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Mental Toughness
Know your strengths, identify your weaknesses
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Mental toughness in athletes is a hot topic and we always hear of athletes who are “mentally tough” thriving over their competition. It has been at the forefront of many studies and research papers.
It can be a way for athletes to understand their own capacity, strengths, weaknesses. It also crosses over into the world of business and work, helping managers, leaders and individuals understand the problems people and organizations face when faced with change and more importantly how they deal with it.
So what is Mental toughness and do you have it?
In their book “Developing Mental toughness” Doug Strycharczyk and Peter Clough claim there are 4 pillars to MT that you should be aware of.
CHALLENGE: Do you see challenge as an opportunity?
CONFIDENCE: Do you have high levels of self-belief?
COMMITMENT – Are you able to stick at tasks without slipping or wandering.
CONTROL: Do you believe that you can control your own destiny?
Research shows that some people are genetically ‘tougher’ than others and that is just hardwired into us. But the good news is that if you are NOT mentally tough you are not necessarily mentally weak! We can say you are mentally sensitive.
Mentally tough deal with pressure by not letting it get to them whereas the sensitive will feel uncomfortable in times of pressure or challenge.
Think about how you react on a start line of a race. How do you let the pressure of racing or hard training sessions get to you? Can you keep focus, not moan, push through a pain barrier, not give up when it gets tough, remain relaxed…
Ultimately, we are looking for our ‘ideal performance state’ and there are a few ways we can work towards that.
IMPROVE SELF AWARENESS: know your strengths, identify your weaknesses. Action plan for difficult situations in competition and practice that plan.
BECOME RESILIENT: Develop a refocusing routine to use to bounce back quickly from mistakes. If… then… Your goal is to achieve the same winning mindset in every situation.
INCREASE CONFIDENCE: Have your mind full of past successes and remember these tough situations in training
TOUGH THINKING: Master your self-talk and chose what thoughts you use. Recognise negative thinking and reframe it to positive.
PERFORM UNDER PRESSURE: Identify what skills (technical, physical and mental) you need to show up at your best when you really need it. Write them down, stick them somewhere prominent.
Just like training there are a lot of moving parts to developing mental toughness and just like building your aerobic base it will not happen overnight. It’s a process that if you put time and effort into, you will reap the rewards.
ENGINE
Double Mikko’s Triangle. We’re doubling the time and aiming to double the calories. Can you match your pace and hold on?
GYMNASTICS
Tuesday morning, we're diving into all things handstand push-ups with both strict and kipping variations, plus some fun progressions to challenge your upside-down game. Expect overhead strength work and spicy core finishers, too.
Toes-to-bar will take centre stage on Thursday evening with drills on the low bar and rig to sharpen your skills. Then we’ll move on to capacity work before wrapping it up with core and lat work to boost strength, control, and coordination.
HYROX
Build the Upper body strength you need for HYROX with a focus on sled pulls, farmers carries, push-ups (to power through your burpees), push presses (for stronger wall balls) and SkiErg conditioning.
MOBILITY
We have been quite dominant with mobility for the lower body; per request, we will stick with the flows, but make sure we hit the upper body harder this weekend. This session will be aimed towards the people that have shoulder niggles.
PURE STRENGTH
This week's pure strength session marks the start of the deadlift cycle, following high-volume RDLS. We also have some heavy box squats and volume reps to finish up on Monday. On Wednesday, we will start a paused bench press progression, incorporating some overhead presses and barbell rows as accessories.
WEIGHTLIFTING
This week in weightlifting, we are focusing on developing the split jerk technique. Followed by a classic complex of clean + front squat + jerk.
Monday Ride
A ride dedicated to group riding skills and some fitness. Coach Rob Foster leads this ride, if you'd like to join email Rob Foster
Start time: 05:59 am
Session Length: 1.5 hour
Location: The Loop Cafe, Bike DXB
Track Tuesday
Our weekly on track speed session! For any level of runner looking to build their run speed, threshold and Vo2max fitness and run with the best running community in Dubai.
Time: 05:59 am
Session Length: 1.5 hour
Location: Dubai Sports City Sports Park
Friday - Coffee Run
Our weekly tempo run. Sessions are built on an RPE scale and accessible to all levels of runner. We start together, run hard then finish together and chat about it over a coffee and breakfast.
