More than MEMORIES

When was the last time you looked in the mirror?

Not to see your reflection, but to see how much you've changed?

Have you ever really taken the time to appreciate the good things you've done, and been honest about the bad? 

Most athletes train relentlessly but rarely stop to look back. And yet reflection, in its two forms: immediate and deliberate, may be the most undervalued tool you have.

Immediate reflection is your ability to adapt. It is the skill to recognise, in the moment, that there's another way, and having the capacity to act in that same moment.

Picture yourself in a kayak, paddling down a river. As you approach some white water, you spot a rock pushing the current sideways. Instinctively you lean away from it. You catch an edge. The boat nearly tips over. Somehow, surprisingly, you stay upright.

Almost immediately, you're into the next rapid. Same shape, different direction. This time the water curls the other way, with a rock face on the opposite bank. Only, this time you remember that leaning away nearly sent you swimming. So instead, you lean into the turn. And this time you glide through, smooth, balanced and in control.

That is immediate reflection. A single moment of awareness, applied only a frame later, completely changing the outcome.

It doesn't have to be as dramatic as white water. It can be as simple as your next rep.

Take a set of butterfly pull-ups. As you complete each repetition you have a small amount of time to zone in, to really pay attention to what your body is doing as it moves, and to prepare for the next repetition. 

Did you hit the tight arch with your glutes engaged? Are you creating tension through your posterior chain? Are you closing into the hollow through your core, or just kicking your feet to get there? Are your feet together? Are you pulling too early, or letting your hollow position carry you? Where are your elbows during the pull? How are you gripping the bar? Where's your eyeline? Did you transition too soon?

One thought. Or many. Every repetition is an opportunity to adapt to make your next better. And with it, your capacity, your endurance, your efficiency, all begin to change.

Where immediate reflection happens in the moment, deliberate reflection happens after. When you choose to step back and revisit something. Sometimes it's for the simple pleasure of reminiscing, or it's a purposeful search for change.

Video review is one example. Filming your drills, your skills, your lifts, all gives you something training alone never can: the ability to slow down time. To watch the same five seconds back, over and over, until you see exactly where the breakdown happens.

Comparing results works the same way. How did you perform in this workout last time? What was your time? How did you break up the reps? And now, doing it again, what's different? What have you actually changed in training that gives you the right to expect a better result, or to attempt a more aggressive strategy?

And finally, conversation. Probably the most ‘human’ form of reflection. A second perspective can show you an angle you'd never have found yourself. It can also do something much more valuable: help you understand your own thinking. Every conversation is more information, shaping you as an athlete.

Immediate and deliberate reflection aren't competing skills. They are two halves of the same apple. One lets you adapt in real time. The other lets you understand, with the clarity that only time can provide.

Refuse to make time for reflection, to look honestly at your weaknesses, your movement patterns, and yourself, will eventually see that you are left behind. Not because you didn't work hard enough, but because you never stopped to ask whether the work you are doing is of any value.

To be adaptable, you must reflect quickly. To be better, you must reflect intentionally.