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The Power of Positive Self-Talk
When Kindness Leads to Greatness
The idea of speaking kindly to yourself isn’t anything new, but it’s worth revisiting now and again to remind us of how we complete training and racing successfully.
Endurance events are pretty unique and they get more unique the longer they go on. Most amateur athletes will essentially be against themselves and their own weight of expectation – developed through training and their perception of what makes an event a success.
As a result, the way we talk to ourselves during a race is very important.
What is self-talk?
Self-talk is defined as ‘what people say to themselves either silently in their head or aloud, automatically or strategically, to stimulate, direct, react, and evaluate events and actions’ (Hatzigeorgiadis, Zourbanos, Latinjak, & Theodorakis, 2014).
What are the effects of positive self-talk?
Research has shown self-talk to be an effective tool to enhance performance through rewiring the brain – effectively replacing potential negative talk with positive talk. A group of recreational cyclists who improved their cycling time to exhaustion by 18% when they were coached to use positive self-talk (Blanchfield, Hardy, de Morree, Staiano, & Marcora, 2014).
Put into practice, it could be as simple as replacing “my legs are really hurting” with “you’re almost there”.
There are a lot more intricacies of this which I won’t go into, however the results of positive self-talk have generally been shown to improve endurance performance.
How do you implement positive self-talk?
There are many tactics of retraining your internal monologue with positives over negatives and creating mantras to race by. This usually creates awareness around the strength of positivity and using our internal chatter to our advantage.
My personal theory on positive self-talk: it’s more than just the race
I think it all starts with training. Anxiety, expectation and potential negativity builds up from here and is waiting as soon as we enter the training block or start the race.
If we look at the purpose of the training as a means to an end, i.e. hitting your personal best, then we create a bar at which we feel we have to meet. We allow no place for our bar to move, therefore the pressure builds. It doesn’t allow for life events, illness or things beyond our control to be accounted for.
If we take the training seriously, which we should, but accept that it’s the best we can do ‘in that moment’ – then we automatically create a positive situation around exercise and the results become a by-product.
This positive self-talk for me doesn’t apply to a single race or training session, it’s the approach, kindness and awareness of one’s self during the whole journey.
Final thoughts
The next time you go into a training session and don’t hit the perfect pace, or if you replace a hard run with a shake out because half way into the warm up you feel terrible, don’t be hard on yourself – instead, be kind and reflect kindly. Carry the positives and any numerical misfires become possibilities and not limitations.
Fun - HONESTY - Simplicity - Smash Life - Mental Toughness - Hard Work
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ENGINE
We are going to mix things up a bit this week, varying modalities, time frames and distances designed to push your aerobic capacity.
GYMNASTICS
To kick things off, we will spend some time on Pull-ups and chest-to-bar pull-ups before we move off the rig and onto the floor as we look to break down and develop the Handstand Walk.
HYROX
Working on compromised running this week. Running consistently strong when there is nothing left in your legs is a key skill in Hyrox.
MOBILITY
Improving your overhead mobility will show you how to improve not only flexibility but also stability using a few key exercises that you can do in your own time.
PURE STRENGTH
In Pure Strength this week, we will kick the week off with a mixture of paused and unpaused back squats, followed by some heavy single-leg work. Wednesday sees us continue our progression on the strict press and the stationary dips.
WEIGHTLIFTING
This week in weightlifting we focus on the power snatch and hang power snatch with a series of complexes followed by some EMOM percentage work
.jpeg)
Track Tuesday
The purpose of this workout is to develop threshold speed. To do this we’re running through 3X800m into 2X400m finishing with a final best effort over 800m, then repeating the whole set again!
Start time: 05:59 am
Session Length: 1 hour
Location: InnerFight
Wednesday Ride
This Wednesday we’re going to put your legs through some climbing efforts and then finish with some maximum power sprints.
Start time: 05:59 am
Session Length: 1.5 hour
Location: Bottom of the stick
Friday, The Coffee Run
The ‘in’ word within endurance is fatigue resistance; and today we look to benchmark it. With 2 maximum efforts at the start and end of the set with a steadier middle section, we’ll be able to track your drop-off. A great set for anyone wanting to get better this winter!
