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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
ENGINE
Repeatable efforts will be the name of the game this week!
GYMNASTICS
Tuesday is about handstand push-ups: strict, kipping, and everything in between. Then on Thursday, we’re walking the walk, upside down. As always, we’ll break down each movement to help you nail that first rep or step, or clean things up and go further than before.
HYROX
This week in HYROX class, we are working through a ski and row time trial to determine race paces for HYROX, followed by some lower-body endurance work.
MOBILITY
This weekend, we will focus on the ankles and feet—their mobility and strength, as well as their crucial role in supporting overall balance and stability. By targeting these often-overlooked areas, we build a stronger foundation for movement. The session will finish with full-body flow sequences to integrate that stability into more dynamic movement.
PURE STRENGTH
Monday, we start the week with some heavy bench press paused singles, doubles, and some amrap sets, followed by some push-and-pull accessory work. On Wednesday, we deadlift to some heavy doubles, followed by some Box squat doubles.
WEIGHTLIFTING
Weightlifting this week is cleans. We are working on the explosive power out of the bottom of the squat. Some technique work followed by Complex of clean pull, hang power clean, squat clean. Finishing with some clean pulls.
The Monday Ride
A cycling session at BikeDxb led by Marcus Smith.
Suitable for anyone able to ride 30kph plus on a flat course.
Time: 05:59 am
Session Length: 1 hour
Location: The Loop Cafe, Nad al Sheeba
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 hour
Location: Dubai Sports City Sports Park
Thursday - Endurance Strength
A strength class focused on key movements for endurance athletes to help avoid injury, build speed and develop strength.
Time: 06:30 am
Location: This is a paid class session at InnerFight HQ. If you're interested to join, email winning@innerfight.com
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. This ride always begins with 18 - 20km at 30kph before a longer segment with various formats. Expect the main group to ride around 34kph, slower groups will break off and form. Anyone is welcome to join.
Time: 05:59 am
Location: Bottom of the Stick, Al Qudra.
Monday
Time: 5:59am & 5:59pm
Location: InnerFight
Session: LRC Tempo
This week will be running blocks of 6 mins each with a 2 mins rest. But the blocks will increase from a 5/10 RPE to a 8/10 RPE as we progress through the session. Keep the recovery chilled so that you can maintain quality on each rep.
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 have 500m repeats on the menu.
Wednesday
Time: 5:59am & 5:59pm
Location: InnerFight
Session: LRC Intervals
Today we have intervals in the morning and evening. We will warm up in the pack behind IF and then head into the session until 6:50am/pm. Running 1x easy loop of the park, into 1x fast shuttle.
Friday
Time: 5:59am
Location: Common Grounds
Session: The 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. This week we will be running up and over the canal bridge and tollerance bridge while dialing in some 7/10 feeling.
Monday:
This week at InnerFight, we start the week with some heavy back squats, coupled with some rowing, wall balls, and burpee pull-ups.
Strength:
Every 2 mins x 5 - 2 back squat + 1 set amrap @ 85%
Conditioning:
2 Rounds:
In a 5-minute window:
300/250m row
30 wall balls
AMRAP Burpee pull-ups
Rest 2 mins
In a 5-minute window
15 burpee pull-ups
30 wall balls
Max cal row
Rest 2 Mins
Tuesday:
We are working to a heavy, strict press and then hitting some close-grip bench press before tackling an AMRAP with ever-increasing reps.
Strength:
A) Every 90 sec x 5 - 3/3/2/2/1 SA seated DB strict press/arm
B)Every 2 mins x 5 - 8 CGBP @30X1 + 15 Unbroken Russian KB Swings
Conditioning:
AMRAP 18
5 DB Hang Snatch
5 Cal Bike
5 TTB
5 Cal Ski
*Each round increases reps/cals by 5
Wednesday:
Some single-leg deadlifts followed by a power clean complex and barbell-focused workout.
Strength:
A) Every 2:00 x 4 - 6/6 Single leg Deadlift
B) Every 90 sec x 8 1 power clean + 1 hang power clean
Conditioning:
For Time:
21-15-9 Power Clean
50 DU after each round
into
15-12-9 Front Squats
50 DU after each round
Thursday:
Thursday, we have a gymnastics session in the form of a static strength-focused strength piece, into an EMOM workout to build your gas tank.
Strength:
A) EMOM 10 -Min 1 - 20 sec kipping pull-ups & Min 2 - 30 sec Dual KB OH hold
B) Every 90 sec x 6/5/5/5/3/3 Pendlay Rows
Conditioning:
EMOM x 24
Min 1 - 30 sec Mixed Rack March
Min 2 - Cal Row
Min 3 - Box Jump Step Down
Friday:
Friday, we finish the week with an upper body session followed by 16 rounds of a fast-paced triplet.
Strength:
Every 90 sec x 9 - A 8-10 DB Fly / B 8-10 Inverted row / C 8-10 strict knees to elbow
Conditioning:
16 rounds For Time
10 DB Thruster
1 Rope Climb
10 Cal Ski/Row
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 Monday Ride
A cycling session at BikeDxb led by Marcus Smith.
