Ben Bergeron's 'Chasing Excellence' Book Review
Ben Bergeron's 'Chasing Excellence' Book Review
Ben Bergeron's "Chasing Excellence" is a great read with simple and actionable practices around developing the mindset of a champion.
In his new book, "Chasing Excellence," renowned Crossfit Games coach Ben Bergeron shares a fascinating look into the mindset of championship athletes and how that approach can be used in everyday life.
Reigning two-time Games champion Katrin Davidsdottir, who is coached by Bergeron, wrote the foreword to the book, which was released today in eBook and paperback format on Amazon, and opens with her failure to qualify for the 2014 CrossFit Games and subsequent meltdown.
Davidsdottir tells the story with clarity and insight: her anxiety while staring down the legless rope climbs, her confidence when the first handful of rope climbs went well, and her emotional breakdown when she began to fail reps.
Early on, the reader is offered a glance into the mind of Bergeron -- who has coached five different CrossFit Games champions -- in a text he sent to Davidsdottir after the Iceland native failed to qualify for the 2014 Games:
"I know you might not see this right now, but this could be the best thing that ever happened to you," Bergeron wrote.
At that point, Davidsdottir wasn't even working with Bergeron. As we all know, that was about to change.
The book is organized chronologically around the timeline of the 2016 CrossFit Games in Carson, California -- where Davidsdottir earned the title of Fittest Woman Alive for a second time, and Mat Fraser won his first title -- from the athlete dinner on Tuesday night to the day in Aromas on Wednesday to the full competition over the rest of the weekend.
Thematically, the book is organized around 12 character traits, behaviors, and attitudes Bergeron works to develop in all of his athletes, from commitment and positivity to embracing adversity and understanding control.
Surprisingly, Bergeron's process for developing athletes begins with building them up as people. He sets expectations of his athletes ("Never Whine, Never Complain, Never Make Excuses") and teaches them to control their emotions, live with purpose and focus, and continuously improve.
By pushing his athletes to be better people, Bergeron can mold better athletes because they're more inclined to tackle the boring, day-to-day minutiae it takes to be a champion.
Some of the highlights of "Chasing Excellence" are the specific examples of Bergeron's athletes' mental challenges and victories. For example, he tells a story about Mat Fraser -- the 2016 CrossFit Games champion -- rowing 10 seconds slower than everyone else during the Jackie event at his very first Regionals in 2013. Even though Fraser took fifth on that event, just six seconds behind first place, he went home after the 2013 Regionals, bought a rower, and rowed 4,000-5,000 meters per day for the next year.
While some may be eager to see more stories of the superhuman physical and mental capacities of these athletes, Bergeron keeps these anecdotes to a minimum, only offering them up to highlight his development process with real-world examples.
Bergeron teaches his athletes to focus on the process and the importance of "deep and meaningful practice." He simplifies situations with tremendous ease (Where are you now? Where do you want to be? How do you get from here to there?) and then constructs small stepping stones between his athletes and their goals.
In one such example, Bergeron explains how he rebuilt Davidsdottir's muscle-ups from the ground up after the 2015 CrossFit Games. For three months, she didn't do a single muscle-up, instead just focusing on her kip. After that, they focused on just getting one perfect muscle-up a day for 30 days, then two a day for the next 20, then three a day, and so on.
"It was six months before I put them back into a workout and, when I did, she was only allowed to do one at a time -- no cycling reps," Bergeron wrote. "Each one had to be perfect. If they weren't what we wanted them to look like, we stopped the workout and got them back to where we wanted them to be."
"Chasing Excellence" also includes references to various books on sports psychology and coaches from other sports, including more than a handful of acknowledgements to the New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick and his team's historic comeback against the Atlanta Falcons in this year's Super Bowl.
Overall, "Chasing Excellence" is a good, quick read that offers solid insights and simple, actionable practices around developing the mindset and integrity of a champion.
