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| Mental Training |
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| Written by Administrator | |||
| Sunday, 12 August 2007 14:36 | |||
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Mental training. Quite a nebulous phrase, isn't it? How am I supposed to "train my brain" ... and why bother? My brain works just fine as it is. I will go out on a short limb - the primary limiter to success - in training, in rehab, in life - is the brain. Simple. Next chapter, please! There is a mental challenge with physical training and competition. If you're doing a shorter event, let's say a 5K or 10K, you need to be able to stay focused on the task, push through the discomfort of "going hard". In a longer event - let's say an Ironman or ultramarathon - your mental task is, again, to stay focused and to push through the mental blocks that tell you to stop because of fatigue, boredom, and all the other nasty thoughts that run through our minds. It is these "nasty thoughts" that prove to be the biggest limiters. It is also the side of training that has little to no emphasis. Training doesn't stop with the workout. Training extends to what we do with our minds - while we're training, and in the 20 or more hours a day when we're not. Imagine, if you will - you might run for an hour - but what are you doing for the remaining 23 hours a day? And what are you doing mentally during those hours that is fostering or hindering your development? I ask a lot of questions, but I think these are true idealogical concepts that limit our very function on a day-to-day basis. We don't spend anywhere near the same amount of time training our brains as we do training our heart, our lungs, our musculoskeletal system - in training, in rehab, or in life. And based on that alone, we are nowhere near the limits of our abilities - given the limitless capacity of the brain.
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Who Is Allan Besselink?
Physical therapist. Endurance sports coach. Author. Educator. Innovator. Director, Smart Life Institute. Details here. BlogTalkRadio Shows
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