We all believe we train hard, we all believe we push ourselves and our bodies when we exercise or compete in our chosen sports. But do we really? Some of us really do have the willingness and strength of mind to push through the difficult days, through the pain barrier, to say no to a night of binge drinking, and to concentrate wholeheartedly on the goal. However, these skills are not innate, they are not instinct. They are learned, practiced and perfected, and once they are tools on your training tool-belt can be harnessed to ensure you really can and do push yourselves to your limit when you train or compete.
Psychological Methods
There are a number of ways of “tricking” the mind to enable a better physical performance to be achieved. These are not difficult to understand or utilise, but every “trick” does not work for every person. This list is not extensive, but gives a few ideas and examples.
1. Count in smaller denominations. For example, let’s say someone can do 33 press ups but no more. Every time they do press ups, they get to 25 and struggle, suddenly it gets really difficult. They manage to squeeze out another 7 or so, but then always fail! By counting in 5s this may allow them to do more. Obviously they know that the 5th set of 5 is equal to the normal 25, but the mind is occupied with not forgetting how many fives have been done and so the brain doesn’t tell the body “oh no, 25, that’s where it gets hard!” This can be used for pull-ups, sit-ups or any other repetitive exercise.
2. Counting backwards. If we look at our example above, the individual should start counting down from 25, again, the mind is occupied and instead of 23 reps, 25 are reached. In fact the two methods can be combined: counting in 5s for 4 lots then counting down from 5 to 1. Our 25 figure is reached.
3. Repeating something in the mind. For example “don’t think, just do” over and over. Whether running, or doing a repetitive exercise like press ups, this repetition occupies the brain and stops it thinking about how hard the exercise is and convincing the body it should be in pain, leading to fatigue. If we again take the 33 rep press up example, if this individual does press ups saying “don’t think, just do” in his/her head until another cannot be performed, with someone else counting, 99% of the time the exerciser will complete more reps than if counting themselves.
4. A personal example from me is something I have used when running long distances with a Bergen (rucksack), when my legs are screaming at me to stop. I just count every time my left foot hits the ground up to ten, and then re-start the counting. All this does is occupy the mind, but it stops the mind thinking about the pain in the legs, back, shoulders and lungs.
5. Singing a song in their head while doing this sort of running can occupy the mind to take the pain away. Again this is just another trick to occupy the mind. Listening to inspirational music (new post coming shortly listing our top inspirational anthems) can also have the same effect. Personally I find that certain tracks release endorphins and adrenaline allowing me to run or row that little bit harder while that track is playing. Putting together a play-list of these types of tracks can really help with a particularly hard session.
The above methods basically just “trick” the brain, they are simple little mind games to play with yourself to stop you thinking about how hard the exercise is. Besides these little tricks, any individual wanting to truly achieve physical greatness must have certain psychological traits that really drive them to be able to achieve the physical fitness striven for.
Psychological Traits
1. Commitment. The desire to achieve and the desire to win. If it is all too easy to stop, take a day off or miss a session then true physical fitness will never be achieved because the mental fitness is significantly lacking. This “mental toughness” is required to never ever quit or settle for “that’ll do”.
2. Control of emotions. When things get really hard, or really tough, it is the mind that will fail, not the body. It is so important to have control of anxiety, fear, anger, frustration, expectations and failure. Royal Marine training is very tough, but that means Recruits have experienced all these emotions and learnt how to control them. When faced with these feelings in real situations throughout the rest of their life, Royal Marines should control them better than most.
3. Concentration. When the body is tired, the mind is too. It is all too easy to relax and lose focus. However a lack of focus can lead to accidents and mistakes. Focus and concentration ensures success; physically and psychologically. When tired, and starting to slow, it is important to keep the “goal” in the mind to stay focused.
4. Confidence. With confidence and self-belief it is amazing what can be achieved. A positive attitude in any given situation can be the difference between success and failure. However, confidence should not be confused with arrogance. Being confident, and believing in yourself will always give you the edge over others around you. Not surprisingly though, confidence often comes because of sound preparation and training, as you know you will do well. In short, physical and psychological fitness training will lead to confidence in yourself, which will lead to a good performance.
In the Royal Marines we often consider the mind to be the most powerful and potent weapon to achieve success. For the casual gym goer, using the mind requires no extra resources or finance and is therefore a great place to begin getting fit. It is important, especially when injured or unable to train, to stay focused and use the mind where possible to aid recovery and performance ready for your eventual return.
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