One of my fonder memories of my youth was running up stairs. I played varsity basketball for Lowell High School in San Francisco. I didn't have as much natural athletic talent as my peers...and I had to compensate for this deficiency by focusing on my own fitness. My "secret weapon" was running stairs...one of the best ways to improve one's anaerobic fitness. The best stairs to train on in San Francisco surrounded the football stadium at City College of San Francisco (CCSF). The stadium was constructed on the side of a hill, and the stairs were very steep, and seemed to ascend forever. Best of all, I could run up the benches, which were equivalent to running up two stairs at-a-time. The benches also had this natural "springiness" that seemed to propel me up the incline.
In all of my years since, I have never had a workout quite like these stairs.
Fran Pirozzolo PhD, is a sports psychologist with a doctorate in neuropsychology. (Good article about him in yesterday's Journal.) His clients have included: the New York Yankees, the Houston Texans, Evander Holyfield, and Greg Norman.
He has a number of interesting theories and training methods. One of his more interesting theories is that it's the "common people" who are most likely to achieve extraordinary accomplishments. He thinks that many great athletes have overcome a crisis in their childhood...common children who face uncommon circumstances, such as living with an abusive parent, or economic deprivation.
Getting back to my stair analogy, Dr. Pirozzolo recommends a "stair-step" approach to fixing problems. For example, when he works with a struggling pitcher who, during practice, is only able to get 40% of his pitches in a certain strike zone...Dr. Pirozzolo encourages his client to strive for a 50% goal first, and then move it up gradually. He doesn't set 100% goals, which he believes would set his clients up for failure rather than success.
As we set our own personal goals, it is important that our "inner monologue" be positive and forward-looking...not stuck in the past, magnifying faults and replaying failures. By setting goals that are challenging, yet achievable, we can build upon our small successes until the 100% goal is within our grasp.
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