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| Mindfulness in an extreme sport - contradiction or a necessary requirement? |
Earlier this year I went to the World Athletic Centre in Arizona for a coaching intern program.
I watched track sessions and I watched weight room sessions of some very very good Olympic gold medallists. Essentially there was no exercise or drill I had not seen before and that's the interesting thing. The genius is then... bringing all the components together of a program, so that the sum of the parts is so much greater than just an exercise program. I believe part of that success is the coaching philosophy and the attitude instilled in these athletes. Part of that philosophy was making sure, that athlete had a phD level of understanding of the sport and they understood smart training where quality is actually a determinant of quantity and not the other way round.
Installing an attitude, mindset and an ethos to athletes is really really important for success and a meaningful life. Overcoming limitations and hurdles, coping with failures and successes requires an athlete to be listened to and understood and this level of communication provides a vehicle for transformation and progression.
Lessons learnt from coaching that can be applied to one's own training
Having a deep level of understanding has helped me immensely in my training. Sometimes lack of progression is about mental blocks rather than pushing harder. It's about resolving internal conflict. Understanding others and gaining more compassion and empathy allows me to change my behaviour in training. Understanding hardwired habits and how to change them is part of the job. A coach can facilitate those changes by enforcing repetition and habit, but actually you can do it oneself if the awareness is there.
I wonder if there is value in treating yourself as another person - going outside of yourself momentarily, because you don't then have that emotional attachment to ego. Asking, "what do I need to do today" rather than "what do I want to do today". Being really honest about behaviours that hold you back. Most of the time we actually know this already!! and then having the balls and courage to change it by just reinforcing new habits. Changing behaviour is about being conscious of it and then repeating a new habit - EVERYDAY. It's the consistency that seems to be key in the reinforcement. But it needn't be hard. It just requires a bit of attention and perhaps the support of a good friend to kick you up the ass.
There are 3 things I have really had to embrace:
1. "Fasted" training - No breakfast running/jogging/walking/lying on the ground!
2. Preventing overtraining
3. Well timed, consistent intake of smaller meal portions.
None of these things I particularly naturally polarise to. Of course, what is one person's nemesis is another's pleasure. But just "doing" EVERYDAY....works when it comes to changing behaviour. I may not love it but I certainly don't hate it and that is a great place to be - neutral! I always question extreme resistance to something. It is usually symptomatic of something bigger.
Understand sabotaging behaviour patterns
“If I get my athletes really mentally healthy…maybe they wouldn’t be making certain mistakes – well-being is crucial” Dan Pfaff (Education Director - World Athletic Centre)
I love this idea. It's sort of chicken and the egg. Which comes first? Healthy body or healthy mind?
Of course both feed into one, it's an ever turning treadmill. But a REALLY healthy, self aware mindset can identify and resolve unhealthy behaviour and attitudes which can sabotage progression.
Lessons learnt from training elite "trained" individuals
I have been competing and training myself for nearly 20 years and training others for nearly half that time. So lessons have been learnt - lessons will continue to be learnt. But what I have realised is....people are different and respond differently to different things, hence the need to individualise. Similarly, there are a million different programs that could deliver the same result.
I'm going to talk here about "trained" individuals, because I work with young elite track and field athletes and there are interesting lessons to be learnt from this cohort.
As an athlete gains training years, things change. There is more of a requirement to fine tune; subtlety of movement becomes important.
I realise my role as a coach for these individuals is not so much about the exercise choice but HOW that exercise is performed. Subtle changes in hand position or foot position can make a big difference. The difference to transfer of strength from gym work into the sport could also be as simple as understanding a feeling of movement and doing it with a different kind of intention. This is where words that evoke a sensation or create an image can be really powerful.
In this environment and with these athletes I have to go down a deeper path. One where I need to really watch and listen to them, understand their psychology, motivation, limitations, fear and overcoming these. I also have to help create and destroy perceptions, amongst many other things.
Spirituality meets Bodybuilding
It really made me think what a wonderful tool, sport (and/or competition) is for creating a meaningful life. It teaches one about failure, success, realising one's potential and overcoming self imposed limitations. I use an assembly of mental tools for when I struggle training for my bodybuilding show. I have to face my demons all the time, as partaking in an aesthetic sport is unfamiliar territory. I'm scared about getting on stage, scared about being judged, scared about performing, because actually that's not my natural personality. I'm an introvert with an few extroverted tendencies but you're much more likely to find me hiding in the loo, than being the life and soul of a party. But the confidence you get from facing these things; the accompanying freedom you gain from knowing you can ebb and flow with change is a great thing.
So perhaps bodybuilding is considered a narcissistic sport but my journey has been one of immense self growth too.
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