Happy Monday!
Random thought here but I notice that we, as strength and sport coaches, are still trying to "create" mental toughness in the weight room through “tough team-building workouts/conditioning drills”. These workouts are often random (follow no structure) or reactive (usually after a negative event) and don’t really have a goal other than to beat up athletes or make them learn a lesson.
I say "create" because I don't think you just can create it from just a few workouts, but rather develop it through a lifestyle over time. Don't get me wrong, I love plain, old fashioned hard work. Training & conditioning shouldn't be easy, but it should 100% follow science & be appropriate for kids to handle.
Once in a while? Probably not a problem to have a “random” workout or team challenge day, especially in the off-season. However, too often, these “hype” days become the norm.
Personally, I don't think my athletes get mentally tough from me beating the crap out of them with sprints or a unrealistic drill/exercise. Instead, conditioning kids to the ground can make them even worse. Kids need to learn how to work hard and theres nothing wrong with plain old fashioned hard work, as long as its safe and effective.
To paraphrase coach Kevin Carr, building mental toughness in the weight room comes from learning to respect others. It comes from taking pride in every rep, from the warm up, to the big lifts. It comes from tracking your progress. It comes from putting away your equipment, your lifting card & leaving the weight room a better place. All in all, it comes from taking pride in every detail. I think you get the general gist. It starts with the coach creating a positive training culture and setting high standards. You might not agree, but check out the work that man is doing and its hard to argue that he isn't making kids more mentally tough.
It doesn't take much thought or care to sprint, but it does to do the little things that matter.
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