When are you at your best?

[sk8erman41]

When do you find that you are at your best? How long does it take you to warm up to your highest level?

I find that sometimes the first couple of solves I do in a day are suprisingly good, then I take a turn for the worse and my average ends up crap. I usually do one or two Ao12's before I feel like I am in the groove. Then after about 100 solves or so (I rarely get to do large averages like this anyway) I tend to get tired and start to slip in times. So I am curious what others experience with this is.

How are your 3x3 times after practicing 4x4 or 5x5? First thing in the morning vs. late at night? When you are squeezing in a few solves in between things or on short breaks? How much do you warm up for a comp? etc.

 

[ChickenWrap]

I only practice 7x7, but I never really notice a difference on solve times, unless I am *extremely* tired, like when you have been awake for more than a full day. I work at 4am before school, and have gotten all of my PB solves while I was at work. But even when I have been awake for 20 hours and do an average of 5 for 7x7, I am always as fast as I am any other time.

And I usually don't do warmup solves, and when I do, my solves don't change at all.

 

[TDM]

late at night

This. I keep going because I'm getting times near PBs, forget to do homework because I'm not going to stop when I could beat my PB, and then by the time I slow down it's because I'm too tired to do anything, homework included. Everything in life works against me. Even my own lookahead.

 

[AlexCube]

I don't really do too much anything else than just 2x2 and 3x3. I don't have too much spare time and I kinda cube everywhere I can. So I'll do the best if I've had like 20 solves under, good music, headphones on, without pressure and other things in my mind. Pretty normal. I try to do at least 20 3x3 solves, 30 2x2 solves and sometimes some 4x4 solves in a day. I usually try to do 3x3 every day. Sometimes I just get bored and I feel like I'm just too tired to do any solves and then I watch Youtube and read speedsolving.com

 

[CriticalCubing]

I am at my best, after doing some F2L practice and then doing an avg of 12. That gets me warmed up enough!
I solve 3x3 on regular basis, speedsolving and 2x2 and 4x4 for fun. I want to be sub 15 (currently 17.56) before I get my hands on other puzzles!

 

[DW9550]

Oddly enough, I feel like I do better when I am at college rather than at home, on average. It probably has something to do with lighting, and I am probably more awake at this time. I also feel like I do better after solving bigger cubes.

 

[Chree]

I've been having some really good sessions on my lunch break at work. I'm finding the middle of the afternoon to be a great time to practice for me. By then I'm awake, alert, have a full stomach, and the whole day ahead of me. And I usually only have to do 1 or 2 untimed solves to get warmed up.

 

[jeff081692]

Right after a shower. Also during spring/summer since my hands are no longer cold. Day to day though just drilling a PLL or something about 20 times would warm me up to my best without having to deal with terrible solves in the beginning.

 

[pipkiksass]

I am at my best, after doing some F2L practice and then doing an avg of 12. That gets me warmed up enough!
I solve 3x3 on regular basis, speedsolving and 2x2 and 4x4 for fun. I want to be sub 15 (currently 17.56) before I get my hands on other puzzles!

Wow, you're improving fast. Is 17.56 your PB average of 12?

 

[kcl]

I would say either late at night or right after a shower. I tend to get pretty good times after both. I would say closer to 9.5 average at these times when I'm usually higher 9

 

[GuRoux]

Usually at home after exercise. It's strange.

 

[ultimate enemy]

I would say either late at night or right after a shower. I tend to get pretty good times after both. I would say closer to 9.5 average at these times when I'm usually higher 9

Exactly what happens to me. I feel like my hands are warmed up and I have more circulation.

 

[Rocky0701]

After about 20 solves, i start averaging about 29, but if i were to just do one solve a day not warmed up and made it into an average of 5, it would probably be about 31. After doing big cubes for a while and transitioning to 3x3, my times are about the same, but it changes my solving style kinda. I have noticed that my look ahead is better (because the 3x3 portion of big cubes is obviously much less TPS, giving better look ahead) and that my TPS is bad due to overshooting, but it goes back to normal after a couple of solves.

 

[uberCuber]

It's all over the place for me, I really haven't been able to find any patterns. I've set PB's while sick. I've set PB's while surrounded by loud noise/conversations (both about me and not). I've set PB's in lighting that forced me to make a conscious effort just to distinguish between colors on my cube. The last 6x6 single/average I did in competition were right on my at-home average, and it was at 8 in the morning with cold hands and brain.

The only answer to the thread title I can safely give - I'm at my best when the times I'm getting are good for me.

EDIT: I did notice one thing when I spent a week recently doing 300-450 3x3 solves every day. Invariably, I would actually start getting *better* after around 200-250, after the point where my hands would start feeling a little tired

 

[CubeSurfer]

In the morning after a few cups of coffee, and once I get my fingers warmed up. Then after about 50 solves I start slowing down.

 

[MarcelP]

On Sunday morning after I have slept in a few hours (mon-fridays I have to get up at 4:30) and after 10 -20 solves I am at my best.

 

[DeeDubb]

I've noticed lately that my PBs seem to be broken sometime between 40 and 60 solves into a session. It seems like a long time to warm up. Hopefully I'll get better at getting in the zone quicker.

 

[GhettiBoy]

Right before and after lunch. I'm at my worst after dinner, though.

 

[Tempus]

When do you find that you are at your best?

It's hard to know with certainty, but I'd say circa 1993.

 

[MadaraMangekyou]

as the day progress, i progress, so in the night , after doing 20+ solves in the day i usually do best Avg and singles than in the day, unfortunately, there is no nocturnal tournaments!, the solution for me could it be to wake up earlier and solve 20 cubes, to acelerate my progress, and simulate night...