Jedi Training for Endurance

Mindful-Endurance-Training

Many performances are already lost in the days or weeks leading into the event as the person/ performer succumbs to negative thoughts or feelings.  As a response, we release too many of the key stress hormones (adrenaline & cortisol) from our natural fight, flight or freeze response, thus leaving the body in a sub-optimal condition to perform (a little is good, a lot is not!).

In practice:

Have you ever walked out into a road while not paying full attention, a car beeps and you jump back in shock, chastising yourself for being so stupid?  Then, a few moments later, you feel weak and possibly a little breathless after these stress hormones have surged through your body.

When you’re not fully aware of your mind in the lead up to a big event (sporting or otherwise (exam)), this is exactly what is going on, day to day, in mini doses.  When we think about an event with the ‘ego-mind’, we are allowing our unconscious mind, to sabotage the real us. We don’t need so much of these hormones surging through our bodies right now (keep in mind this is not life or death), this is an event that months ago we got excited about entering… remember, we wanted to test ourselves!

Each time you allow the noise/negative unconscious thoughts in unchecked, you burn precious energy, which leaves you weaker.  Then, when the gun goes off and you take your first steps, you can be so mentally & physically fatigued that you feel as though you have never done a day’s training in your life! 

To allow the true YOU to step onto that start line and be the best athlete you can be, it’s time to start being aware of your thoughts/ feelings… and develop your pre-event mental process.

A good thing:

We know that the brain cannot recognise whether a situation is real or something in our subconscious. This is why visualisation is such a powerful tool in performance sport (if you can do it).  Moreover, remember this hormone release is one of the most amazing responses the human body has; it can sometimes literally save our lives in a life-or-death situation.

When we consciously sit and focus on our pre-event process for an upcoming event through objective analysis, we are setting our performance mindset in play.  Of course, little negative things will slip through, but we can learn the Jedi tricks that allow us to get back on track and limit any psychological damage from being done.

Jedi training:

When we look at the Jedi (Star Wars), we see a battle between good and evil.  The evil building bigger and bigger death weapons and the Jedi building their strength (The Force) through years of dedicated training, to eventually have mastery over oneself.

This is something we might see in the Buddhist or Shaman practices, the Jedi being a humble warrior…who, if required, can release a force far greater than their foe.  Is this the true you, who you are looking to activate when you perform? Relaxed, calm and truly focused.

Starts with awareness:

Learning to transcend into the Jedi area of the brain (being) is where your mental + physical training, coupled with the overload and progression of the training process, builds your overall robustness.  This can be through a number of practices in and out of training, leading to the ultimate test arena & your optimal performance (doing your best).

Luke, learning to use the FORCE!

Jedi mind

1.     Ego-self (incessant, unconscious thinking/ noise)

2.     Self (conscious thinking/ planning)

3.     Jedi (Alpha/ Theta brain waves – being calm, relaxed but ultra-alert)

Jedi mind tricks

When these pesky little thoughts get through, it’s key that in a performance context we don’t allow them to overwhelm us/ get out of control.

Conversation with ego-self;

A.    Recognise it (I see you, thank you for coming!)

B.    Accept it (You are not needed right now!)

C.     Neutralise it - 2 x 3 deep breaths in through your nose, slow breaths out (we can’t think and focus on breathing at the same time)

D.    Smile (Release the positive hormones)

You can have a little fun with this ego-self conversation and give yourself a pat on the back for your increased awareness! 

  This process is so simple, it makes me giggle when I use it and the athletes I work with report back on how it helps them.

This simple process is not only setting you up for a better performance, but optimizing it through the release of positive hormones (serotonin, dopamine, oxytocin), which in turn will make you feel strong, confident and ready to perform.

So, as Mr Einstein said, “Simplicity is Genius”, to initiate this amazing release of hormones… simply smile and follow the above process 

Hard yards

One of the key parts of our ‘pre-event’ process is physical training, laying down the miles, not leaving any stone unturned or dealing with the pain/ stress of the intense sessions.  You can’t turn up on the start line and expect to perform well if you have not done the “hard yards”.

Of course, we have to nail the physical and technical elements of training/ racing. However, if we look at the thinking of many of the top performers, the mental side of sport/ training is 80% of the outcome. You can’t fudge any of it… you may have crammed for an exam and you may get away with some of it, but not preparing to perform ‘to the best of your ability’, is preparing to fail through increased anxiety and stress.

The beauty of putting the performance mindset together this way is the fun of coupling the inner game with the outer game under greater and greater duress.  Make mistakes, stay humble and try to keep an open mind. A little self-compassion and a wry smile, wont hurt!

Clearing your pathway:

We have already been through one key practice in the build-up to an event: to stop the ego-self from sabotaging with the secretion of the stress hormones and replace this natural instinct with a very simple but positive one.

Over the next few blogs, we will look at real coaching practices we can bring into our training sessions and some we can do in our day-to-day living.  Thus, strengthening our Jedi-mindset for the remainder of our lives, even if it is just bingo when we are 90!

Practice one:

Meditation is a practice in which an individual uses a technique – such as mindfulness, or focusing the mind on a particular object, thought, or activity – to train attention and awareness and achieve a mentally clear and emotionally calm stable state.

I see meditation as a key first step to developing our awareness and knowing what a quiet mind feels like.

Without awareness, we cannot see what is getting in our way or befriend our fears, thus conquering our Everest.

However, with busy lives and living in a world that is obsessed with instant gratification, meditation can be a difficult practice to form a habit with.  Finding time for it is not easy, but once you do and get into a routine, you will start to feel the fantastic benefits.  I know when I first started meditation, I would fidget, my mind would constantly wander, my back would ache and all I could think about was “when will this end?!”.

Using apps like Headspace can really help you get started and they have some great guided meditation courses for sports situations and lots more.

I truly believe, if you can put these “Jedi” principles into practice, day to day, in training and competition, you can truly be relaxed, calm and optimally alert in any environment… Even your first Olympics!