Bergeron himself points out, "Nothing within these pages constitutes a groundbreaking secret." He continues, "Reading this book will not make you more competitive any more than being an expert in nutrition will get you a six-pack. The only way the process works is through action."
Reigning two-time Games champion Katrin Davidsdottir, who is coached by Bergeron, wrote the foreword to the book, which was released today in eBook and paperback format on Amazon, and opens with her failure to qualify for the 2014 CrossFit Games and subsequent meltdown.
Davidsdottir tells the story with clarity and insight: her anxiety while staring down the legless rope climbs, her confidence when the first handful of rope climbs went well, and her emotional breakdown when she began to fail reps.
Early on, the reader is offered a glance into the mind of Bergeron -- who has coached five different CrossFit Games champions -- in a text he sent to Davidsdottir after the Iceland native failed to qualify for the 2014 Games:
"I know you might not see this right now, but this could be the best thing that ever happened to you," Bergeron wrote.
At that point, Davidsdottir wasn't even working with Bergeron. As we all know, that was about to change.
The book is organized chronologically around the timeline of the 2016 CrossFit Games in Carson, California -- where Davidsdottir earned the title of Fittest Woman Alive for a second time, and Mat Fraser won his first title -- from the athlete dinner on Tuesday night to the day in Aromas on Wednesday to the full competition over the rest of the weekend.
Thematically, the book is organized around 12 character traits, behaviors, and attitudes Bergeron works to develop in all of his athletes, from commitment and positivity to embracing adversity and understanding control.
"This book is the story of how well-developed character and unwavering commitment to the process can transform talent into champions."
Surprisingly, Bergeron's process for developing athletes begins with building them up as people. He sets expectations of his athletes ("Never Whine, Never Complain, Never Make Excuses") and teaches them to control their emotions, live with purpose and focus, and continuously improve.
By pushing his athletes to be better people, Bergeron can mold better athletes because they're more inclined to tackle the boring, day-to-day minutiae it takes to be a champion.
Some of the highlights of "Chasing Excellence" are the specific examples of Bergeron's athletes' mental challenges and victories. For example, he tells a story about Mat Fraser -- the 2016 CrossFit Games champion -- rowing 10 seconds slower than everyone else during the Jackie event at his very first Regionals in 2013. Even though Fraser took fifth on that event, just six seconds behind first place, he went home after the 2013 Regionals, bought a rower, and rowed 4,000-5,000 meters per day for the next year.
While some may be eager to see more stories of the superhuman physical and mental capacities of these athletes, Bergeron keeps these anecdotes to a minimum, only offering them up to highlight his development process with real-world examples.
Bergeron teaches his athletes to focus on the process and the importance of "deep and meaningful practice." He simplifies situations with tremendous ease (Where are you now? Where do you want to be? How do you get from here to there?) and then constructs small stepping stones between his athletes and their goals.
In one such example, Bergeron explains how he rebuilt Davidsdottir's muscle-ups from the ground up after the 2015 CrossFit Games. For three months, she didn't do a single muscle-up, instead just focusing on her kip. After that, they focused on just getting one perfect muscle-up a day for 30 days, then two a day for the next 20, then three a day, and so on.
"It was six months before I put them back into a workout and, when I did, she was only allowed to do one at a time -- no cycling reps," Bergeron wrote. "Each one had to be perfect. If they weren't what we wanted them to look like, we stopped the workout and got them back to where we wanted them to be."
"Chasing Excellence" also includes references to various books on sports psychology and coaches from other sports, including more than a handful of acknowledgements to the New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick and his team's historic comeback against the Atlanta Falcons in this year's Super Bowl.
Overall, "Chasing Excellence" is a good, quick read that offers solid insights and simple, actionable practices around developing the mindset and integrity of a champion.
Bergeron himself points out, "Nothing within these pages constitutes a groundbreaking secret." He continues, "Reading this book will not make you more competitive any more than being an expert in nutrition will get you a six-pack. The only way the process works is through action."