IMO, physical courage is often simply having confidence that you can accomplish what you need to do. In training with intense workouts, you're proving to yourself on a daily basis that you CAN push yourself, you CAN succeed, you CAN improve and you CAN do more than you thought you could. Essentially, you're developing not only your physical capacity but also your confidence.

Intense physical workouts are extremely important to the forging of character. Character can be solidified through difficult periods of physical exertion. My strength coach in college used the phrase: "Make pain your ally;the more familiar it becomes, the easier it is to manage." One of my beliefs is that intense periods of exertion forge character. Character is essential to act courageously (physically or morally) in extraordinary circumstances.

i agree w/ both Matt G and Thompson and the quote reminded me of the Monster Mash article from a while back. Great stuff...here it is if you didnt get a chance to check it out.

http://www.crossfit.com/cf-journal/monster_mash.pdf

Picture = SICK!!

I agree with everyone’s' comments. I would add that if you are able to push yourself through these intense workouts - with the motivation coming from within - when you are ultimately forced by external elements or conditions, you are able to push yourself even further to overcome that adversity.

Today our training afforded us the opportunity to assault an airplane. a few days before, a ship. Without too much detail, I can tell you that things can cross over several barriers of physical demand rapidly. Running the risk of 15+ foot falls, skull-splitting portals, coming face to face with the unknown and the potential of “no return” can leave you breathless. Sprinting becomes running becomes sprinting becomes yelling becomes whisper quiet, and other selections that can only come from the knowledge of controlled intensity, The physical demand of my profession is often matched in a gut wrenching workout. Knowing the workout will crossover into discomfort (not injury) is critical. In my view, a taxing workout prepares you for what you do not expect. And that is being taxed. Be it 20 seconds or 20 minutes, when you have to get it done, the only real armor you have is what you really tested and know about. It’s the proving ground for going beyond “what you know” The pushing is what brings out your best. When its all on the line, could you ask for anything less?

Intense workouts (IWO) or striving to complete intense workouts requires focus / discipline / experience/ and mental acuity --not necessarily the academic kind but the kind of knowing one's body and how it will react in new and adverse environments.

Physcial courage is the direct result of IWO because IWO gives you the knowledge and experience that you that you can overcome physcial barriers. This breeds confidence, and confidence breeds courage.

Great question.

Eric

Although I'm a firm believer in intense workouts, and I think the confidence they instill is important, I believe they play a smaller part in physical courage that some of you think.
There will always be the 'Exhaustion makes cowards of us all' factor, and inceased endurance and a higher pain threshold will help with courage. But the biggest factor is experience: the more times you go through the adrenal stress of something, the better you are able to handle it when it occurs again.
This is the reason for the military training under as stressfull conditions as they can, while trying at the same time to maintain relatively safe conditions(Doesn't matter how hard you train if you get disabled/die while training, it's worthless).
Check out Dog Brother's martial arts, these guys trained for years in various forms of stick/knife/open hand fighting. They trained hard and did plenty of seriously intense workouts. Then they decided to take it a step further to what they call 'REAL-contact stickfighting'. They found out that all that intense training didn't mean as much as people thought. That without the pure adrenal stress of (IMHO) being as close to a real stickfight as you can safely be, all the skills and conditioning built up to that point didn't matter.

If any of you want to check them out I believe the URL is www.DBMA.com.

Jack

The URL is http://www.dogbrothers.com

There's a great promo video on the site.

This is a great question. One I was thinking about on the way home from the gym last night after "wussing" out of a WOD in the 4th round. Working out 4-5 times a week has built my physical stamina and strength; given me overall endurance that surpasses many of my peers and some younger than me. What has taken the most time to build, as evidenced by last nights aborted WOD, is mental toughness. These workouts will build the mental character of any athlete, but it takes time. I think that my expectations after 4 1/2 months may be too high for myself, but that's OK because I then will keep pushing until my "physical courage" meets my "mental toughness." So, what I'm trying to say is they're one in the same. I have seen gains in my physical courage in that I'm trying things I never thhought of doing before (o-lifts, TGU's, among other things). The good thing is, it's not enough. I'm not satisfied with my ability to push harder, sometimes past pain. I think the best way to get there is continued intense physical training.
As a side note, Fit TV is running a reality series on Navy SEAL training. Last night's episode was all about "Hell Week." I'm sure Dave Werner and other former SEAL's could add a thing or two about how intense physical training builds physical courage after seeing just a fraction of what these guys go through just to become a SEAL!!

Courage is all about confronting fear and performing in the face of fear. It lets you walk an I-beam that is 30' off the ground like it was 3" off the ground. To build and learn about courage you therefore have to practice confronting and overcoming fear. Where is the fear in doing the WOD?

