.svg){kind=icon}
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
We are taking a break over this period! Speciality Classes will be back on Monday the 6th of January!
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.
Start time: 05:59 am
Session Length: 1.5 hour
Entrance fee: https://isddubai.com/athletics-venuehire/
Location: https://goo.gl/maps/oomJAa31vKy3hQNG6
The Coffee Run
Our social coffee run which also doubles up as our tempo run! Every week we meet, get the run done and then sit after for a coffee and catch up. Anyone is welcome!
Brief time: 5:54am Start Time: 5:59am
Start Location : Common Grounds
.jpg)
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. This week will be full of festive cheer, as we welcome the 12 days of Christmas Workout.
Start time: 05:59 am
Session Length: 1.5 hour
Entrance fee: https://isddubai.com/athletics-venuehire/
Location: https://goo.gl/maps/oomJAa31vKy3hQNG6
The Coffee Run
Our social coffee run which also doubles up as our tempo run! Every week we meet, get the run done and then sit after for a coffee and catch up. This week we tempo for 2024 and 2025. Anyone is welcome!
Brief time: 5:54am Start Time: 5:59am
Start Location : Common Grounds
Group Run
Join us for the last long run of the year!
6:59am start from InnerFight
Arabian Ranches, some options below:
14KM route
https://onthegomap.com/s/rumgtank
17.7KM Route
https://onthegomap.com/s/k0pf9rn7
24.5KM Route
https://onthegomap.com/s/kcfrehfc
Location: InnerFight
Monday:
Strength:
A) Build to a 4min Max Back Squat
B) Build to a Max Sumo Deadlift
Conditioning:
20 back Squat
1 mile Run
Tuesday:
Some work in the machines to get you nice and tired. Mikko
Wednesday:
Christmas Day Workout One Class Only 8 am!
Thursday:
Boxing Day Workout One Class Only 8 am!
Friday:
A Partner workout to end the week with a bang!
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
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.
Start time: 05:59 am
Session Length: 1.5 hour
Entrance fee: https://isddubai.com/athletics-venuehire/
Location: https://goo.gl/maps/oomJAa31vKy3hQNG6
The Coffee Run
Our social coffee run which also doubles up as our tempo run! Every week we meet, get the run done and then sit after for a coffee and catch up. Anyone is welcome!
Brief time: 5:54am Start Time: 5:59am
Start Location : Common Grounds
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. This week will be full of festive cheer, as we welcome the 12 days of Christmas Workout.
Start time: 05:59 am
Session Length: 1.5 hour
Entrance fee: https://isddubai.com/athletics-venuehire/
Location: https://goo.gl/maps/oomJAa31vKy3hQNG6
The Coffee Run
Our social coffee run which also doubles up as our tempo run! Every week we meet, get the run done and then sit after for a coffee and catch up. This week we tempo for 2024 and 2025. Anyone is welcome!
Brief time: 5:54am Start Time: 5:59am
Start Location : Common Grounds
Group Run
Join us for the last long run of the year!
6:59am start from InnerFight
Arabian Ranches, some options below:
14KM route
https://onthegomap.com/s/rumgtank
17.7KM Route
https://onthegomap.com/s/k0pf9rn7
24.5KM Route
https://onthegomap.com/s/kcfrehfc
Location: InnerFight
Monday:
Strength:
A) Build to a 4min Max Back Squat
B) Build to a Max Sumo Deadlift
Conditioning:
20 back Squat
1 mile Run
Tuesday:
Some work in the machines to get you nice and tired. Mikko
Wednesday:
Christmas Day Workout One Class Only 8 am!
Thursday:
Boxing Day Workout One Class Only 8 am!
Friday:
A Partner workout to end the week with a bang!
We are taking a break over this period! Speciality Classes will be back on Monday the 6th of January!
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
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. This week will be full of festive cheer, as we welcome the 12 days of Christmas Workout.
Start time: 05:59 am
Session Length: 1.5 hour
Entrance fee: https://isddubai.com/athletics-venuehire/
Location: https://goo.gl/maps/oomJAa31vKy3hQNG6
The Coffee Run
Our social coffee run which also doubles up as our tempo run! Every week we meet, get the run done and then sit after for a coffee and catch up. This week we tempo for 2024 and 2025. Anyone is welcome!
Brief time: 5:54am Start Time: 5:59am
Start Location : Common Grounds
Group Run
Join us for the last long run of the year!
6:59am start from InnerFight
Arabian Ranches, some options below:
14KM route
https://onthegomap.com/s/rumgtank
17.7KM Route
https://onthegomap.com/s/k0pf9rn7
24.5KM Route
https://onthegomap.com/s/kcfrehfc
Location: InnerFight
Monday:
Strength:
A) Build to a 4min Max Back Squat
B) Build to a Max Sumo Deadlift
Conditioning:
20 back Squat
1 mile Run
Tuesday:
Some work in the machines to get you nice and tired. Mikko
Wednesday:
Christmas Day Workout One Class Only 8 am!
Thursday:
Boxing Day Workout One Class Only 8 am!
Friday:
A Partner workout to end the week with a bang!
We are taking a break over this period! Speciality Classes will be back on Monday the 6th of January!
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.
Start time: 05:59 am
Session Length: 1.5 hour
Entrance fee: https://isddubai.com/athletics-venuehire/
Location: https://goo.gl/maps/oomJAa31vKy3hQNG6
The Coffee Run
Our social coffee run which also doubles up as our tempo run! Every week we meet, get the run done and then sit after for a coffee and catch up. Anyone is welcome!
Brief time: 5:54am Start Time: 5:59am
Start Location : Common Grounds
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
.jpg)
.webp)
Thank you! Your submission has been received!
Oops! Something went wrong while submitting the form.