Brief time: 05:54 am
Start time: 05:59 am
Start Location: Common Grounds
Saturday - Long Ride
Our weekly endurance ride.
Please email Rob Foster for more details.
Time: 05:59 am
Location: Bottom of the Stick, Al Qudra.
Monday
Time: 5:59pm
Location: InnerFight
Session: LRC Tempo
This week will be dialling into that Tempo effort (7/10 RPE) for 8 mins blocks. You will take a 3 min recovery after each block and repeat the sequence 3x.
Tuesday
Time: 5:59am
Location: Dubai Sports City Sports Park
Session: Track Tuesday
This is your chance to run fast with the wider IFE community and coaches. This week we will be running 200s and 600s at 3km and 5km pace. We will help you identify the best pace group for your ability at the session.
Wednesday
Time: 5:59am & 5:59pm
Location: InnerFight
Session: LRC Intervals
Today we have intervals in the morning and evening. We will be running1km at effort, into 4 x 400s and then back to 1km of effort. Push hard on the 400s, these should be a 9/10 RPE.
Friday
Time: 5:59am
Location: Common Grounds
Session: The Coffee Run
This week we will be running
10X
1min @ 9/10; 1min @ 3/10
5mins easy jog
then,
4X
4mins @ 7/10; 1min @ 1/10 (easy jog/walking)
Coffee post session at Common Grounds at 7am.
Monday:
We start the week with some single-leg deadlifts into a power clean front squat complex, followed by a leg-focused workout that is sure to set the tone for the week.
Strength:
A) Every 2:30 x 5 6/6 Single Leg Deadlift
B) Every 90secs x 5 2 power clean + 2 front squat
Conditioning:
17min AMRAP
3 Power Clean (60/40)
6 Front Squat
9 Box Jump
Tuesday:
On Tuesday, it's all about push and pull in the strength work, with pull-ups, bench press, gorilla rows, and some static overhead strength.
Strength:
A) EMOM x 6 - 15-20 sec UB kipping pull-ups
B) Alt EMOM x 10 - 8 DB Bench Press / 12 Alt Gorilla Row
C) Alt EMOM x 9 -M1 - 30 Sec Dual KB OH / 30 sec hollow hold / 30 sec arch hold/rock
Conditioning:
4 rounds for time:
16 Alt KB STOH
1 Lap Car Park Farmers Carry
10 Burpees Over KB
30 Double Unders
Wednesday:
On Wednesday, we will start with some heavy squats, followed by work on both the GHD hip extension and the GHD sit-up, and then a tough interval workout.
Strength:
A) Every 2 mins x 6 - 3 2 2 1 1 back squat + 1 set AMRAP @ 80% of top single
B) Alt EMOM x 12 - 5/10 GHD Sit Ups / 30 sec Pallof Press L&R / 10-15 Hip Extensions
Conditioning
In a 3-minute window:
15 TTB
30 wall balls
AMRAP cal row
Rest 2 mins x 3
Thursday:
On Thursday, we have some bodybuilding in the strength work, followed by a real test of grip and capacity in the workout with high-volume dumbbell snatches.
Strength:
A) Every 2 mins x 5 6/6 DB Strict Press
B) Alt EMOM x 9 - 30 sec banded tricep extension / 15-20 DB Lateral Raise / 15-20 Barbell Bicep Curls
Conditioning:
For time:
120 DB Hang Snatch
Every 3 mins
15/12 Cal Assualt Bike
10 Hand Release Push Ups
Friday:
Finally, we conclude the week with an awesome partner workout that combines aerobic work with strongman exercises.
Strength:
EMOM x 5 6 Sandbag Over Bar
Conditioning:
In Pairs for Time:
800m run together
20 Sandbag Over Bar
100 Cal Ski
Park Run Together
20 Sandbag Over Bar
80 Cal Ski
Half Park Run Together
20 Sandbag Over Bar
60 Cal Ski
Car Park Run (Together)
20 Sandbag Over Bar
40 Cal Ski
Mental toughness in athletes is a hot topic and we always hear of athletes who are “mentally tough” thriving over their competition. It has been at the forefront of many studies and research papers.