Start time: 05:59 am
Session Length: 1 hour
Location: Common Grounds, Jumeirah Beach Track
Friday, Sea Swim
With Salalah and T100 just around the corner, we again take to the seas to practice race-specific skills for open-water swimming.
Start time: 06:19 am
Session Length: 1 hour
Location: Common Grounds, Jumeirah Beach Track
Saturday Ride
This week we take on the second extension, with some 3-minute and 1-minute turns as a group. We’ll cover around 85km or fun riding. Come along to start your weekend right!
Start time: 05:59 am
Session Length: 3 hour
Location: Bottom of the stick
Please note that there is no Monday and Wednesday session this week. LRC Unlimited Clients, your TrainingPeaks are still programmed.
Tuesday
Time: 5:59am
Location: InnerFight
Session: Track Tuesday
This week we have a selection of 800s and 400s for you. Come ready to run fast with InnerFight Endurance community and coaching team.
Friday
Time: 5:59am
Location: Kite Beach
Session: The Coffee Run
Today we are looking at your durability. The session is book ended with hard efforts, to see how your duratlity is at the end of a middle block of easy running. This is a great session to test as the weather gets better and then test again in the coming month, after stacking some more consistency in your training.
.jpeg)
Monday:
Strength:
Pull Ups and Dumbell Bench Press
Conditioning:
Amrap 20
Car Park sandbag bear hug carry
10 hand-release push-ups
10 pull-ups
Half park run
Tuesday:
Strength:
Front Squats
Conditioning:
In a 3 minute window
10 Dual KB front squats (2x 20/16)
30/25/20 cal Row
AMRAP wall balls
Rest 2 mins x 5
Wednesday:
Strength:
A) Power Clean + Hang Power Clean
B) Clean Complex + Wall Walks
Conditioning:
FOR TIME
3-6-9 Power clean
2-4-6 wall walks
into
9-12-15 Power Clean
9-12-15 Burpee over bar
Thursday:
Strength:
KB Single Leg Deadlifts + Arch Holds
Conditioning:
EMOM 16
Min 1 - 20 alt DB hang snatch (50/35)
Min 2 - 20/15 box jump over
Min 3 -18/15/12/9 Cal assault bike
Min 4 - Rest
Friday:
Conditioning:
Another spicy Friday to end the week, and then we finish together with a Durante Special!
The idea of speaking kindly to yourself isn’t anything new, but it’s worth revisiting now and again to remind us of how we complete training and racing successfully.
Endurance events are pretty unique and they get more unique the longer they go on. Most amateur athletes will essentially be against themselves and their own weight of expectation – developed through training and their perception of what makes an event a success.
As a result, the way we talk to ourselves during a race is very important.
What is self-talk?
Self-talk is defined as ‘what people say to themselves either silently in their head or aloud, automatically or strategically, to stimulate, direct, react, and evaluate events and actions’ (Hatzigeorgiadis, Zourbanos, Latinjak, & Theodorakis, 2014).
What are the effects of positive self-talk?
Research has shown self-talk to be an effective tool to enhance performance through rewiring the brain – effectively replacing potential negative talk with positive talk. A group of recreational cyclists who improved their cycling time to exhaustion by 18% when they were coached to use positive self-talk (Blanchfield, Hardy, de Morree, Staiano, & Marcora, 2014).
Put into practice, it could be as simple as replacing “my legs are really hurting” with “you’re almost there”.
There are a lot more intricacies of this which I won’t go into, however the results of positive self-talk have generally been shown to improve endurance performance.
How do you implement positive self-talk?
There are many tactics of retraining your internal monologue with positives over negatives and creating mantras to race by. This usually creates awareness around the strength of positivity and using our internal chatter to our advantage.
My personal theory on positive self-talk: it’s more than just the race
I think it all starts with training. Anxiety, expectation and potential negativity builds up from here and is waiting as soon as we enter the training block or start the race.