Well certainly there's fear of pain. For some of the workouts, there really isn't an easy way out if you are going to do all of the reps. It's gonna hurt. The best WODs for that are the ones you think you can't finish, but end up doing so after 50+ minutes by just doing "one more rep".

In doing TGUs or burpees at the YMCA, or any WOD that leaves you a sweaty heap, there's a fear of looking silly (be careful in discounting that one). Sucking at these workouts and yet posting your scores requires a kind of courage and conviction of its own. Never underestimate the power of peer pressure and conformity.

Doing a single rep max workout is a test. How strong a role does fear of failure play in whether or not the weight gets lifted? Are you going to get hurt when you dump it? Where's your mind at?

Just some thoughts...

Success promotes confidence. IWO challenges individuals and when they achieve success in doing IWO it leads to confidence in themselves and this allows individuals to face future challenges be it mental or physical

Jack, I agree with your statement "the biggest factor is experience: the more times you go through the adrenal stress of something, the better you are able to handle it when it occurs again." and I think the DBMA are a good example of pushing this type of training. I believe though that the correct analysis should be that although they were training hard and intensly they were training incorrectly for what they wanted to accomplish. A person can go to a gun range and train intensly it will have very little carryover to what TJ is describing. A TKD practioner can throw 1000's of kicks in the air in an intense workout. It will have very little carryover when a 250 pound ex convict tries to car jack them. You are right about the adrenal stress response and its importance to performance. To many people think training intensly is the answer. Correctly training intensly would more likely be the answer in my opinion. But that is performance. Courage is standing up to something you fear or find difficult.
Intense physical workouts outs push you to your limits. Each time you push yourself past what you think you cannot do you are establishing a response in yourself to face what your mind tells you, you cannot do. Each time you gut through a workout, you are establishing in yourself the pattern of forging through difficult situations.

Intense workouts can provide the backbone for most physical activities, they are great in the gym setting and build character,strength, endurance and confidence. I'm not sure there is a huge crossover though in the real life scenarios (climbing, participation in "hunting" of criminals, life and death decisions). Most folks do not even tap into their courage reserves once or twice in their lives. Being able to complete pullups, sprints, presses, ets. is wonderful, but one needs to know how to utilize these skills when at a point of no return decision occurs. To gain physical courage you need to put yourself in whatever life drill you are terrified of repeatedly and practice.

The WOD's are great but should not be considered physical courage 'badges' other than inside the gym where they are being performed.

Dog Brothers..."Higher Conciousness through harder contact..." IMHO intense training prepares the body for what it may have to endure in a more 'realistic" situation. I don't know if it gives you more courage, but it helps give confidence that a hurtle can be overcome. When you are dead tired, I mean EXHAUSTED you have to find it in yourself to fight on. I think this attribute is more born than made.

Intense physical workouts give you an idea of what you and your body can physically do. This helps with physical courage in that you are better able to assess a situation. Many times, fear is actually misplaced. In climbing, for example, you might feel fearful before a move that looks hard. You’re above the ground, pumping out, needing to move, yet paralyzed, stiff, and out of form because of a fear-driven adrenaline kick that says, “No way! WTF am I doing here and why can’t I be anywhere else!?”

One way around this is to breathe deeply and try to assess the situation objectively. Is my protection good? If so, you’re not going to the ground. Would a fall be relatively “safe”, meaning you won’t hit a ledge or something? Am I wearing a helmet? All these can reduce the fear by eliminating sources of it. Then comes, “Can I actually do this move, it looks hard?!” After you’ve put in the time in the gym, you can say, “Right on!”, and go for it. Higher endurance also gives you the physical reserves for the time to stop, relax, and assess the situation.

So training extends your boundaries and lets you attempt physical challenges you would have been too fearful of to do before.

This also applies when the other conditions aren’t met (is the fall safe? well, maybe not; is the pro good? hmmm...seems a long way away or suspect!). In that case, you should feel fear, which means you understand the risks. Then the physical reserves you’ve built up let you address doing the move itself.

So you decide to do it, and midway through realize the holds actually suck worse than you had imagined. Having pushed through intense workouts, you know your body and know that you don’t have to give up and what it’s like not to give up. You also have a much better idea of how much power you can apply and that you’ve trained to apply it maximally. You can get closer and closer to the point where failure is because of physical impossibility (for you and your current physical state) instead of mental let down.

Approaching that line with the risk of crossing it with a penalty seems like a definition of “physical courage”. The real or imagined fears are what hold you back from getting closer to that line because the penalties increase if you cross it.

all the above comments are accurate.the single most deciding factor in developing my courage and maintaining it is by remaining stark raving mad enough to show up at crossfit hq and take whatever coach or lauren throw at me and smoke it like cheap crack. don't worry, be crazy!
mad dog

I agree with all the posts. From my own experience I see physical courage increase greatly in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu training. At first many people are timid about grappling. Once live training ensues, they quickly find themselves in unfamiliar positions with someone on top of them and putting lots of pressure on them. They panic, make mistakes and usually tap pretty quickly when a move is only partially applied or when they just get frustrated.