It can be a way for athletes to understand their own capacity, strengths, weaknesses. It also crosses over into the world of business and work, helping managers, leaders and individuals understand the problems people and organizations face when faced with change and more importantly how they deal with it.
So what is Mental toughness and do you have it?
In their book “Developing Mental toughness” Doug Strycharczyk and Peter Clough claim there are 4 pillars to MT that you should be aware of.
CHALLENGE: Do you see challenge as an opportunity?
CONFIDENCE: Do you have high levels of self-belief?
COMMITMENT – Are you able to stick at tasks without slipping or wandering.
CONTROL: Do you believe that you can control your own destiny?
Research shows that some people are genetically ‘tougher’ than others and that is just hardwired into us. But the good news is that if you are NOT mentally tough you are not necessarily mentally weak! We can say you are mentally sensitive.
Mentally tough deal with pressure by not letting it get to them whereas the sensitive will feel uncomfortable in times of pressure or challenge.
Think about how you react on a start line of a race. How do you let the pressure of racing or hard training sessions get to you? Can you keep focus, not moan, push through a pain barrier, not give up when it gets tough, remain relaxed…
Ultimately, we are looking for our ‘ideal performance state’ and there are a few ways we can work towards that.
IMPROVE SELF AWARENESS: know your strengths, identify your weaknesses. Action plan for difficult situations in competition and practice that plan.
BECOME RESILIENT: Develop a refocusing routine to use to bounce back quickly from mistakes. If… then… Your goal is to achieve the same winning mindset in every situation.
INCREASE CONFIDENCE: Have your mind full of past successes and remember these tough situations in training
TOUGH THINKING: Master your self-talk and chose what thoughts you use. Recognise negative thinking and reframe it to positive.
PERFORM UNDER PRESSURE: Identify what skills (technical, physical and mental) you need to show up at your best when you really need it. Write them down, stick them somewhere prominent.
Just like training there are a lot of moving parts to developing mental toughness and just like building your aerobic base it will not happen overnight. It’s a process that if you put time and effort into, you will reap the rewards.
Monday Ride
A ride dedicated to group riding skills and some fitness. Coach Rob Foster leads this ride, if you'd like to join email Rob Foster
Start time: 05:59 am
Session Length: 1.5 hour
Location: The Loop Cafe, Bike DXB
Track Tuesday
Our weekly on track speed session! For any level of runner looking to build their run speed, threshold and Vo2max fitness and run with the best running community in Dubai.
Time: 05:59 am
Session Length: 1.5 hour
Location: Dubai Sports City Sports Park
Friday - Coffee Run
Our weekly tempo run. Sessions are built on an RPE scale and accessible to all levels of runner. We start together, run hard then finish together and chat about it over a coffee and breakfast.
Brief time: 05:54 am
Start time: 05:59 am
Start Location: Common Grounds
Saturday - Long Ride
Our weekly endurance ride.
Please email Rob Foster for more details.
Time: 05:59 am
Location: Bottom of the Stick, Al Qudra.
Monday
Time: 5:59pm
Location: InnerFight
Session: LRC Tempo
This week will be dialling into that Tempo effort (7/10 RPE) for 8 mins blocks. You will take a 3 min recovery after each block and repeat the sequence 3x.
Tuesday
Time: 5:59am
Location: Dubai Sports City Sports Park
Session: Track Tuesday
This is your chance to run fast with the wider IFE community and coaches. This week we will be running 200s and 600s at 3km and 5km pace. We will help you identify the best pace group for your ability at the session.
Wednesday
Time: 5:59am & 5:59pm
Location: InnerFight
Session: LRC Intervals
Today we have intervals in the morning and evening. We will be running1km at effort, into 4 x 400s and then back to 1km of effort. Push hard on the 400s, these should be a 9/10 RPE.
Friday
Time: 5:59am
Location: Common Grounds
Session: The Coffee Run
This week we will be running
10X
1min @ 9/10; 1min @ 3/10
5mins easy jog
then,
4X
4mins @ 7/10; 1min @ 1/10 (easy jog/walking)
Coffee post session at Common Grounds at 7am.
