Canadian CrossFit star Brent Fikowski has the nickname “The Professor” for his methodical approach to the sport, his attention to detail and constant fine-tuning of his game. He’s known for quietly climbing leader boards throughout competitions and keying on his strengths with an acute sense of what he’s good at, and when to strike.
Turns out for the 2021 season, the 30-year-old is trying to “chill out” – just a bit, of course.
“You’re always trying to add something and take something out, and constantly refining and looking at every little thing to make yourself one per cent better,” said Fikowski, whose best finish was second in 2017. “So there are definitely some new habits that have come in for me over the past year, and one thing is for me between the ears.”
The Kelowna, British Columbia resident, who has been placed in the online semi-final, the CrossFit Atlas Games, which will take place from June 18-20, said in the past few months he’s made a concerted effort to be more conscious of his stress level.
Fikowski said along with dialling in his diet and sleep regime, he’s also making sure he makes time for mindfulness. The professional sporting landscape is embracing mental health en masse lately, as athletes realise one’s brain can be a key component in winning and losing. One North American study found up to 35 per cent of professional athletes suffer some kind of mental health crisis during their careers, which usually manifests as stress or anxiety related to performance.
The switch was as simple as taking things out of his schedule instead of putting more things in, Fikowski said.
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“I’m just trying to create more space where I’m not looking at a screen or not even reading a book, just meditating and collecting my thoughts and allowing my mind to calm down. I tend to overthink everything, which is a strength but can also be a weakness.”
From 2016 to 2018 Fikowski was on the cusp of CrossFit supremacy as he came fourth, second and fourth again respectively in those years. However in 2019 he dropped off, a victim of CrossFit’s controversial cuts at the games, and finished 23rd. Then last season he looked primed for a comeback year, with his best finish in the Open at 32nd (fifth in Canada) since he came 22nd back in 2017.
The chance to climb up the standings at the 2020 CrossFit Games got axed as the coronavirus pandemic forced organisers to scale down the in-person finale to five men. Fikowski still ended up 15th and, statistically, wasn’t far off a berth at the ranch in Aromas, California, where the event took place last September.
Now Fikowski is hoping some increased mindfulness, along with the exemption of a key competitor in his field – five-time reigning champion Mat Fraser who retired in February – may be the golden ticket for him. He said part of this was making sure when he goes to bed, he is going to sleep, not endlessly looping through thoughts which can cut into his body’s recovery, as sleep has now been proven to be a key component of an athlete’s success.
“I would find myself just getting into bed and thinking about the next day of training, or that day of training or some technical idea on movement, or just some idea on how to improve the layout on my home gym even. My mind is always racing, and I’ve always been like that since I’ve been a kid so it’s just learning that yeah that is one of my strengths and that’s who I am but there is also this need to calm that down if I want to have higher quality sleeps and just reduce the overall stress that I have.”
Many famous athletes, such as basketball star LeBron James, seven-time Super Bowl winner Tom Brady and Fraser, place a large emphasis on not only getting at least eight hours of sleep, but that it is quality shut-eye time.
“It is going to improve everything, so that’s been a big thing for me in the last couple months. Just trying to calm down a bit more and realise that is part of my job, just to not doing anything, and it’s a very important part of my job, just to sit down and do nothing.”
This doesn’t mean he is considering dropping his famous nickname. But Fikowski is now into quoting such famous figures like Bruce Lee, who took mindfulness seriously way before his time.
“Not any time soon, that’s definitely still my personality and who I am. As much as I try to chill out and mellow out and do all that stuff, I’m still going to be ‘The Professor’ 98 per cent of the time and be overthinking everything, but it’s good to have a little more balance. And when I strike that balance I find it pays off with better sleeps and a better mood and an ability to handle adversity a little better. Be like water and roll with the punches.”
