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The art of wod is a collection of quotes, cherry picked and customised from one of the greatest book on strategy, The art of war by Sun Tzu.

I just finished reading it and found some quotes how they find relevance to almost everything that we do on a daily basis. The book is a wad of wisdom. The best bit, it finds relevance from the battlefield to the boardroom, and even to your bedroom. However I would write about the bedroom bit later for now, here is what you can absorb from the art of war in your daily workouts and fitness pursuits.

ART OF WAR : “All warfare is based on deception.”

ART OF WOD: All WOD’S are based on deception.

Yes WOD’S (workout of the day) most of them, are MENTAL MIRAGES. How tough or how easy they actually are, and how tough or easy you perceive and project them to your mind, makes all the difference.

So if it’s a long high rep WOD with a whole lot of nastiness. Deceive your mind.Direct it to chip the WOD down further into finer fragments.  Deception has to be done right. If the WOD is a 10 k or a 5k run, arming yourself with the attitude oh god! this is going to suck, will invite failure. But if you deceive your mind to calm down and chomp down the bite size chunks that you have broken the WOD into, things gets easier. So athletes, learn to DECEIVE your mind and DISTRACT your body from the drudgery tough wods bring in.

ART OF WAR: “Victorious warriors win first and then go to war, while defeated warriors go to war first and then seek to win”

ART OF WOD: “Victorious athletes win first and then go to WOD, while defeated athletes go to WOD  first and  then seek to win”

Mindset isn’t ladies and gentlemen? Ever seen yourself push past your PR (personal record) even before you attempt a WOD? Victorious athletes VISUALISE.

So even before they attempt a WOD, they have killed it in their brains. Body follows suit. So next WOD, take couple of minutes out and visualise! Run the WOD in your head from start to finish .Visualise how you breathe when the WOD is on. Visualise your form , your tempo , your rhythm, your pace and most importantly affirm success and goal time.  Make every fiber in your body and brain to BELIEVE! That you are going to Kill it!

ART OF WAR: “Strategy without tactics is the slowest route to victory. Tactics without strategy is the noise before defeat.”

ART OF WOD: “Strategy without tactics means slowest wod times. Tactics without strategy is the noise before surrender.”

Wars are won with strategy. WOD’s are won with strategy too. So whether it’s a main site WOD, or random WOD you scribbled on a piece of paper. STRATEGISE!   Let’s assume you are attempting FRAN. How do you plan to attack it? Will you go unbroken the first set of 21 thrusters, or will you break it into 3 sets of 7? Strategy should always be in sync with your strengths.

So if you can’t string 21 pull ups unbroken, attempting it in one go with half assed reps barely crossing the bar will mean setbacks and slow times. On the contrary, if you break the same 21 pull ups into three sets of 7, your form and times would be much better, your movement standards would be up to scratch, and your breathing and general fatigue levels will be under control too.  Hammering into a WOD with no apparent strategy is wasting time trying to adapt to the agony while the clock is ticking. In a nutshell, STEP BACK, STRATEGISE and then SLAUGHTER the WOD.

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