Just like entertainment, what works for me on this varies a lot and depends what type of work i’m doing. I’m very good though at breaking down workouts and segments and can always tell myself:
- the first interval is always hard, deal with it
- after halfway is pretty much downhill from here, only gets better now
- 2nd to last interval I think of how great that last interval is going to feel
- last interval, finish with a smile, and there’s absolutely no point in bailing if i made it that far
In my mind, I look at longer intervals the same as I would as an entire workout. On a 20-min sweet spot interval:
- first 5 mins is hard
- next two 5 min blocks are the “work”
- final 5 minutes… well 5 minutes is nothing
When I have a bigger workout that looks daunting, honestly I just think to myself that “chad wouldn’t have put it in the plan right here if he thought I wasn’t capable of doing it” (yes, clearly the plans are just for me lol).