Monday:
We start the week with some single-leg deadlifts into a power clean front squat complex, followed by a leg-focused workout that is sure to set the tone for the week.
Strength:
A) Every 2:30 x 5 6/6 Single Leg Deadlift
B) Every 90secs x 5 2 power clean + 2 front squat
Conditioning:
17min AMRAP
3 Power Clean (60/40)
6 Front Squat
9 Box Jump
Tuesday:
On Tuesday, it's all about push and pull in the strength work, with pull-ups, bench press, gorilla rows, and some static overhead strength.
Strength:
A) EMOM x 6 - 15-20 sec UB kipping pull-ups
B) Alt EMOM x 10 - 8 DB Bench Press / 12 Alt Gorilla Row
C) Alt EMOM x 9 -M1 - 30 Sec Dual KB OH / 30 sec hollow hold / 30 sec arch hold/rock
Conditioning:
4 rounds for time:
16 Alt KB STOH
1 Lap Car Park Farmers Carry
10 Burpees Over KB
30 Double Unders
Wednesday:
On Wednesday, we will start with some heavy squats, followed by work on both the GHD hip extension and the GHD sit-up, and then a tough interval workout.
Strength:
A) Every 2 mins x 6 - 3 2 2 1 1 back squat + 1 set AMRAP @ 80% of top single
B) Alt EMOM x 12 - 5/10 GHD Sit Ups / 30 sec Pallof Press L&R / 10-15 Hip Extensions
Conditioning
In a 3-minute window:
15 TTB
30 wall balls
AMRAP cal row
Rest 2 mins x 3
Thursday:
On Thursday, we have some bodybuilding in the strength work, followed by a real test of grip and capacity in the workout with high-volume dumbbell snatches.
Strength:
A) Every 2 mins x 5 6/6 DB Strict Press
B) Alt EMOM x 9 - 30 sec banded tricep extension / 15-20 DB Lateral Raise / 15-20 Barbell Bicep Curls
Conditioning:
For time:
120 DB Hang Snatch
Every 3 mins
15/12 Cal Assualt Bike
10 Hand Release Push Ups
Friday:
Finally, we conclude the week with an awesome partner workout that combines aerobic work with strongman exercises.
Strength:
EMOM x 5 6 Sandbag Over Bar
Conditioning:
In Pairs for Time:
800m run together
20 Sandbag Over Bar
100 Cal Ski
Park Run Together
20 Sandbag Over Bar
80 Cal Ski
Half Park Run Together
20 Sandbag Over Bar
60 Cal Ski
Car Park Run (Together)
20 Sandbag Over Bar
40 Cal Ski
ENGINE
Double Mikko’s Triangle. We’re doubling the time and aiming to double the calories. Can you match your pace and hold on?
GYMNASTICS
Tuesday morning, we're diving into all things handstand push-ups with both strict and kipping variations, plus some fun progressions to challenge your upside-down game. Expect overhead strength work and spicy core finishers, too.
Toes-to-bar will take centre stage on Thursday evening with drills on the low bar and rig to sharpen your skills. Then we’ll move on to capacity work before wrapping it up with core and lat work to boost strength, control, and coordination.
HYROX
Build the Upper body strength you need for HYROX with a focus on sled pulls, farmers carries, push-ups (to power through your burpees), push presses (for stronger wall balls) and SkiErg conditioning.
MOBILITY
We have been quite dominant with mobility for the lower body; per request, we will stick with the flows, but make sure we hit the upper body harder this weekend. This session will be aimed towards the people that have shoulder niggles.
PURE STRENGTH
This week's pure strength session marks the start of the deadlift cycle, following high-volume RDLS. We also have some heavy box squats and volume reps to finish up on Monday. On Wednesday, we will start a paused bench press progression, incorporating some overhead presses and barbell rows as accessories.
WEIGHTLIFTING
This week in weightlifting, we are focusing on developing the split jerk technique. Followed by a classic complex of clean + front squat + jerk.
Mental toughness in athletes is a hot topic and we always hear of athletes who are “mentally tough” thriving over their competition. It has been at the forefront of many studies and research papers.