If we look at the purpose of the training as a means to an end, i.e. hitting your personal best, then we create a bar at which we feel we have to meet. We allow no place for our bar to move, therefore the pressure builds. It doesn’t allow for life events, illness or things beyond our control to be accounted for.
If we take the training seriously, which we should, but accept that it’s the best we can do ‘in that moment’ – then we automatically create a positive situation around exercise and the results become a by-product.
This positive self-talk for me doesn’t apply to a single race or training session, it’s the approach, kindness and awareness of one’s self during the whole journey.
Final thoughts
The next time you go into a training session and don’t hit the perfect pace, or if you replace a hard run with a shake out because half way into the warm up you feel terrible, don’t be hard on yourself – instead, be kind and reflect kindly. Carry the positives and any numerical misfires become possibilities and not limitations.
Fun - HONESTY - Simplicity - Smash Life - Mental Toughness - Hard Work
Track Tuesday
The purpose of this workout is to develop threshold speed. To do this we’re running through 3X800m into 2X400m finishing with a final best effort over 800m, then repeating the whole set again!
Start time: 05:59 am
Session Length: 1 hour
Location: InnerFight
Wednesday Ride
This Wednesday we’re going to put your legs through some climbing efforts and then finish with some maximum power sprints.
Start time: 05:59 am
Session Length: 1.5 hour
Location: Bottom of the stick
Friday, The Coffee Run
The ‘in’ word within endurance is fatigue resistance; and today we look to benchmark it. With 2 maximum efforts at the start and end of the set with a steadier middle section, we’ll be able to track your drop-off. A great set for anyone wanting to get better this winter!
Start time: 05:59 am
Session Length: 1 hour
Location: Common Grounds, Jumeirah Beach Track
Friday, Sea Swim
With Salalah and T100 just around the corner, we again take to the seas to practice race-specific skills for open-water swimming.
Start time: 06:19 am
Session Length: 1 hour
Location: Common Grounds, Jumeirah Beach Track
Saturday Ride
This week we take on the second extension, with some 3-minute and 1-minute turns as a group. We’ll cover around 85km or fun riding. Come along to start your weekend right!
Start time: 05:59 am
Session Length: 3 hour
Location: Bottom of the stick
Please note that there is no Monday and Wednesday session this week. LRC Unlimited Clients, your TrainingPeaks are still programmed.
Tuesday
Time: 5:59am
Location: InnerFight
Session: Track Tuesday
This week we have a selection of 800s and 400s for you. Come ready to run fast with InnerFight Endurance community and coaching team.
Friday
Time: 5:59am
Location: Kite Beach
Session: The Coffee Run
Today we are looking at your durability. The session is book ended with hard efforts, to see how your duratlity is at the end of a middle block of easy running. This is a great session to test as the weather gets better and then test again in the coming month, after stacking some more consistency in your training.
Monday:
Strength:
Pull Ups and Dumbell Bench Press
Conditioning:
Amrap 20
Car Park sandbag bear hug carry
10 hand-release push-ups
10 pull-ups
Half park run
Tuesday:
Strength:
Front Squats
Conditioning:
In a 3 minute window
10 Dual KB front squats (2x 20/16)
30/25/20 cal Row
AMRAP wall balls
Rest 2 mins x 5
Wednesday:
Strength:
A) Power Clean + Hang Power Clean
B) Clean Complex + Wall Walks
Conditioning:
FOR TIME
3-6-9 Power clean
2-4-6 wall walks
into
9-12-15 Power Clean
9-12-15 Burpee over bar
Thursday:
Strength:
KB Single Leg Deadlifts + Arch Holds
Conditioning:
EMOM 16
Min 1 - 20 alt DB hang snatch (50/35)
Min 2 - 20/15 box jump over
Min 3 -18/15/12/9 Cal assault bike
Min 4 - Rest
Friday:
Conditioning:
Another spicy Friday to end the week, and then we finish together with a Durante Special!
ENGINE
We are going to mix things up a bit this week, varying modalities, time frames and distances designed to push your aerobic capacity.
