Focus: The Importance of Mindset
If you ask any athlete what is more important, physical talent, or mental strength, in reference to overall performance they will most likely tell you mental strength. I then invite you to ask them how often they work on developing the physical talent portion vs. the mental strength portion. If the athlete is anything like myself, they will look at you dumbfounded.
On average last year I would spend 20 hours a week working on physically improving in my sport. I would maybe spend 1 hour every couple of weeks working on mental strength. Now, if you are of the idea that mental strength is more important than physical ability, this training schedule is very lopsided. I know I am not the only person out there who has had a regimine that looks like this. So, how do we fix it?
I began to look into some research on how to train the mind. There are many differing opinions on how to go about this, however one thing became clear to me; I need to become comfortable with being uncomfortable. If you are not familiar with this phrase, it basically means there will be a lot of mental strain/pain involved in making any significant change.
There are three methods that I have tried myself, two of which that i have seen actual improvement. The first being fasting. In the beggining it seemed so silly to me. “Why would anyone choose not to eat, when they are surrounded by food? Can’t be that hard, right?” It is that hard. Being surrounded by food all day. Experiencing cravings. Having a desire to train, but not wanting to hurt myself. These were all experiences I was not accustomed to. Luckily I had the support of the people around me. I was able to accomplish the 24 hours I had set out to, but it was more difficult than just about anything else I had ever done in my life. This is not a method that i use very often, maybe once every 6 months. Not because it is not effective, I just prefer a different method.
The best experience I have had with improving mental strength has come with the practice of taking cold baths. Whenever I make this suggestion to someone they look at me like I am crazy. Once you try it, you will realize the effects of this method are undeniable. I am not going to dive into the science behind what your body's physiology is doing submerged in freezing temperatures, just discuss what is going on in your mind. Most people immediately react with wanting to get out of the bath. There is some heavy breathing, tensing of all the muscles in the body, and finally, settling into the spot where they will try to relax. Speaking from personal experience, at this point every molecule in the body is screaming at you to get out. It's all you can hear in your head. You are 100% in the moment, struggling, in complete control of how long you will put up with this. My first time, I could only sit for 6 minutes.
That's just it though, I wanted to improve my mental strength, so I needed a goal. 15 minutes sounded good. It took roughly a month for me to get to that point, and the crossover happened just as fast. During my lactic threshold intervals (max effort intervals) I was able to maintain the same level of performance (power output in watts) for 12.5% more time. There are some training variables that people could argue about with improving my performance, but at the least, there is a correlation.
It may be difficult to quantify any gains in mental toughness. That does not mean that we should not continue to try and improve in this area. I am not just speaking to athletes either. Every single person I know could work to be mentally tougher. Whether it be with food selection, finance, or sticking to a personal goal. We all have something we want to achieve, and being stronger mentally will help us to get there. .