It can be a way for athletes to understand their own capacity, strengths, weaknesses. It also crosses over into the world of business and work, helping managers, leaders and individuals understand the problems people and organizations face when faced with change and more importantly how they deal with it.
So what is Mental toughness and do you have it?
In their book “Developing Mental toughness” Doug Strycharczyk and Peter Clough claim there are 4 pillars to MT that you should be aware of.
CHALLENGE: Do you see challenge as an opportunity?
CONFIDENCE: Do you have high levels of self-belief?
COMMITMENT – Are you able to stick at tasks without slipping or wandering.
CONTROL: Do you believe that you can control your own destiny?
Research shows that some people are genetically ‘tougher’ than others and that is just hardwired into us. But the good news is that if you are NOT mentally tough you are not necessarily mentally weak! We can say you are mentally sensitive.
Mentally tough deal with pressure by not letting it get to them whereas the sensitive will feel uncomfortable in times of pressure or challenge.
Think about how you react on a start line of a race. How do you let the pressure of racing or hard training sessions get to you? Can you keep focus, not moan, push through a pain barrier, not give up when it gets tough, remain relaxed…
Ultimately, we are looking for our ‘ideal performance state’ and there are a few ways we can work towards that.
IMPROVE SELF AWARENESS: know your strengths, identify your weaknesses. Action plan for difficult situations in competition and practice that plan.
BECOME RESILIENT: Develop a refocusing routine to use to bounce back quickly from mistakes. If… then… Your goal is to achieve the same winning mindset in every situation.
INCREASE CONFIDENCE: Have your mind full of past successes and remember these tough situations in training
TOUGH THINKING: Master your self-talk and chose what thoughts you use. Recognise negative thinking and reframe it to positive.
PERFORM UNDER PRESSURE: Identify what skills (technical, physical and mental) you need to show up at your best when you really need it. Write them down, stick them somewhere prominent.
Just like training there are a lot of moving parts to developing mental toughness and just like building your aerobic base it will not happen overnight. It’s a process that if you put time and effort into, you will reap the rewards.
Monday
Time: 5:59pm
Location: InnerFight
Session: LRC Tempo
This week will be dialling into that Tempo effort (7/10 RPE) for 8 mins blocks. You will take a 3 min recovery after each block and repeat the sequence 3x.
Tuesday
Time: 5:59am
Location: Dubai Sports City Sports Park
Session: Track Tuesday
This is your chance to run fast with the wider IFE community and coaches. This week we will be running 200s and 600s at 3km and 5km pace. We will help you identify the best pace group for your ability at the session.
Wednesday
Time: 5:59am & 5:59pm
Location: InnerFight
Session: LRC Intervals
Today we have intervals in the morning and evening. We will be running1km at effort, into 4 x 400s and then back to 1km of effort. Push hard on the 400s, these should be a 9/10 RPE.
Friday
Time: 5:59am
Location: Common Grounds
Session: The Coffee Run
This week we will be running
10X
1min @ 9/10; 1min @ 3/10
5mins easy jog
then,
4X
4mins @ 7/10; 1min @ 1/10 (easy jog/walking)
Coffee post session at Common Grounds at 7am.
Monday:
We start the week with some single-leg deadlifts into a power clean front squat complex, followed by a leg-focused workout that is sure to set the tone for the week.
Strength:
A) Every 2:30 x 5 6/6 Single Leg Deadlift
B) Every 90secs x 5 2 power clean + 2 front squat
Conditioning:
17min AMRAP
3 Power Clean (60/40)
6 Front Squat
9 Box Jump
Tuesday:
On Tuesday, it's all about push and pull in the strength work, with pull-ups, bench press, gorilla rows, and some static overhead strength.
Strength:
A) EMOM x 6 - 15-20 sec UB kipping pull-ups
B) Alt EMOM x 10 - 8 DB Bench Press / 12 Alt Gorilla Row
C) Alt EMOM x 9 -M1 - 30 Sec Dual KB OH / 30 sec hollow hold / 30 sec arch hold/rock
Conditioning:
4 rounds for time:
16 Alt KB STOH
1 Lap Car Park Farmers Carry
10 Burpees Over KB
30 Double Unders
Wednesday:
On Wednesday, we will start with some heavy squats, followed by work on both the GHD hip extension and the GHD sit-up, and then a tough interval workout.