GYMNASTICS
To kick things off, we will spend some time on Pull-ups and chest-to-bar pull-ups before we move off the rig and onto the floor as we look to break down and develop the Handstand Walk.
HYROX
Working on compromised running this week. Running consistently strong when there is nothing left in your legs is a key skill in Hyrox.
MOBILITY
Improving your overhead mobility will show you how to improve not only flexibility but also stability using a few key exercises that you can do in your own time.
PURE STRENGTH
In Pure Strength this week, we will kick the week off with a mixture of paused and unpaused back squats, followed by some heavy single-leg work. Wednesday sees us continue our progression on the strict press and the stationary dips.
WEIGHTLIFTING
This week in weightlifting we focus on the power snatch and hang power snatch with a series of complexes followed by some EMOM percentage work
The idea of speaking kindly to yourself isn’t anything new, but it’s worth revisiting now and again to remind us of how we complete training and racing successfully.
Endurance events are pretty unique and they get more unique the longer they go on. Most amateur athletes will essentially be against themselves and their own weight of expectation – developed through training and their perception of what makes an event a success.
As a result, the way we talk to ourselves during a race is very important.
What is self-talk?
Self-talk is defined as ‘what people say to themselves either silently in their head or aloud, automatically or strategically, to stimulate, direct, react, and evaluate events and actions’ (Hatzigeorgiadis, Zourbanos, Latinjak, & Theodorakis, 2014).
What are the effects of positive self-talk?
Research has shown self-talk to be an effective tool to enhance performance through rewiring the brain – effectively replacing potential negative talk with positive talk. A group of recreational cyclists who improved their cycling time to exhaustion by 18% when they were coached to use positive self-talk (Blanchfield, Hardy, de Morree, Staiano, & Marcora, 2014).
Put into practice, it could be as simple as replacing “my legs are really hurting” with “you’re almost there”.
There are a lot more intricacies of this which I won’t go into, however the results of positive self-talk have generally been shown to improve endurance performance.
How do you implement positive self-talk?
There are many tactics of retraining your internal monologue with positives over negatives and creating mantras to race by. This usually creates awareness around the strength of positivity and using our internal chatter to our advantage.
My personal theory on positive self-talk: it’s more than just the race
I think it all starts with training. Anxiety, expectation and potential negativity builds up from here and is waiting as soon as we enter the training block or start the race.
If we look at the purpose of the training as a means to an end, i.e. hitting your personal best, then we create a bar at which we feel we have to meet. We allow no place for our bar to move, therefore the pressure builds. It doesn’t allow for life events, illness or things beyond our control to be accounted for.
If we take the training seriously, which we should, but accept that it’s the best we can do ‘in that moment’ – then we automatically create a positive situation around exercise and the results become a by-product.
This positive self-talk for me doesn’t apply to a single race or training session, it’s the approach, kindness and awareness of one’s self during the whole journey.
Final thoughts
The next time you go into a training session and don’t hit the perfect pace, or if you replace a hard run with a shake out because half way into the warm up you feel terrible, don’t be hard on yourself – instead, be kind and reflect kindly. Carry the positives and any numerical misfires become possibilities and not limitations.
Fun - HONESTY - Simplicity - Smash Life - Mental Toughness - Hard Work
Please note that there is no Monday and Wednesday session this week. LRC Unlimited Clients, your TrainingPeaks are still programmed.
Tuesday
Time: 5:59am
Location: InnerFight
Session: Track Tuesday
This week we have a selection of 800s and 400s for you. Come ready to run fast with InnerFight Endurance community and coaching team.
Friday
Time: 5:59am
Location: Kite Beach
Session: The Coffee Run
Today we are looking at your durability. The session is book ended with hard efforts, to see how your duratlity is at the end of a middle block of easy running. This is a great session to test as the weather gets better and then test again in the coming month, after stacking some more consistency in your training.
