12Jan13: Saturday's thoughts

Maybe this is why Gary has progressed as fast as we all wished we could (Mrod and Me), and why SanFran is a budding regional or CALI participant?

Training Environments by spencergarnold

I had an awesome conversation today about the advantage  of a team training environment.  Who would Brett Farve have been without the Packers?  Or Shawn Johnson without Nastia Liukin?  Or Kristen Klever without the Valley Girls?  Each of these athletes and teams across the world know one fact: the right training environment promotes excellence.

Who you train with, how they train, and the level at which they support your training matters.  I know a lot of lifters and athletes who train by themselves in a garage and are for the most part successful.  However, what would their training look like if even once a week they found themselves surrounded by competitive athletes who pusehd their limits.  Training by yourself and without competition can only take you so far.  It is important to train around others who will push your levels of comfort and push you to a training level above what you would attain by yourself.  Many of our most renowned athletes were pushed to that level because of their backup trying to take their spot.  Furthermore, many of our best athletes are that way because everyday they train next to other superior athletes.

There are a lot of factors that create high-level athletes.  Technical proficiency, proper programming, and proper assessment of weaknesses are just a few of these factors that matter.  However, all three of these are enhanced by an environment that breeds competition.  I first experienced this in high school where our coach bred an environment of daily competition.  Max Effort day in our weight room was an environment to be envied.  I try to make an effort to train in this type of environment as often as possible.  Today was one of those days.  Managed to hit a snatch PR double from the blocks.

Who do you train with?  Are you constantly chasing someone?  Do you get beat every now and then?  If not, imagine what your results would look like if your training look like this.