As they get more accustomed to grappling, they begin to move smoother and find themselves anticipating and defending attacks.

Then they start to get more skilled eventually finding themselves being able to maintain dominant positions and eventually begin working on their attacks and submissions.

Along this path, their courage increases in proportion to their skill level and confidence. Courage has been defined as taking action despite your fear. The more you learn to take actions despite your fear, the more your courage is built up and enforced. Like most useful skills it is born of practice and repitition. Doing courageous things breeds more courage.

There are other factors to courage aside from intense workouts. Training with other people has a huge impact as well. Seeing other people tackle obstacles is inspiring and demystifying. Thus you feel more able to do intense workouts when you've seen other people attempt them. The very fact that it is not impossible, can be all the impetus you need to try and do it.

A seriously intense workout is challenge or obstacle. When you come to the realization that it doesn't matter what the obstacle is, you are going to complete it . . . When you realize that there is no quitting. . . When you submit your fate to your body, and your will is no longer a part of the equation. . . you have gained some physical courage.

Now do it over and over again, and you will have physical courage.

Eddidy--

Thanks for sending the Monster Mash link. I actually wrote the article. Great to see some folks had a chance to read it! Today's post by all the contributors has been fascinating for me to read. It's a much better dose of reality than many of my grad school courses have.

Semper Fi,

Andrew Thompson
CAPT USMC

I have found that each and every one of you has a valid point and to add to it would be redundent. I have pushed harder through these WOD's than I would have ever in a traditional work out. Power, strength, confidence, and courage. All together give you the ability to git er' done.
Thanks
Eric-SLC

Physical courage....doing what you physically fear inspite of the fear.....I guess generalizing courage then "yes" a workout can train for physical courage but I'm not so PC to fit acts in the gym or dojo as physical courage. The physical courage I have in mind is that soldier who storms a beach knowing that they might die. The mother who stands up to an attacker in defense of her child. I believe that training can give one confidence to attempt more but true physical courage seems innate. Some have it...others don't. No amount of training will produce this level of courage. Sure you can increase your confidence to perform the WOD but that won't necessarily transfer to running into a burning building or grabbing that attackrs gun or whatever.

IMHO I believe that we will do more from compassion than from intense training. In regard to the rock climbing example I completely agree that intense training will give you the courage to scale that rock when good sense says "no".

I am currently a high school wrestler in my sophomore year, and intense workouts have definitely aided my ability to adapt to my opponents style of wrestling while maintaining my own without fretting over not knowing what they may do. The workouts have increased my confidence in my own ability to persevere through whatever a new opponent throws my way.

I read the transcript of a speech, I wish I could remember whose it was...A Marine General for sure. He said that while many are faster, many are stronger, smarter, etc. The one place where we were all equal was in courage. The good Lord gave each of us an infinite supply of courage, which boiled down to simply doing the right thing even when it wasn't the easy thing. I've never forgotten that.

"Upon the fields of friendly strife,
Are sown the seeds,
That upon other fields and other days,
Will bear the fruit of victory."

-Douglas MacArthur

Who can say it better?

It takes a "sick" person to want to drive on in these workouts even though your mind is saying quit.....we continue to drive on. I am not sure why some of us possess this drive while other people in society cant put down the bag of donuts and sodas. At this point in my life the only physical courage that Crossfit or any intense workout does for me is allow me to walk tall and be proud of what it is molding me into both mentally and physically

I didn't have time to read all the posts, so if someone said this, I apologize. I think courage, per se, is overrated. What matters is getting the job done. I get images in my mind of guys rushing trenches, and literally sh**ting in their pants, and peeing themselves, throwing up, but continuing. That's the key. Never, ever quit.

That, in my opinion, is the value of intense workouts. You want to quit. You're dying to quit, but you keep going. Tasks become units that are either done or not done. You get the order to attack a position, and it doesn't matter how you feel, you do your job.

That's the other aspect, is you develop emotional distance with respect to your emotional state. You recognize it, you see it, but you don't let nausea or anything else prevent you from continuing.

Matt, I considered doing the Turkish Get Ups by repeatedly laying down on the couch and getting back up while holding a case of beer and a bag of chips over my head. I guess I'm conflicted. : )

LOL....ok so you got me on that one.....I suppose that is very confusing for some people huh?

I once heard that courage is performing the task when you don't believe you have the 'courage' to do it.

If that is true, then courage is not something that can be developed. However, if you frequently perform tasks without the 'courage' to spur you on, then you may become characterized as "courageous" after all.