Monday:
Strength:
Pull Ups and Dumbell Bench Press
Conditioning:
Amrap 20
Car Park sandbag bear hug carry
10 hand-release push-ups
10 pull-ups
Half park run
Tuesday:
Strength:
Front Squats
Conditioning:
In a 3 minute window
10 Dual KB front squats (2x 20/16)
30/25/20 cal Row
AMRAP wall balls
Rest 2 mins x 5
Wednesday:
Strength:
A) Power Clean + Hang Power Clean
B) Clean Complex + Wall Walks
Conditioning:
FOR TIME
3-6-9 Power clean
2-4-6 wall walks
into
9-12-15 Power Clean
9-12-15 Burpee over bar
Thursday:
Strength:
KB Single Leg Deadlifts + Arch Holds
Conditioning:
EMOM 16
Min 1 - 20 alt DB hang snatch (50/35)
Min 2 - 20/15 box jump over
Min 3 -18/15/12/9 Cal assault bike
Min 4 - Rest
Friday:
Conditioning:
Another spicy Friday to end the week, and then we finish together with a Durante Special!
ENGINE
We are going to mix things up a bit this week, varying modalities, time frames and distances designed to push your aerobic capacity.
GYMNASTICS
To kick things off, we will spend some time on Pull-ups and chest-to-bar pull-ups before we move off the rig and onto the floor as we look to break down and develop the Handstand Walk.
HYROX
Working on compromised running this week. Running consistently strong when there is nothing left in your legs is a key skill in Hyrox.
MOBILITY
Improving your overhead mobility will show you how to improve not only flexibility but also stability using a few key exercises that you can do in your own time.
PURE STRENGTH
In Pure Strength this week, we will kick the week off with a mixture of paused and unpaused back squats, followed by some heavy single-leg work. Wednesday sees us continue our progression on the strict press and the stationary dips.
WEIGHTLIFTING
This week in weightlifting we focus on the power snatch and hang power snatch with a series of complexes followed by some EMOM percentage work
Track Tuesday
The purpose of this workout is to develop threshold speed. To do this we’re running through 3X800m into 2X400m finishing with a final best effort over 800m, then repeating the whole set again!
Start time: 05:59 am
Session Length: 1 hour
Location: InnerFight
Wednesday Ride
This Wednesday we’re going to put your legs through some climbing efforts and then finish with some maximum power sprints.
Start time: 05:59 am
Session Length: 1.5 hour
Location: Bottom of the stick
Friday, The Coffee Run
The ‘in’ word within endurance is fatigue resistance; and today we look to benchmark it. With 2 maximum efforts at the start and end of the set with a steadier middle section, we’ll be able to track your drop-off. A great set for anyone wanting to get better this winter!
Start time: 05:59 am
Session Length: 1 hour
Location: Common Grounds, Jumeirah Beach Track
Friday, Sea Swim
With Salalah and T100 just around the corner, we again take to the seas to practice race-specific skills for open-water swimming.
Start time: 06:19 am
Session Length: 1 hour
Location: Common Grounds, Jumeirah Beach Track
Saturday Ride
This week we take on the second extension, with some 3-minute and 1-minute turns as a group. We’ll cover around 85km or fun riding. Come along to start your weekend right!
Start time: 05:59 am
Session Length: 3 hour
Location: Bottom of the stick
The idea of speaking kindly to yourself isn’t anything new, but it’s worth revisiting now and again to remind us of how we complete training and racing successfully.
Endurance events are pretty unique and they get more unique the longer they go on. Most amateur athletes will essentially be against themselves and their own weight of expectation – developed through training and their perception of what makes an event a success.
As a result, the way we talk to ourselves during a race is very important.
What is self-talk?
Self-talk is defined as ‘what people say to themselves either silently in their head or aloud, automatically or strategically, to stimulate, direct, react, and evaluate events and actions’ (Hatzigeorgiadis, Zourbanos, Latinjak, & Theodorakis, 2014).
What are the effects of positive self-talk?
Research has shown self-talk to be an effective tool to enhance performance through rewiring the brain – effectively replacing potential negative talk with positive talk. A group of recreational cyclists who improved their cycling time to exhaustion by 18% when they were coached to use positive self-talk (Blanchfield, Hardy, de Morree, Staiano, & Marcora, 2014).