Suitable for anyone able to ride 30kph plus on a flat course.
Time: 05:59 am
Session Length: 1 hour
Location: The Loop Cafe, Nad al Sheeba
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 hour
Location: Dubai Sports City Sports Park
Thursday - Endurance Strength
A strength class focused on key movements for endurance athletes to help avoid injury, build speed and develop strength.
Time: 06:30 am
Location: This is a paid class session at InnerFight HQ. If you're interested to join, email winning@innerfight.com
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. This ride always begins with 18 - 20km at 30kph before a longer segment with various formats. Expect the main group to ride around 34kph, slower groups will break off and form. Anyone is welcome to join.
Time: 05:59 am
Location: Bottom of the Stick, Al Qudra.
Monday
Time: 5:59am & 5:59pm
Location: InnerFight
Session: LRC Tempo
This week will be running blocks of 6 mins each with a 2 mins rest. But the blocks will increase from a 5/10 RPE to a 8/10 RPE as we progress through the session. Keep the recovery chilled so that you can maintain quality on each rep.
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 have 500m repeats on the menu.
Wednesday
Time: 5:59am & 5:59pm
Location: InnerFight
Session: LRC Intervals
Today we have intervals in the morning and evening. We will warm up in the pack behind IF and then head into the session until 6:50am/pm. Running 1x easy loop of the park, into 1x fast shuttle.
Friday
Time: 5:59am
Location: Common Grounds
Session: The 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. This week we will be running up and over the canal bridge and tollerance bridge while dialing in some 7/10 feeling.
Monday:
This week at InnerFight, we start the week with some heavy back squats, coupled with some rowing, wall balls, and burpee pull-ups.
Strength:
Every 2 mins x 5 - 2 back squat + 1 set amrap @ 85%
Conditioning:
2 Rounds:
In a 5-minute window:
300/250m row
30 wall balls
AMRAP Burpee pull-ups
Rest 2 mins
In a 5-minute window
15 burpee pull-ups
30 wall balls
Max cal row
Rest 2 Mins
Tuesday:
We are working to a heavy, strict press and then hitting some close-grip bench press before tackling an AMRAP with ever-increasing reps.
Strength:
A) Every 90 sec x 5 - 3/3/2/2/1 SA seated DB strict press/arm
B)Every 2 mins x 5 - 8 CGBP @30X1 + 15 Unbroken Russian KB Swings
Conditioning:
AMRAP 18
5 DB Hang Snatch
5 Cal Bike
5 TTB
5 Cal Ski
*Each round increases reps/cals by 5
Wednesday:
Some single-leg deadlifts followed by a power clean complex and barbell-focused workout.
Strength:
A) Every 2:00 x 4 - 6/6 Single leg Deadlift
B) Every 90 sec x 8 1 power clean + 1 hang power clean
Conditioning:
For Time:
21-15-9 Power Clean
50 DU after each round
into
15-12-9 Front Squats
50 DU after each round
Thursday:
Thursday, we have a gymnastics session in the form of a static strength-focused strength piece, into an EMOM workout to build your gas tank.
Strength:
A) EMOM 10 -Min 1 - 20 sec kipping pull-ups & Min 2 - 30 sec Dual KB OH hold
B) Every 90 sec x 6/5/5/5/3/3 Pendlay Rows
Conditioning:
EMOM x 24
Min 1 - 30 sec Mixed Rack March
Min 2 - Cal Row
Min 3 - Box Jump Step Down
Friday:
Friday, we finish the week with an upper body session followed by 16 rounds of a fast-paced triplet.
Strength:
Every 90 sec x 9 - A 8-10 DB Fly / B 8-10 Inverted row / C 8-10 strict knees to elbow
Conditioning:
16 rounds For Time
10 DB Thruster
1 Rope Climb
10 Cal Ski/Row
ENGINE
Repeatable efforts will be the name of the game this week!
GYMNASTICS
Tuesday is about handstand push-ups: strict, kipping, and everything in between. Then on Thursday, we’re walking the walk, upside down. As always, we’ll break down each movement to help you nail that first rep or step, or clean things up and go further than before.
HYROX
This week in HYROX class, we are working through a ski and row time trial to determine race paces for HYROX, followed by some lower-body endurance work.
MOBILITY
This weekend, we will focus on the ankles and feet—their mobility and strength, as well as their crucial role in supporting overall balance and stability. By targeting these often-overlooked areas, we build a stronger foundation for movement. The session will finish with full-body flow sequences to integrate that stability into more dynamic movement.
PURE STRENGTH
Monday, we start the week with some heavy bench press paused singles, doubles, and some amrap sets, followed by some push-and-pull accessory work. On Wednesday, we deadlift to some heavy doubles, followed by some Box squat doubles.
WEIGHTLIFTING
Weightlifting this week is cleans. We are working on the explosive power out of the bottom of the squat. Some technique work followed by Complex of clean pull, hang power clean, squat clean. Finishing with some clean pulls.
