Pick up any book on training for virtually any sport. Crack it open and review the contents. I have no doubt that you will find it filled with copious content on the physical elements of training. Everyone likes to discuss how to build the physical capacity of sport performance. Workouts are king.
What we need to remember, however, is that the brain and central nervous system control everything. The brain can be trained - just like the rest of the body. Cognitive strategies will have an impact not only on the central nervous system, but the endocrine and immune systems as well.
So without any further adieu, here are five mental strategies that can help optimize your training, improve your racing, and yes, change your life.
Imagine, if you will, a world in which arbitrary rules are placed on which cars you can purchase or what milk you can drink. Imagine that same world limiting your access to the Internet for certain purposes like, say, reading Consumer Reports. Imagine having regulations placed on the neighborhoods in which you can purchase a house, regardless of how much money you are ready to spend.
The inevitable question is "why the limits"? And the response is, well, "just because".
I have no doubt you would be outraged. You would immediately think that your freedoms and liberties were being trampled upon, and you wouldn't consider that acceptable at all.
But what happens when it comes to your health and health care?
I want to do more. I am not doing enough. I need to train harder. I need to train longer.
These are all common themes when developing a training plan with an athlete. It doesn't matter what sport is involved, the questions and concerns always revolve around these issues or a variant on one of these themes.
But what is the real underlying intent or motivation? Is it as obvious as it sounds?
Not always.
It is important to get down to the underlying motivation, context, and behaviors that drive the discussion in order to optimize the athlete's training - both physically and mentally.
When I first started playing the guitar, I gravitated towards the blues. Over a relatively short period of time and self-teaching, I began playing in coffee houses, campus pubs, and eventually open mics (and my own short-lived band) here in Austin.
Music has always given me a creative outlet, a means of self expression and self reflection. You can learn a lot of things while playing blues guitar in front of a live audience of 1 or 100. In retrospect, playing blues guitar taught me some important things about the art of teaching.
Although it might sound crazy,there are definitely some distinct commonalities between playing live blues guitar and standing in front of a classroom leading a group of students on a learning adventure.
Life on planet earth requires a daily battle against gravity. You are either accelerating the body against it, or decelerating the body to control or diminish its effects. Either way, every motion is a function of mechanical loading.
If our primary task is to improve human function, then we must strive to understand the dynamics of mechanical loading. By doing so, we can understand the behavior of the human system as it attempts to adapt to the imposed demands of life on the planet.
Meanwhile, in the haste to do their own "testing", clinicians will forget that the patient is performing countless mechanical loading "tests" throughout the day before they ever walk in the door of the clinic.
As a clinician, you cannot deny the importance of mechanical loading as an integral component of human movement. And why would we want to? Mechanical loading is the best assessment tool we have. Here's why.
We can learn a lot from plumbers. And health care would be better for it.
You don't think twice about getting a plumber, do you? You check out the competition, read some reviews, do a little cost comparison, and find the best value for your money. You probably ask friends and co-workers if they have a recommendation.
The plumber then has a project to be done - at a certain price, for a specific level of quality or workmanship. The plumber is now accountable for the outcome. You demand that accountability for the project - on time and on budget - otherwise, you don't pay them fully, or you give them a bad review - or both.
It's pretty simple, isn't it? Some basic consumer principles - the product of a market economy - drive the scenario effectively.
As consumers, we probably pay more attention to our choice of plumber than our health care.
Patient-centered care is an over-used, misunderstood, and oftentimes hypocritical phrase.
There. I said it. I know, that is a pretty strong statement, but it had to be said.
It has become a trendy phrase that gets thrown around regularly these days. But the deeper meaning - and how to truly attain it - is, at times, lost or misunderstood.
There can be many subtle barriers to patient-centered care. We may think that something is patient-centered, yet it is far from it.
"Patient-centered" indicates more than just the fact that the patient is the center of the equation. It is more than just having a focus on the patient. True patient-centered care manifests itself in many ways.
Up to 60% of runners will sustain an injury within any given year. Poor running mechanics, in conjunction with poor, ineffective and outdated training methods, can pose a significant injury risk. "RunSmart" was written to address these issues in the running community.
"Running Injuries: Etiology And Recovery- Based Treatment" (co-author Bridget Clark, PT) appears in the third edition and fourth editions of "Clinical Orthopaedic Rehabilitation: A Team Approach" by Charles Giangarra, MD and Robert C. Manske, PT.
Allan Besselink, PT, DPT, Ph.D., Dip.MDT has a unique voice in the world of sports, education, and health care. Read more about Allan here.
Top 5 finalist in three categories: "Best Overall Blog", "Best PT Blog" and "Best Advocacy Blog".
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