Strength:
A) Every 2 mins x 6 - 3 2 2 1 1 back squat + 1 set AMRAP @ 80% of top single
B) Alt EMOM x 12 - 5/10 GHD Sit Ups / 30 sec Pallof Press L&R / 10-15 Hip Extensions
Conditioning
In a 3-minute window:
15 TTB
30 wall balls
AMRAP cal row
Rest 2 mins x 3
Thursday:
On Thursday, we have some bodybuilding in the strength work, followed by a real test of grip and capacity in the workout with high-volume dumbbell snatches.
Strength:
A) Every 2 mins x 5 6/6 DB Strict Press
B) Alt EMOM x 9 - 30 sec banded tricep extension / 15-20 DB Lateral Raise / 15-20 Barbell Bicep Curls
Conditioning:
For time:
120 DB Hang Snatch
Every 3 mins
15/12 Cal Assualt Bike
10 Hand Release Push Ups
Friday:
Finally, we conclude the week with an awesome partner workout that combines aerobic work with strongman exercises.
Strength:
EMOM x 5 6 Sandbag Over Bar
Conditioning:
In Pairs for Time:
800m run together
20 Sandbag Over Bar
100 Cal Ski
Park Run Together
20 Sandbag Over Bar
80 Cal Ski
Half Park Run Together
20 Sandbag Over Bar
60 Cal Ski
Car Park Run (Together)
20 Sandbag Over Bar
40 Cal Ski
ENGINE
Double Mikko’s Triangle. We’re doubling the time and aiming to double the calories. Can you match your pace and hold on?
GYMNASTICS
Tuesday morning, we're diving into all things handstand push-ups with both strict and kipping variations, plus some fun progressions to challenge your upside-down game. Expect overhead strength work and spicy core finishers, too.
Toes-to-bar will take centre stage on Thursday evening with drills on the low bar and rig to sharpen your skills. Then we’ll move on to capacity work before wrapping it up with core and lat work to boost strength, control, and coordination.
HYROX
Build the Upper body strength you need for HYROX with a focus on sled pulls, farmers carries, push-ups (to power through your burpees), push presses (for stronger wall balls) and SkiErg conditioning.
MOBILITY
We have been quite dominant with mobility for the lower body; per request, we will stick with the flows, but make sure we hit the upper body harder this weekend. This session will be aimed towards the people that have shoulder niggles.
PURE STRENGTH
This week's pure strength session marks the start of the deadlift cycle, following high-volume RDLS. We also have some heavy box squats and volume reps to finish up on Monday. On Wednesday, we will start a paused bench press progression, incorporating some overhead presses and barbell rows as accessories.
WEIGHTLIFTING
This week in weightlifting, we are focusing on developing the split jerk technique. Followed by a classic complex of clean + front squat + jerk.
Monday Ride
A ride dedicated to group riding skills and some fitness. Coach Rob Foster leads this ride, if you'd like to join email Rob Foster
Start time: 05:59 am
Session Length: 1.5 hour
Location: The Loop Cafe, Bike DXB
Track Tuesday
Our weekly on track speed session! For any level of runner looking to build their run speed, threshold and Vo2max fitness and run with the best running community in Dubai.
Time: 05:59 am
Session Length: 1.5 hour
Location: Dubai Sports City Sports Park
Friday - Coffee Run
Our weekly tempo run. Sessions are built on an RPE scale and accessible to all levels of runner. We start together, run hard then finish together and chat about it over a coffee and breakfast.
Brief time: 05:54 am
Start time: 05:59 am
Start Location: Common Grounds
Saturday - Long Ride
Our weekly endurance ride.
Please email Rob Foster for more details.
Time: 05:59 am
Location: Bottom of the Stick, Al Qudra.
Mental toughness in athletes is a hot topic and we always hear of athletes who are “mentally tough” thriving over their competition. It has been at the forefront of many studies and research papers.
It can be a way for athletes to understand their own capacity, strengths, weaknesses. It also crosses over into the world of business and work, helping managers, leaders and individuals understand the problems people and organizations face when faced with change and more importantly how they deal with it.
