Kettlebell Sport (we sometimes refer to fitness sport) Competition requires motivation like anything else.  

My second day of consistent training I almost had a mini fever and wondered “how am I going to keep this up?”  dreading tomorrow.  I was already motivated of course to have considered this.

Kettlebell Sport is a highly individualized sport but those compete understand the suffering it takes to achieve levels.  Yes there are considerations for already athletic individuals and those with ideal body types etc.

The bottom line as our results/numbers get higher and higher we tend to notice a few things.

– More motivation occurs with realization of transformation aka adaptation

– That said, cutting out the foods (that have little to no nutrients per calorie) will aid performance.   This is noticed most when we for some reason think its a good idea to eat   burger king, Mac Donalds etc.   I did that the other day (onion rings from BK).   I almost died.

– People adapt to fast food in that their bodies crave it and processed food/sugars.  What tasted good before I can’t really eat now (ice cream/soda/cake/candy etc).  Now what I didn’t have that much I like now.  (Fruits/vegetables/sweet potatoes without sugar etc) actually tastes better.   This was somewhat gradual but it helps to have recommendations along the way.  When I went through this transition I slowly came to ask questions of my own from various sources about what to put in my body to help with performance.  I still have yet to learn the ideal combination of nutrition but have come a long way when knowing my body and how it responds to different foods.  This correlates to competition when we are faced with less than desirable conditions.  This is much more pronounced when we are in better shape.

So when I’m on the platform, I wanted to do 60 reps in Latvia when I should have tried for 50 not accounting for the travel.  In Miami the same thing happened.  I started out at 8 reps a minute to get 66 but probably would have been good with 70 had I started out at 7 rpm.  Its experience and realizing exactly what can do in that exact moment at that exact place and whether you feel like it or not.  Adaption on the spot is an action wrought of experience.  The more competitions or public attempts I perform the better I get at learning to perform in almost any condition within reason.

– Having a pre-workout drink can hinder more than help sometimes.  Food especially.  The consideration is how long before and what is consumed and how much.  4 oz of tea before is fine but we have this society were we have a drink in our hand all the time.  I don’t drink water in the 3 hours at the gym and see guys carrying a gallon of water around for a body building routine.  Are they wrong?  I don’t think so.  They are trying to make their muscles bigger.   Drinking water while working out will do that.  It’s a different goal with emphasis on muscular hypertrophy and strength.

–  When women do sets of 10 – 20 reps they’re bodybuilding as well in some form.  They use light weights in the hopes that they tone and are “smaller” looking.   The rep range follows the body’s reaction.  They will gain mass and a little bit of strength.

Getting back to motivation when I realized how quickly in most difficult activities) how much better we perform from nutrition, we change on many things.  You crave the things that are essential to eat instead of just doing it because “its the right thing to do”.   That latter reasoning is at times what causes us to quit.  I actually get motivated to go to the grocery store and get the healthiest things I can think of so that my numbers go up.

Again, the process is measured in baby steps.  I’m interested in many things, technique, training harder(breaking my records), researching about nutrition etc. and adapting as I move along.  In my experience with this, I can’t start out thinking “I’m really motivated to do this!!!”  I had to take baby steps and do the right things.  As more and more “right things” were implemented, it would speed of the progress and motivation.  In turn progress motivates us even more.

So if you are only slightly interested or motivated in the beginning its ok.  Consider it healthy skepticism.  That is kind of where I was when I did 2 24kg jerks for single digits.

For example about measuring success, “I’m at Rank VI and I am going to make Rank V etc.”  1 month later the person is Rank IV.   And BTW, for those specialize in other areas of activity, it can sometimes be fun to go back and see what is different in terms of how this progress affected other activities.