how do you create you own routine?!?!?

[*~susan~*]

i read the "TOPIC: What is YOUR routine?" posted by Cpt. Obvious, but I was wondering how you guys come up with such routines? Some people have told me that "you do what you have to do to get warmed up..." but that's the problem. I'm not sure what I should be doing to get ready before tourneys...even basic things. can you guys help?

[Moonitic]

Stretching is vital. So is warming up. Getting into the "zone" is important too. You don't want your mind on everything under the sun when you're about to compete. You want to focus on fencing.

My routine relaxes me. It's a "comfort" thing. Plus, I'm extremely anal, & I have to have a routine or I get stressed out. Go figure. Maybe my Prozac will help with that...Anyhoo...my routine makes me focus on the routine, rather than the "I must win" thing that sometimes I start worrying about.

[Papa Blue]

Just be yourself!

You can't win if you are trying to be someone that you are not... so I don't think it does much good to copy what everyone else is doing - Just work out whatever you feel good doing.

[Lumberg]

Yeah, everyone has their own thing to prepare. Your routine to prepare for a tournament physically should be based on getting your body warmed up and then stretching. Mentally preparing yourself is a different story. Do whatever works for you. I usually over drink water beforehand to prevent dehydration. I jog around the floor, do some push ups, then do some more jogging, then I stretch, then I do footwork drills, then some more jogging and stretching.

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Lumberg.
"...yeah...did you get the memo about the TPS reports?"

[This message has been edited by Lumberg (edited 01-09-2001).]

[HilandDoug]

Psycologically, you should warm up for a tournament the same way you warm up for your class. Body-wise, anyway. The mental warm up is different, and varies even more.

[Kallisto]

Yes, familiarity is the key. You should be aiming to make your competition fencing experience as similar to your normal training session as possible - "Another day at the office" so to speak. Try to incorporate as many elements from your club night routine into your preparation for the competition, e.g. length and nature of warm-up, practise the same self-talk keywords that you use for the tournament at training sessions (though, as suggested, the mental warm-up will be more comprehensive at a tourny).
One Sport Psychology book I read even suggested taking bottled water from your home to the event, so your drinks tasted as familiar as possible. Though you'd have to take a bit to make it last all day.


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"I have found some kind of temporary sanity in this..."

[introspective]

okay, i'm getting the impression that people are primarily interested in their warm ups for competitions. did you know you should warm up for practices too? All practices, classes,and lessons should be preceeded by a warm up of 1 hour if you have the time, and 1/2 hour if you don't.