I can't even IMAGINE doing all 7 of these exercises in one session". Then I couldn't imagine doing it three times per week. Then I couldn't imagine doing handstands on the same day, etc.

I think as you become aware of how doable it actually is, you remove a lot of the mental barriers that get in the way. I'm sure there are some physical/neurological adaptations that increase your work capacity and make it easier, but in my experience the biggest gains come from shutting up the internal dialogue and just doing it.

Coach Sommer's advice regarding focusing on the task at hand (Foundation vs. Rings for most of us) also applies to individual exercises in a particular workout, and even individual reps within a set. This is the essence of keeping focus, and as you get better at it the workout is more efficient and more enjoyable.

Very well said.

Yours in Fitness,

Coach Sommer