The qualifying event for the USA Memory Championship is approaching (March 17th in Pennsylvania). I’ve been busy “Chaos” training every day.
I have a personal method that use to train for big events like this. I call it CHAOS Training.
When I competed in my first memory championship in 2014, I almost gave up at certain events because I felt so much anxiety and pressure (mental and physical).
My heart wouldn’t stop racing. My mind wouldn’t calm down.
My scores were at least 30% worse than when I practiced at home. The pressure got to me.
A lot of competitors said to expect scores that were 20% lower than what I was used to.
I didn’t like that.
I wanted the pressure to have 0% effect on me.
So, I came up with CHAOS Training.
I’ve used it to train for every competition (and TV appearance) since.
“Train Hard, Fight Easy”
-Alexander Suvorov
CHAOS Training just means I put myself in stressful conditions when I train.
I do things like:
- Do 25 pushups, right before memorizing
- Play music or distracting noises on Youtube
- Train outside or in a public place with distractions around me
- Run in place while memorizing
This forces me to train with my heart rate up and put intense focus on what I’m doing.
Last December, I set a USA record. I credit that success to always doing 25 pushups right before training. During the competition, my increased heart rate didn’t bother me. I was already used to it.
Do things behind the scenes that disrupt your comfort zone and cause you to make mistakes.
When it actually counts, people will ask you how you make it look so easy.
Train hard, fight easy…
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