How to keep your mind off of conditioning?

[gymnastics24-7]

Hey Gymnasts,
How do you guys keep your mind off of the pain during conditioning????? Really random post but I was just wondering!

Thanks!!!!

 

[GetaGrip]

it may sound a little weird, but when ever i'm in a lot of pain in my conditioning, i sing a little song in my head so i'm concentrating on that instead. you can simply think of something else as well.

also, when my coach tells me to do 15 or so pull up rocks, sometimes i count to 5 3 times so it doesn't feel like a lot to me.

 

[gymfan4ever95]

I do EXACTLY what the person above me does! I sing a song to myself (especially in 1 minute handstand holds!) My sister, level 5 gymnast, starting singing "Wheels on the bus go round and round" aloud during handstands one day! So now I always sing that

And breaking the numbers down in your head really helps me, as well. It makes me think that I am only on 5 or something when I'm actually on 30. Then it really doesn't hurt as bad!

 

[NYgymfan]

I daydream, and I also break up the numbers too. I try to think of something more fun.

 

[nicci1999]

If we do something that we count, I find it's easier to count in little increments, such as tens. If we're doing any position that requires a hold, if I can, I watch the other teams working out. Time goes by so much easier when watching someones floor routine or multiple bar routines

 

[All Chalked Up]

I sing (aloud or in my head) or think "If it hurts, it means I'm alive and that's a good thing!"

 

[zzaremba]

We always have music playing in the background during our conditioning so that we focus on that instead of the pain!

 

[flippinlolly]

We have the radio on quite a bit of the time in the gym...creates a nice atmosphere...so generally I concentrate on that and also my coach talks to us all the way through our conditioning about general stuff so I listen to him and time goes much quicker.

 

[gymgurl]

Well firstly I hate to open with a negative comment but really find it annoying when people say or type "off of..." there is no use putting the of when saying "get off it" sorry but it's a little pet hate along with people who chew gum while talking to me (gross)

Anyway sorry for the little rant and now onto the topic. Well when we do our handstands I either close my eyes and daydream, count really slowly to 2.5 minutes and most of the time I get to only a minute and a half when they tell us to come down, this mentally makes it seem shorter, I make sure to be in a different headspace. I too break it into smaller numbers

 

[igymnast]

i like to condition with someone else because one we can push each other and we also talk to keep our minds of the conditioning

 

[BreezyGymnast]

i put it in twos..say i have thirty sit ups i count 1,1,2,2,3,3,4,4 and so on until 15..

 

[Gracefulclutz]

I either sing a song in my head or I think about what I need to acomplish for the day or stuff I need to do at home. Or if school is in (not like now) I think about homework or a project or class. (sounds boring but affective) hope I helped!

 

[fishchimes]

I usually break the reps into increments (like a lot of other people lol) starting with like 10, then 5, and sometimes I get down to 3s by the end... lol. I try to focus on remembering to breathe (particularly during ab strength).

I often tell myself that pain is self-created... It comes from neurons firing in your brain... It makes me feel better xD

If it's holding something, I might watch other people. Or just think about random stuff. But now I have a lot of good ideas from reading this thread!

 

[iFlip]

I usually like music on in the background. It keeps me focused. Also, I just think "I want to be strong, I want to be strong..."
My coach has this one CD that we sometimes condition to, and we have to go to the beat. It usually ends up with laughter, and we end up not really staying focused, so we don't really do it that often

~EDIT~
Oh, i forgot, I usually count down rather than up. So like, if we have to do 10 of something, I'll count '10,9,8,7,6,5,4,3,2,1'