Being Humbled

One of the most picturesque beaches on the Gold Coast is Currumbin Alley. Hidden across the road from the Alley are stairs that you wouldn’t notice if you weren’t looking for them.

Approximately 150 stairs take you up around seven stories high to a small lookout with breathtaking views of the coastline. Running up and down those stairs is also breathtaking, literally.

Anyone who’s run these stairs will attest to the challenge they present. Add the fact the harder you push yourself the more challenging anything is; it’s never a gentle session.

On Saturday morning I ran these stairs with someone who runs them weekly.

Getting humbled is an understatement. Plus he’s probably 15 years older than me. One of the oldest training principles, the SAID Principle (Specific Adaptation to Imposed Demands) played out in real time. His body had specific adaptations to the demands those stairs imposed. My body, not so…

There were push-ups, sit-ups and squats between each repetition of stairs too.

‘Your cheating’ he told me, deep into probably the sixth or seventh set of sit-ups.

‘How?’ I asked feeling like my lungs were about to cough up blood.

‘Using your arms and not rotating enough.’

‘Osu!’ was my reply; with an even greater focus on the technical execution each rep thereafter.

I didn’t feel like I was breaking down technically and it certainly wasn’t my intent. Though, it could easily be explained by the large oxygen deficit in my body, when I thought about it later.

Being humbled regularly is healthy, at least for me it is.

Training with people who are superior to you technically, tactically, physically and/or psychologically can pay enormous dividends if you’re a curious person and you’re open to experience, learn and improve. Developing the mentality of enjoying this process is an asset in itself, as all growth happens outside our comfort zone.

That said, I’m not suggesting going miles out of your comfort zone to get humiliated or destroyed physically, mentally or emotionally. That’s rarely helpful. Instead just enough where you spend some time in deep water but not long enough to drown, so to speak.

Starting as a beginner, ignoring the status games people play is a necessary first step. A jailed Olympian commented he lost his way because he was a ‘high performer’ and now retired couldn’t start at the bottom in a new field…

Secondly, understanding that having competence in one field doesn’t always seamlessly transfer into another.

I’ve seen it and personally experienced it countless times. This blog is a good example.

When it comes to coaching and helping athletes with their bodies I can do it with my eyes closed. Putting together this website and using text as the sole method to communicate my views, is completely foreign to me. But I understand there was never a winner who wasn’t first a beginner. Plus I’m learning in the public domain and the feedback I receive is a great teacher.

Voluntarily putting on a ‘white belt’ so to speak, regularly doing new things, regularly doing difficult things – weather it’s learning new skills, changing a behaviour or sticking with something in the pursuit of mastery – can improve our lives enormously.

If you’re not already, give it a go.