How to train motivation in the Competition? SHAKE IT OFF

One of the answers with which we often meet with endurance athletes when talking about mental strength is: "I'm coconut" However, they generally do not know how to answer the following question: "How do you train your coconut? What do you do to be mentally strong? "

Our collaborator Moi González Coach of Víctor del Corral He told us in a previous article how to avoid demotivation in triathlon and now he teaches us how to train motivation for competition

We generally trust that our mind will not fail. However, sometimes it fails. And, honestly, without realizing it, we look for logical, rational or even material explanations to justify or try to find an answer to something that we can not see or touch.

A very common expression is "I did not have good feelings ... " Erroneously we believe that by the simple fact of training we are going to have good feelings on the day of competition. And there is no cause-effect relationship between training and having good feelings.

It is important to train the good sensations, look for them, identify them, connect mentally with them to be able to reproduce them, consciously or unconsciously, in competition.

Our mind is exposed to a lot of external stimuli, which act as a kind of direct access to our sensations. We capture these stimuli with our senses. For example, surely you have heard more than one song that gives you good vibes (or makes you sad), also a smell can connect your mind to a memory that takes you to a certain emotional state (for example, think about the smell of plasticine , the wet earth when it starts to rain ...), the same happens with the flavors (our favorite dish or something that made us feel bad. ...)

The same happens with the sensations that we have while we train. Our mind finds links that connect with sensations, that is, external stimuli that connect with emotional states. It is a process that occurs unconsciously, but can be managed consciously. That feeling is anchored to that external stimulus.

If in all the training sessions we have had positive sensations, great. However, we will agree that there are sessions of all kinds, very good, good, regular and bad. For this reason it is important to work the sensations so that in competition we can connect our mind with what will be useful to give maximum. Otherwise we are leaving it to chance: If that external stimulus does not occur that connects us with a perfect bad feeling, but if it is not like that ...

It is practically impossible to control all external stimuli in the race. It is much easier to manage mental resources to generate positive feelings. How? I give you a couple of tricks.

The first trick, and for me almost indispensable, is the shake it off (take it off).

I propose a game. It is a conscious work that has a great benefit at an unconscious level. Let's first look for a gesture: Imagine wearing your favorite shirt and dusting it in the front. Without taking off your shirt, dust it off with your hands, and then remove the dust that has been left in your hands.

Do it energetically and fun. If you want even exaggeratedly, jumping if necessary. Have fun doing that gesture and make sure the shirt is clean and your hands are clean. Note how doing it vigorously alters your pulse.

Recover your calm and think about the last training session in which you had bad feelings. Remember what happened, where you were, who you were with, and how you felt. Revive that moment and that feeling mentally. Take your time. Now imagine that feeling is like the dust you had on your shirt a moment ago.

Repeat the gestures you made to get rid of it: Shake it off !! Expel that bad feeling so it does not mess up your competitions. Repeat with those training sessions especially bad to eliminate bad feelings. And repeat it after a bad session, create that habit and you will not have to worry about whether that feeling appears in competition.

The second trick. Generate positive feelings, or good feelings. Take a permanent marker with a fine or medium tip. Now think of a swimming session in which everything was great, the series were fast, you noticed how you flow especially in the water, you felt swimming with comfort although the pace was demanding, ... think at that moment and mentally revive it.

Observe where you were, with whom and what was happening. Observe the feeling that this produces. Take your time. Connect to that feeling and allow yourself to feel it now while you are reading this. Enjoy that pleasant, positive and powerful feeling.

Take that permanent marker and make a small drawing on the back of your hand (not on the palm), in the space between your index finger and thumb. It can be a letter, a point, a figure, ... whatever you want, it does not have to be too big, but enough so that you can see it when you look at your hands when handling your heart rate monitor, and that it is something that You can redraw at any time.

Without taking your eyes off that drawing / symbol mentally return to that moment and connect with that feeling, enjoy its intensity and how it is making you feel. Use this the night before a competition and you will ensure good sensations in the water ...

Play the exercise with the other disciplines playing with the elements, for example instead of painting your hand put a small symbol on the handlebar of your bike, or leave something visible at the time of the transition to run ... use your imagination, sure it will be more effective.

Train your mind.

Moi González

Training

Photos: nubedeportiva.com