Working out with a group you walk this line on a regular basis. At Flow, we try to almost always err on the side of hard-ass and not dumb-ass. This typically comes down to being smart about exercise volume and intensity.
I would also say, from personal experience, guys have more of a proclivity to want to err on the side of dumb-ass. This obviously doesn’t only apply to working out, but that’s where we’ll keep our focus. For example, things like Hero WOD’s are designed not to build your fitness, but rather to test it, along with your mental fortitude and resolve. Can you will yourself to get through this particularly grueling workout?
For those of you that were here, remember back to when we did “Murph”. I love the significance of that particular workout, and the tradition we’ve developed with performing it every year. I also know that I was sore for literally an entire week after doing it. Being sore for a week might sound hard-ass when telling your friends or co-workers, but in my book that’s a surefire indicator of being a dumb-ass.
Experience tells me that’s inevitable to a certain extent, but we want to reduce the frequency of our stupidity in the gym over the long haul. Instead, let’s focus on simply training hard and training smart so that we are able to train with consistency and make improvements sustainably.