So what is Mental toughness and do you have it?
In their book “Developing Mental toughness” Doug Strycharczyk and Peter Clough claim there are 4 pillars to MT that you should be aware of.
CHALLENGE: Do you see challenge as an opportunity?
CONFIDENCE: Do you have high levels of self-belief?
COMMITMENT – Are you able to stick at tasks without slipping or wandering.
CONTROL: Do you believe that you can control your own destiny?
Research shows that some people are genetically ‘tougher’ than others and that is just hardwired into us. But the good news is that if you are NOT mentally tough you are not necessarily mentally weak! We can say you are mentally sensitive.
Mentally tough deal with pressure by not letting it get to them whereas the sensitive will feel uncomfortable in times of pressure or challenge.
Think about how you react on a start line of a race. How do you let the pressure of racing or hard training sessions get to you? Can you keep focus, not moan, push through a pain barrier, not give up when it gets tough, remain relaxed…
Ultimately, we are looking for our ‘ideal performance state’ and there are a few ways we can work towards that.
IMPROVE SELF AWARENESS: know your strengths, identify your weaknesses. Action plan for difficult situations in competition and practice that plan.
BECOME RESILIENT: Develop a refocusing routine to use to bounce back quickly from mistakes. If… then… Your goal is to achieve the same winning mindset in every situation.
INCREASE CONFIDENCE: Have your mind full of past successes and remember these tough situations in training
TOUGH THINKING: Master your self-talk and chose what thoughts you use. Recognise negative thinking and reframe it to positive.
PERFORM UNDER PRESSURE: Identify what skills (technical, physical and mental) you need to show up at your best when you really need it. Write them down, stick them somewhere prominent.
Just like training there are a lot of moving parts to developing mental toughness and just like building your aerobic base it will not happen overnight. It’s a process that if you put time and effort into, you will reap the rewards.
Mental toughness in athletes is a hot topic and we always hear of athletes who are “mentally tough” thriving over their competition. It has been at the forefront of many studies and research papers.
It can be a way for athletes to understand their own capacity, strengths, weaknesses. It also crosses over into the world of business and work, helping managers, leaders and individuals understand the problems people and organizations face when faced with change and more importantly how they deal with it.
So what is Mental toughness and do you have it?
In their book “Developing Mental toughness” Doug Strycharczyk and Peter Clough claim there are 4 pillars to MT that you should be aware of.
CHALLENGE: Do you see challenge as an opportunity?
CONFIDENCE: Do you have high levels of self-belief?
COMMITMENT – Are you able to stick at tasks without slipping or wandering.
CONTROL: Do you believe that you can control your own destiny?
Research shows that some people are genetically ‘tougher’ than others and that is just hardwired into us. But the good news is that if you are NOT mentally tough you are not necessarily mentally weak! We can say you are mentally sensitive.
Mentally tough deal with pressure by not letting it get to them whereas the sensitive will feel uncomfortable in times of pressure or challenge.
Think about how you react on a start line of a race. How do you let the pressure of racing or hard training sessions get to you? Can you keep focus, not moan, push through a pain barrier, not give up when it gets tough, remain relaxed…
Ultimately, we are looking for our ‘ideal performance state’ and there are a few ways we can work towards that.
IMPROVE SELF AWARENESS: know your strengths, identify your weaknesses. Action plan for difficult situations in competition and practice that plan.
BECOME RESILIENT: Develop a refocusing routine to use to bounce back quickly from mistakes. If… then… Your goal is to achieve the same winning mindset in every situation.
INCREASE CONFIDENCE: Have your mind full of past successes and remember these tough situations in training
TOUGH THINKING: Master your self-talk and chose what thoughts you use. Recognise negative thinking and reframe it to positive.
PERFORM UNDER PRESSURE: Identify what skills (technical, physical and mental) you need to show up at your best when you really need it. Write them down, stick them somewhere prominent.
Just like training there are a lot of moving parts to developing mental toughness and just like building your aerobic base it will not happen overnight. It’s a process that if you put time and effort into, you will reap the rewards.
One-Hour Workout: Revving Your Swim Engine
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