This evening as I was finishing up a workout I had a quick little conversation with an athlete about her rowing form. As I was correcting some of the minor faults in her recovery phase of the stroke, she made a comment. She said, mid stroke, “but that’s uncomfortable.” Since I’m clearly known for my empathy, compassion, and extreme amount of kindness I simply responded by saying, “yes but it’s more powerful, suck it up.”
While I probably could have stated this truth a bit more gently the reality is that sometimes the most efficient and the most powerful positions aren’t the most comfortable. What I mean by that is sometimes the positions we have to put our body in to be the strongest, lift the most weights, move with the least amount of resistance, or simply reach the cap of our potential will put us in a bit of discomfort. Sacrificing comfort for competitive advantage is a swap I’d take any day of the week.
For some of the proper set up for the snatch isn’t going to feel awesome. For some of you sitting upright and keeping your knees in on a row piece will seem harder. For others, using the right grip on a pullup will be the hardest thing you do. BUT, if it makes you more competitive isn’t it worth it?
For every athlete this is a mental battle you have to fight each and every time you step in the gym. Is the pain worth it? How you answer that question will largely determine the extent of your success outside of the gym.