It's obvious why most people should train their arms. Boxers need to punch, football players need to push and everyone needs to lift something at one point or another. However, runners don't need to train their arms so much. Is there a body part that everyone should train?
Yes.
The eyes. It doesn't matter if you're legally blind, have only one eye or compete in some sport yet unknown to me that requires you to compete in the dark or blind-folded because of course I mean "the eyes" abstractly.
Let me illustrate the point with a concrete example. Running never came easy for me. I started at over 300 lbs. as a walker. I was so embarrassed by the jiggling mountain of flesh rolling down the street that I didn't really run at first. I pretended I had somewhere to go so I just walked quickly and purposefully in jeans and shoes because the fear of appearing to try was still too prohibitive at that stage. Eventually I felt bored so I started to jog a little bit. A few seconds, a few minutes. What stopped me from jogging for extended periods wasn't the shame. I forfeited any dignity I might've preserved by donning sweatpants. I simply couldn't get over how far away my goals looked. I looked up at where I was going and the end didn't seem to get closer. So I got bored and I started looking to my left, to my right, at cars and women passing by me. And I got nowhere. And I got tired getting to nowhere.
But soon I stopped looking at the end point. 3 paces in front. Let's see how that works. I didn't adopt this technique because of any special philosophical bent. The route I ran went over some broken pavement and shattered glass. I usually walked that section. This time I decided to go over that section as fast as I could. I'd trip and shred my skin if I wasn't conscious so I looked down and charged hard. And before I knew it, I made my goal. And I wasn't any more out of breath than I usually felt.
I experienced a revolution in my running, Copernican in scale.
Look down. Keep your eyes on your immediate goal and soon enough you'll stomp over your reach goal.
I've been relearning this lesson in the past few weeks.
What are you look at when you train? Where is your attention? Where is your focus? Lots of studies are out telling you that high-reps are good or high-reps are bad or that ICT or HIIT is best for weight loss. Miasma and distraction. I want to see a study that shows the difference between focused and aware athletes vs. undisciplined, distracted weekend warriors who go to the gym and ogle the cardio bunnies reading their magazines. Forget talent, forget technique for one brief moment. They're important, critically so, but not as much as you. Whether you're training for an Ironman, mountain climbing, weight loss, muscle gain, martial arts or the military, you should be in training for your life. Your life should have passion, desire, direction. Do you bring your awareness to your goals, to your life or does it seem just too far away? Are you now distracted and looking here and there, eyes glassy, glazed?
Everyone needs to train their eyes. Unfortunately, I'm young and inexperienced so forgive me. The only training I know is by doing. Set goals. Adjust goals. Sometimes I set them too low. Earlier this year, I set out with the goal of writing 1,000 pages. I handled that task easily. I've been averaging up to 35 pages a week compared with the 20 I aimed for. Next year, I think I'll aim to write 2,000 pages. Sometimes I'm too ambitious. I also aimed to finish a Half-Ironman and halve my marathon time and get under the 4 hour mark. I feel confident in finishing under 5 but a 4 hour marathon seems impossibly far beyond my reach as I write a day and a quarter before the race. Actually, I don't even expect to beat my Oprah's time. Adjust and come at it again. Learn by doing.
And soon, before I know it, the far away goal that I've been aiming for will be long past.
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