A few weeks ago John Danaher posted a long, but interesting take on instagram regarding rolling or sparring when you’re tired: “Tell yourself – I’m exhausted – but I will keep going with a lowered set of expectations.”
Whether it’s drilling or rolling, I think it’s an important mindset to adopt. If you can’t run, then walk. If you can’t walk, then crawl, etc. In addition to training yourself to push through when it’s time for competition, it proves to yourself that you are capable of more than you think, and really if you think about it a form of conditioning, if you do this often enough. The human body is an amazing, adaptable organism that loves homeostasis and efficiency. The more stress you add to it (within reason, of course) the more your body will react to that stress and find a way to adapt to regain that homeostasis and level of efficiency, allowing you to operate better when that kind of stress comes around again. What you may consider an awful performance on your end previous times may become slightly better with time: certain drills and training sessions that leave you feeling like you were flattened by a Mack truck after some time may just make you feel like you were hit with a Smart car, or heck, maybe a Vespa.
At some point or another you’re going to be tired: think less of it as an “if” and more of a “when” – and when that time comes, I agree that you should press on, just with lowered expectations.
That’s all for now – have a great day everyone!
A Skirt on the Mat 