GAMES DAY 2
As predicted, and despite all preventive measures taken, the 96 high speed GHD situps have left a gift, discovered this morning, of a posture resembling a 96 year old man...... hunched over and shuffling.... but it's amazing what you can do when you have to. After a good breakfast, and a bad (but needed) coffee, I was feeling better. First workout wasn't till 1pm so I managed to find a quiet-ish corner of the stadium and snooze for an hour.
The Games are a very different animal to The Open. It's one thing to be able to bring your best effort at home, completing the workout when you want (having another go if not happy with the first effort), with your favourite barbell, and the spot on the pullup rig you like. Adding to that, everyone spectating is cheering for YOU, and even the judge REALLY wants to see you succeed. Then you get to rest for 5-6 days, eating good food and sleeping in your own bed, before doing it again.
So take away ALL of the above, add in hot, humid, palm peeling conditions, in a 'gym' that is 100m long, with a bunch of athletes who could all take you down, and super strict judging on difficult movements. And then do it 6-7 more times in 3 days. Maybe 10 more if an individual athlete!!
The Regionals and Games certainly are a test of resilience. Being able to repeat performance over and over, maintaining a high level of effort is tough. Movement efficiency and a solid grounding in all components likely to come up is key. You can't always have all the unknowns of the Games predicted and dialled in, but you can definitely ensure your movement, any movement, is as efficient as you can possibly make it.
If you lose 5% of your form during one workout that is ok, but if it leads to a 10% decrement on the next workout, and so on and so on, you are in trouble by the last day. Rich Froning is famous for stringing together 1st place finishes on the final day of competition. His movement is still impeccable then, whereas others is faltering.
It kind of makes The Games like a version of time lapse photography, with the subject of the pics being your movement. After 3-5 days of events, we see the toll that poor decisions take on the body. In real time, this is you and your training over 2, 3, 5, 10 years. A lot longer time frame, potentially a much smaller % of deterioration each workout, but cumulatively, the same final effect.
The difference however, is that after The Games, everyone will be feeling better after a few days R+R. After 10 years of poor movement, there is not a lot of forgiveness forthcoming from your poor old joints and muscles......
The better you move, the longer you last...