Put into practice, it could be as simple as replacing “my legs are really hurting” with “you’re almost there”.
There are a lot more intricacies of this which I won’t go into, however the results of positive self-talk have generally been shown to improve endurance performance.
How do you implement positive self-talk?
There are many tactics of retraining your internal monologue with positives over negatives and creating mantras to race by. This usually creates awareness around the strength of positivity and using our internal chatter to our advantage.
My personal theory on positive self-talk: it’s more than just the race
I think it all starts with training. Anxiety, expectation and potential negativity builds up from here and is waiting as soon as we enter the training block or start the race.
If we look at the purpose of the training as a means to an end, i.e. hitting your personal best, then we create a bar at which we feel we have to meet. We allow no place for our bar to move, therefore the pressure builds. It doesn’t allow for life events, illness or things beyond our control to be accounted for.
If we take the training seriously, which we should, but accept that it’s the best we can do ‘in that moment’ – then we automatically create a positive situation around exercise and the results become a by-product.
This positive self-talk for me doesn’t apply to a single race or training session, it’s the approach, kindness and awareness of one’s self during the whole journey.
Final thoughts
The next time you go into a training session and don’t hit the perfect pace, or if you replace a hard run with a shake out because half way into the warm up you feel terrible, don’t be hard on yourself – instead, be kind and reflect kindly. Carry the positives and any numerical misfires become possibilities and not limitations.
Fun - HONESTY - Simplicity - Smash Life - Mental Toughness - Hard Work
The idea of speaking kindly to yourself isn’t anything new, but it’s worth revisiting now and again to remind us of how we complete training and racing successfully.
Endurance events are pretty unique and they get more unique the longer they go on. Most amateur athletes will essentially be against themselves and their own weight of expectation – developed through training and their perception of what makes an event a success.
As a result, the way we talk to ourselves during a race is very important.
What is self-talk?
Self-talk is defined as ‘what people say to themselves either silently in their head or aloud, automatically or strategically, to stimulate, direct, react, and evaluate events and actions’ (Hatzigeorgiadis, Zourbanos, Latinjak, & Theodorakis, 2014).
What are the effects of positive self-talk?
Research has shown self-talk to be an effective tool to enhance performance through rewiring the brain – effectively replacing potential negative talk with positive talk. A group of recreational cyclists who improved their cycling time to exhaustion by 18% when they were coached to use positive self-talk (Blanchfield, Hardy, de Morree, Staiano, & Marcora, 2014).
Put into practice, it could be as simple as replacing “my legs are really hurting” with “you’re almost there”.
There are a lot more intricacies of this which I won’t go into, however the results of positive self-talk have generally been shown to improve endurance performance.
How do you implement positive self-talk?
There are many tactics of retraining your internal monologue with positives over negatives and creating mantras to race by. This usually creates awareness around the strength of positivity and using our internal chatter to our advantage.
My personal theory on positive self-talk: it’s more than just the race
I think it all starts with training. Anxiety, expectation and potential negativity builds up from here and is waiting as soon as we enter the training block or start the race.
If we look at the purpose of the training as a means to an end, i.e. hitting your personal best, then we create a bar at which we feel we have to meet. We allow no place for our bar to move, therefore the pressure builds. It doesn’t allow for life events, illness or things beyond our control to be accounted for.
If we take the training seriously, which we should, but accept that it’s the best we can do ‘in that moment’ – then we automatically create a positive situation around exercise and the results become a by-product.
This positive self-talk for me doesn’t apply to a single race or training session, it’s the approach, kindness and awareness of one’s self during the whole journey.
Final thoughts
The next time you go into a training session and don’t hit the perfect pace, or if you replace a hard run with a shake out because half way into the warm up you feel terrible, don’t be hard on yourself – instead, be kind and reflect kindly. Carry the positives and any numerical misfires become possibilities and not limitations.
Fun - HONESTY - Simplicity - Smash Life - Mental Toughness - Hard Work
One-Hour Workout: Revving Your Swim Engine
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