Wrestling Blogs - Nathan DeVaux

Last night I had class and the professor asked me about our Motivational 24 workout since I had mentioned it the week before in class. Upon mentioning it, one of the girls in my class said, "I think that is stupid." After calming my nerves and ignoring my initial reaction to dropkick her in the face, I responded to her statement. The following is not verbatim, but it is my overall feelings in regards to our workout. First, M24 is truly a blessing. That may sound extreme, but it is my belief that we should be grateful that we are capable of completing such tasks. There are not many individuals who have the tools or the drive to complete such a thing. Also, there are few coaches that would push their team to such an outer limit of the human mind. Secondly, I do not believe that there are many workouts that exist that could instill such mental toughness. It was very difficult to monitor my emotions, motivate my teammates and stay mentally sharp through the entire event. Looking ahead, normal workouts just seem easier. Our typical practice lasts two hours. Two hours is nothing now! We worked out for 24 hours. The completion of M24 motivates me further to work harder in practices throughout the season because I now know what I am capable of accomplishing. In the future, if I start to feel unmotivated or as negative thoughts creep into my mind, I will look back on this workout and remind myself that my body can go further. Lastly, M24 was a great team-building experience. We worked very hard together and I cannot count the number of times that my teammates encouraged me to work harder and then patted me on the back for a job well done. I could never complete M24 by myself in an empty room, I do not possess the motivation in myself to complete such a task. My teammates kept me going and it was an honor to return the favor for them. Running together at midnight in the pouring down rain, helping a 100 pound bag off the shoulders of a teammate and shouting out chants of "First time every time," proved to me that my teammates will battle with me in the trenches.

Last year the coaches handed out an article from an MMA magazine and the topic of the piece was mental toughness. One of the sections describe knights from Poland in the medievil times. At their fortress, their was an engraving above the entrance. The message written on the wall was 'Plus est en vous.' Translation: there is more in you. No matter how tired you are, how beaten the body is, how negative the mind has gotten, you can always give a little more. This statement applies in wrestling and it applies just as much in the classroom, at work or just life in general. I repeated this to myself every hour as M24 passed. So looking back on the girl's statement from class, it is apparent that she is ignorant. She could never understand the experience. I hope that someday, as a coach herself, she will realize what it takes to unleash certain aspects of her athletes. As for us, we have experienced and accomplished this feat and my hope for our team is that we never forget the night that we came together as a team and completed the Motivational 24.