Stretch Performance at Boot Camp Spain Summary Blog

August 2010 - 35 to 40 degrees celsius - 1 week of 9 hours of exercise per day per day led by the best of the best army fitness instructors.  Partly inspired by a desire to achieve a step change in my fitness levels and partly inspired by a desire to experientially push myself beyond my self imposed boundaries.  Much of our work in these demanding times is helping people to be the best they can be in every way and I decided I needed a new type of tough goal for myself which would produce a fresh way of looking at the challenges of high performance; self imposed limits; the power of the mind and thoughts and what factors helped and hindered success.  I also wanted to experience some coaching from one of the KGA team before, during and afterwards so I could reflect on the benefits of this during times of high demand. 

Carrie Stockton volunteered to be my coach!  Our first session was really useful and served to prepare me mentally for what lay ahead and how I would approach it.  Anyone that read the blog at the time will know that I was quite nervous.  Whilst I was relatively fit I did not consider myself ultra fit and was carrying two problematic knees and a sore heel at the time but as I said, if we wait for conditions to be perfect, the reality is there will never be such a time.  The reality is, Carrie's coaching gave me a clear purpose and clarity on how I would take care of myself in this new and challenging environment.  During the course of the week I kept having flash backs to the conversation which I found quite comforting.  For those of you who want to know more about the weeks content here is an agenda for a typical day:

1. 5.30 am. get up
2. Circuit training
3. 6 mile run
4. Aqua aerobics
5. Boxing
6. Lunch
7. Session with nutrionalist
8. Circuits
9. 1 hour of intense abs training
10. Games in the pool
11. Interval (running) training
12. Stretching
13. Dinner
14. Bed (9 p.m.)

Sme days were really tough - in fact every day was tough!  Both physically and mentally.  Mid week we were exercising in heat of 40 degrees and everyone at some point felt pushed to and beyond their limits. It was interesting to observe my own and others' reactions.  Here is a summary of the mid week reflections:

• Positive mental attitude is critical
• Being prepared to implement mind over matter... tough but necessary... several people have said it's about changing the 'tape' that runs in their heads... we help people all the time in training and coaching do this
• When the tape is changed the individual achieves more
• Support, smiles, encouragement and laughter with others is critical
• Understanding, empathetic yet driving leaders is key - they need to be seen as human too! Rapport, opening up of self to build the relationship is critical to getting people to give you more than they think themselves capable of
• We all have different strengths - celebrate them! Support each others' strengths and help them be their best at it...
• Work out what your owns strengths are and maximise them
• Don't try and be 'all things' if that isn't your thing... it isn't necessary
• Find ways to say thank you - regular praise is very helpful
• Be prepared to change your course of action should circumstances require it... do this positively
• Having a coach / buddy who is encouraging you is key whilst in the middle of the experience too... countless examples of peer encouragement leading to greater performance...
• Doing something challenging and forcing yourself in to your stretch zone instills belief in you that you can be better than you think you are...
• At 3 p.m. today...I thought my body had had it for the day.  I changed my thoughts and went for it anyway... had a good session! We become our thoughts in life... it's all about the mind
• Giving direction / end steps / milestones / clarity helps people focus on their goals with greater motivation...
• My personal mantras are helping enormously - thanks to the pre programme coaching and Carrie :-)
• Turning points are important for people... making them tangible is critical as is celebration...
• Don't be disappointed if you don't perform brilliantly at every part of your journey... find another way to meet your goal and maintain positive thoughts...
• Be clear about what you want your own personal bests to be
• Team support is imperative
• Taking care of ourselves... people here are all getting better at doing this and it feels good...
• We need to be careful about what we say we can't do... because you will probably find if you told yourself you 'could' - you 'would'
• Finding positive moments when you are in the depth of challenge is good for you... it changes your perspective and gives you energy to continue
• We are here for ourselves...how does this relate to motivation at work? Think what's in it for our staff as individuals? If the answer is very little then don't expect high motivation...
• Tough challenges - with the right people and the right coaches can still make for a great happy environment. We are all smiling!

My mid week coaching session was more useful than I had expected.  I thought I was already focused and had everything I needed however a lot more came out such as a reminder of the commitments I had made myself and my boundaries for personal care and what the consequences might be if I didn't stick to these.  She also helped me realise the huge learning that had already taken place and how this could be consolidated to make a bigger difference when returning to the office.  The session was shorter and optimal which reinforced how flexible coaches need to be when agreeing session lengths with clients at different points of their journey. 

Our "day off" which consisted of climbing, kayaking, trekking and then a gorgeous soak in some arabian baths in Grenada was extremely uplifting.  Even though there were still activities to undertake the change of environment reenergised the team.  I nearly wrote 'group' however we felt more like a team towards the end of the week. This was commented on by our leaders because apparently it isn't always the case.  Our relationships were good based on a lot of support and respect for each others efforts.  We also found lots of opportunities to laugh. 

The end of the week arrived and we all felt that we had achieved a huge amount.  The post week coaching session was the most powerful of all because something had shifted inside me and Carrie worked hard with me to capture this shift and help me apply it to our work to help others achieve the same.  Some additional messages to the above:

• Set your goal and the small steps that will get you there.  Focus on the steps
• Take heed when you have to... it is a marathon, not a sprint
• Give something a go - even if you think you can't do it!

Thanks for reading this - we hope it was useful.