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
Monday
Time: 5:59am & 5:59pm
Location: InnerFight
Session: LRC Tempo
This week will be running blocks of 6 mins each with a 2 mins rest. But the blocks will increase from a 5/10 RPE to a 8/10 RPE as we progress through the session. Keep the recovery chilled so that you can maintain quality on each rep.
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 have 500m repeats on the menu.
Wednesday
Time: 5:59am & 5:59pm
Location: InnerFight
Session: LRC Intervals
Today we have intervals in the morning and evening. We will warm up in the pack behind IF and then head into the session until 6:50am/pm. Running 1x easy loop of the park, into 1x fast shuttle.
Friday
Time: 5:59am
Location: Common Grounds
Session: The 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. This week we will be running up and over the canal bridge and tollerance bridge while dialing in some 7/10 feeling.
Monday:
This week at InnerFight, we start the week with some heavy back squats, coupled with some rowing, wall balls, and burpee pull-ups.
Strength:
Every 2 mins x 5 - 2 back squat + 1 set amrap @ 85%
Conditioning:
2 Rounds:
In a 5-minute window:
300/250m row
30 wall balls
AMRAP Burpee pull-ups
Rest 2 mins
In a 5-minute window
15 burpee pull-ups
30 wall balls
Max cal row
Rest 2 Mins
Tuesday:
We are working to a heavy, strict press and then hitting some close-grip bench press before tackling an AMRAP with ever-increasing reps.
Strength:
A) Every 90 sec x 5 - 3/3/2/2/1 SA seated DB strict press/arm
B)Every 2 mins x 5 - 8 CGBP @30X1 + 15 Unbroken Russian KB Swings
Conditioning:
AMRAP 18
5 DB Hang Snatch
5 Cal Bike
5 TTB
5 Cal Ski
*Each round increases reps/cals by 5
Wednesday:
Some single-leg deadlifts followed by a power clean complex and barbell-focused workout.
Strength:
A) Every 2:00 x 4 - 6/6 Single leg Deadlift
B) Every 90 sec x 8 1 power clean + 1 hang power clean
Conditioning:
For Time:
21-15-9 Power Clean
50 DU after each round
into
15-12-9 Front Squats
50 DU after each round
Thursday:
Thursday, we have a gymnastics session in the form of a static strength-focused strength piece, into an EMOM workout to build your gas tank.
Strength:
A) EMOM 10 -Min 1 - 20 sec kipping pull-ups & Min 2 - 30 sec Dual KB OH hold
B) Every 90 sec x 6/5/5/5/3/3 Pendlay Rows
Conditioning:
EMOM x 24
Min 1 - 30 sec Mixed Rack March
Min 2 - Cal Row
Min 3 - Box Jump Step Down
Friday:
Friday, we finish the week with an upper body session followed by 16 rounds of a fast-paced triplet.
Strength:
Every 90 sec x 9 - A 8-10 DB Fly / B 8-10 Inverted row / C 8-10 strict knees to elbow
Conditioning:
16 rounds For Time
10 DB Thruster
1 Rope Climb
10 Cal Ski/Row
ENGINE
Repeatable efforts will be the name of the game this week!
GYMNASTICS
Tuesday is about handstand push-ups: strict, kipping, and everything in between. Then on Thursday, we’re walking the walk, upside down. As always, we’ll break down each movement to help you nail that first rep or step, or clean things up and go further than before.
HYROX
This week in HYROX class, we are working through a ski and row time trial to determine race paces for HYROX, followed by some lower-body endurance work.
MOBILITY
This weekend, we will focus on the ankles and feet—their mobility and strength, as well as their crucial role in supporting overall balance and stability. By targeting these often-overlooked areas, we build a stronger foundation for movement. The session will finish with full-body flow sequences to integrate that stability into more dynamic movement.
PURE STRENGTH
Monday, we start the week with some heavy bench press paused singles, doubles, and some amrap sets, followed by some push-and-pull accessory work. On Wednesday, we deadlift to some heavy doubles, followed by some Box squat doubles.
WEIGHTLIFTING
Weightlifting this week is cleans. We are working on the explosive power out of the bottom of the squat. Some technique work followed by Complex of clean pull, hang power clean, squat clean. Finishing with some clean pulls.
The Monday Ride
A cycling session at BikeDxb led by Marcus Smith.
Suitable for anyone able to ride 30kph plus on a flat course.
Time: 05:59 am
Session Length: 1 hour
Location: The Loop Cafe, Nad al Sheeba
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 hour
Location: Dubai Sports City Sports Park
Thursday - Endurance Strength
A strength class focused on key movements for endurance athletes to help avoid injury, build speed and develop strength.
Time: 06:30 am
Location: This is a paid class session at InnerFight HQ. If you're interested to join, email winning@innerfight.com
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. This ride always begins with 18 - 20km at 30kph before a longer segment with various formats. Expect the main group to ride around 34kph, slower groups will break off and form. Anyone is welcome to join.
Time: 05:59 am
Location: Bottom of the Stick, Al Qudra.
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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