MENTAL
STATUS
The
goal of mental training: prime, not peak, performance. Prime = performance at
a consistently high level under challenging conditions, adding the ability to
perform at your best when it counts. - Mental
skills are skills; they must be practiced, in training.
- As
your body fades during an event, or during training, your mind must stay strong.
- There are always
two competitions: against other athletes, against yourself.
- An
elite athlete must develop a mental toolbox from which s/he can take a particular
tool at a particular time: anger, fear, and confidence, calm.
An
elite athlete must be able to tap into unused, even previously unknown, resources,
to complete a marathon, for instance. Mental training can give an athlete this
ability when necessary. Stress
Affects Performance
More Stress = More Protein Breakdown. Effective training
means focusing the mind on the activity to gain the most benefit. The primary
reason for pre exercise stretching is to get the mind into the game, the training
session, the event, the moment. Do not neglect the pre-exercise centering down
moments and do not waste them with distracted talk, TV monitors, and unnecessary
interruptions. Positive
Stress
Positive stress produces the endorphins that exercise stimulates
and utilizes. Adrenaline recruitment permits higher levels of performance. Never
exercise in front of a TV show or while reading a book or newspaper. This prevents
bringing the mind into sync with the body. Feeling the muscle strain, listening
to the increased heartbeat, and breathing is a huge training. During the event
knowledge of the body's performance makes a better athlete.
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